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Thank you very much indeed. Your report opens with some very harrowing figures, not just in terms of the absolute numbers of deaths and of the lives that are affected by them, but also in showing how bad the picture in Scotland remains in relative terms. It draws on figures from August 2024, so they are very up to date.

Even in paragraph 2 of the introduction, you say that the drug-induced death rate in Scotland is

“27.7 per 100,000 population”

and that

“The next highest rate was Ireland with a rate of 9.7”

per 100,000 people. That is almost three times the incidence of drug-induced deaths in Scotland compared with Ireland, and it puts Scotland way out in a wholly worse place than anywhere else in the rest of the United Kingdom, as well as in relation to the European examples that you draw on. You talk about the death rate from drug poisoning being twice as high in Scotland as it is anywhere else in the UK.

Those figures do not seem to be getting better, even over time. What is your reading of the reasons that lie behind the record that Scotland has, compared with other parts of the United Kingdom and other parts of Europe?

Before we move to item 2, I invite the Auditor General for Scotland to make a short statement on his report “Fiscal sustainability and reform in Scotland”, which was published earlier today.

As you point out in the report, stigma is a huge factor in things such as suicide. It is a huge factor in the reason why people are in prison. It is a huge factor in driving why people are homeless. There are much wider implications of our competency in dealing with the challenge that we face as a society.

Thank you. I will move things along by inviting the deputy convener to ask some questions.

The next item on this morning’s agenda is primarily about Audit Scotland’s report on Scotland’s alcohol and drug services.

As well as the Auditor General, we are joined by Cornilius Chikwama, who is audit director, and Ray Buist, who is audit manager, at Audit Scotland, both of whom worked on this report.

Auditor General, we have quite a number of questions to put to you this morning. However, before we get to those, I invite you to make a short opening statement on the alcohol and drug services report.

I am sure that we will.

I am reading the report again and looking at the section titled “Alcohol and drug harm disproportionately affects people already facing disadvantage”. That is a recurring theme, is it not? You cite in the report that people from Scotland’s most deprived areas are

“seven times more likely to be admitted to hospital for an alcohol-related condition”

and that

“almost half of all patients with a drug-related hospital stay lived in the 20 per cent most deprived areas of Scotland.”

It is clear that there is a link between deprivation, poverty and inequality and alcohol and drug dependency, as well as the seriousness of that dependency and where that leads and has led.

However, is there not multiple deprivation in parts of England, Wales and Northern Ireland? Why is the situation so acutely bad in Scotland?

Thank you very much. As you say, we will return for a detailed evidence session on that report in a fortnight.

Good morning. I welcome everyone to the 29th meeting in 2024 of the Public Audit Committee. James Dornan MSP is attending the meeting remotely.

The first agenda item is a decision on whether to take agenda items 3 and 4, on further consideration of alcohol and drug services, in private. Are we agreed to take those items in private?

Members indicated agreement.

Before bringing in Colin Beattie, I will ask you about that final point. You made a series of recommendations in your 2022 report. Two years later, in this report, you say:

“The Scottish Government has made progress in implementing our previous recommendations, but delivery of some key national plans has been slow.”

The word “slow” crops up a few times in the current report. Has the Scottish Government given you a reason as to why it has been tardy in addressing some of the recommendations in your previous report?