Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he is taking with the Scottish Government to (a) improve drug addiction treatments and (b) reduce drug-related deaths.

As health is a devolved matter, each administration of the United Kingdom takes its own decisions on the provision of treatment and other action to address drug related deaths. Nonetheless, it is important that the four nations work together and share learning to tackle the health harms that drugs pose.

The Department has been working closely with the Scottish Government and the other devolved administrations to expand access to naloxone, a life-saving medicine that reverses the effects of an opioid overdose. The Government laid UK-wide legislation on 29 July 2024, which, subject to passage through Parliament, will enable more services and organisations to provide take-home supplies of naloxone without a prescription. These changes will make it easier for naloxone to be given to a family member or friend of a person who is known to be using opiates, and to professionals working with people who use these drugs, to save lives in the event of an overdose.

We will continue to work together with the Scottish Government and agencies such as Public Health Scotland, to monitor emerging threats posed by drugs, share learning between nations, and prevent drug related deaths across the UK.