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The Scottish Government remains committed to progressing work on protecting children and young people from exposure to alcohol marketing. It was clear from our earlier public consultation that there was a wide range of views on alcohol marketing proposals, including uncertainty about the existing evidence base for many proposals.

Public Health Scotland (PHS) are being commissioned to carry out a review of the evidence for the range of options that are available to the Scottish Government under devolved powers. This will ensure that our work is evidence based and will deliver clear public health outcomes. We will consider PHS’ findings, and consider where the evidence supports further action or consultation on alcohol marketing restrictions.

If the evidence supports it, the Scottish Government will return with a further consultation on a range of targeted proposals. No decisions have been taken yet on what these areas may be.

The Scottish Government are working to address the stigma that people affected by substance use issues face when accessing treatment, which can be particularly acute for women.

We made a combined £13.5 million available to Phoenix Futures and Aberlour Childcare Trust to develop three new rehabilitation services specifically designed to support women and their families through recovery from both alcohol and drug use.

We have also convened an expert working group to develop a good practice guide to improve the support and care that women and their infants receive during the perinatal period, which will reach across drugs and alcohol, social work and maternity and wider health services.

The Scottish Government has made a combined £13.5 million available to Phoenix Futures and Aberlour Childcare Trust to support the creation of three new rehabilitation services specifically designed to support women through recovery from both alcohol and drug use.

Development of the National Specification for substance use services is underway and we expect to publish in the first quarter of 2025

We are committed to ensuring that people living with respiratory conditions receive the best possible care, treatment and support. Our Respiratory Care Action Plan sets our priorities and commitments for driving improvement in the prevention, diagnosis, care, treatment and support of people living with respiratory conditions such as COPD.

The funding announced in the UK Autumn Statement is welcome, however, the Scottish Government continues to face the most challenging financial situation since devolution. The new Scottish Budget will be presented to Parliament on 4 December 2024. This will detail Scottish Ministers spend proposals for the year ahead.

The Scottish Government pathways report: Pathways into, through and out of Residential Rehabilitation in Scotland: Results from the Residential Rehabilitation Providers Survey (www.gov.scot), published in November 2021, serves as a baseline to help identify specific barriers and facilitators to accessing Residential Rehabilitation (RR). Public Health Scotland’s Evaluation of the Scottish Government Residential Rehabilitation programme: Evaluation of the Scottish Government Residential Rehabilitation programme 13 February 2024 - Evaluation of the Scottish Government Residential Rehabilitation programme - Publications - Public Health Scotland, published on 13 February 2024, also provides details of some of the barriers individuals, including women, face when seeking access to RR, and the actions already taken to address these.

The main barriers women face while accessing RR is the awareness of rehab, including funding, and how to access services and the lack of provision for individuals with caring responsibilities.

The Residential Rehabilitation Rapid Capacity Programme (RRRCP) was established to provide funding to increase RR capacity, with a particular focus on improving provision for women and those with childcare responsibilities.

Through the RRRCP, funding has been awarded to support the establishment of two Aberlour mother and child recovery units, one in Dundee and the other in Falkirk. It has also supported the establishment of Phoenix Future’s Harper House, in Saltcoats, that offers a unique national family services which can support up to 20 families at one time.

The Lord Advocate has not provided the statement of prosecution policy regarding the safer drug consumption in Glasgow as of yet. It is anticipated that this will be provided in the coming weeks, ahead of the planned opening of the facility. The decision as to whether or not the statement of prosecution policy is published is one for the Lord Advocate.

The mental health and emotional wellbeing of children and young people in Scotland is of paramount importance. That is why we continue to support our local authority partners with £16 million in funding to ensure that all school pupils aged 10 and above and all secondary schools in Scotland have access to school counselling services. Children impacted by parental alcohol or substance misuse can access these services and can also be referred to the school nurse service in order to receive appropriate support.

We are also providing local authorities with £15 million per annum to deliver community-based mental health and wellbeing support and services for children and young people, with many of these delivered through primary and secondary schools. It is for local authorities and schools to determine what support is put in place to best meet the needs of children and young people in their area.

The attendance of children and young people in schools is a priority for the Scottish Government. Our published guidance Ministerial foreword - Included, engaged and involved part 1: promoting and managing school attendance - gov.scot (www.gov.scot) for local authorities and schools is clear on the need to follow-up absence and provide appropriate support to address the underlying causes of absence.

Under the Additional Support for Learning Act 2004, local authorities are under a statutory duty to identify, provide for, and review the additional support needs of their pupils. An additional support need can arise for any reason and be of short or long-term duration. Support needs arising from a young person’s individual family circumstances, such as having an alcohol dependent parent, are covered by the 2004 Act.

Data included in the 2019 Public Health Survey states that, among all children in 2017-2019 combined: 17% were living with at least one parent who exhibited hazardous, harmful drinking behaviour or had a possible alcohol dependence (AUDIT score of 8 or more), 2% were living with at least one parent who exhibited harmful drinking behaviour or who had a possible alcohol dependence (AUDIT score of 16 or more) and 83% did not live in a household with a parent who exhibited hazardous, harmful drinking behaviour or who had a possible alcohol dependence.