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It is certainly a public health crisis, is it not?

Colin Beattie has some questions to put to you about data and the information that is, or is not, available.

Thank you very much indeed, Graham.

We have run right out of time, so I am going to conclude this evidence session by highlighting a couple of areas that we might wish to follow up on. For example, we never really got a chance to pursue the issue of staff turnover, which was mentioned earlier, so we might write to you with some follow-up questions on that.

Notwithstanding that, I thank Ray Buist, Cornilius Chikwama and the Auditor General for giving us so much of their time this morning to answer our questions on what I think all of us on the committee agree is a really important report. We recognise that it is follow-up work, and that you are continuing to keep a very close eye on this area of public policy, not least because of the outcomes. Clearly, people are being let down. Our record on drug and alcohol-related deaths is shameful and needs to be addressed as a matter of public priority. Thank you for your evidence this morning.

We now move into private session.

Earlier, you mentioned changing patterns of consumption and so on. One of the things that stood out for me in the report was where you talk about the influence of cocaine in deaths. You say that, in 2008, around six per cent of drug misuse deaths included a cocaine element. That has now gone up to 41 per cent. What does that tell us?

Okay. I think that Colin Beattie will come in with questions about that.

I will move on to a point that is rather more bureaucratic, which is about the architecture of the delivery of services, such as the alcohol and drug partnerships. You have mentioned before, and again in this report, the extent to which those are, or should be, autonomous, and whether the Government’s arrangements are “mature” and so on. Will you explain why that makes a difference? In your estimation—as somebody who has been talking about public sector reform this morning—what reforms would you like to see in this area, as an example? Where should the balance of funding, responsibility and powers rest for interventions to have the best outcomes?

Auditor General, before we leave that question and I bring in Graham Simpson for a final round of questions, can I take you to exhibit 5 in the report, which is a graphic representation of performance by health board? You make the point that we cannot compare rural Scotland with urban Scotland and so on, but, if I look at the performance as depicted in the graph of, say, NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde, as I read it, that health board has met its targets on alcohol and drug treatment service performance measures in every single one of the past 10 quarters. However, if I look at NHS Lothian, which has at its centre Scotland’s second biggest city, I see that performance targets have not been met in any of the past 10 quarters. Why is there such huge variation from one end of the M8 to the other?

It should not really be down to luck, should it?

I invite Graham Simpson to put some final questions to you.

That felt almost like a valedictory statement, but I am afraid that we have several more questions to put to you this morning, starting with James Dornan, who, as I mentioned earlier, is joining us by videolink.

As the Auditor General, do you have a view on that?

As I understand it, and based on the correspondence that we have received from the chief financial officer, it seems to stop short of being a total whole-of-Government account. Is it your understanding that that remains the Government’s ambition, or is it saying that it is not worth its while doing that, as it would not get the return on the effort that would be required? I am not quite sure where we are with that.

I am sorry to push you on that, but I would like to understand a bit more. As I understand it, 63 per cent—almost two thirds—of Social Security Scotland benefits are administered by the Department for Work and Pensions. Are you saying, Carole, that Social Security Scotland does not have proper oversight of fraud and error in that system?

My second question relates to that point. It is projected that Social Security Scotland will be administering those benefits by the end of 2025-26. Are you saying, however, that a legislative gap exists, which means that it cannot currently scrutinise error and fraud?