S6W-26421

Asked by: Webber, Sue (Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party - Lothian)

Question

To ask the Scottish Government how much has been allocated to drug (a) prevention, (b) treatment and (c) harm reduction initiatives for the financial year 2024-25, and what its position is on whether these resources will be adequate to tackle the reported 10% increase in suspected drug deaths in 2023.

Answered by McKelvie, Christina - Minister for Culture, Europe and International Development

Full budget allocations for 2024-25 are still to be confirmed.

It is not possible to disaggregate the full budget by these themes as Alcohol and Drug Partnerships receive around three quarters of the total drugs and alcohol budget to distribute at the local level. At a national level, many of the projects and organisations also support all three areas. The published draft budget for 2024-25 has maintained our budget for alcohol and drugs at the same level as 2023-24.

The National Mission funding has brought about major reform and improvement in services for people with drug and alcohol problems including:

• Continuing to widen the access to life-saving Naloxone with an estimated 7 in 10 people at risk having a kit; Police Scotland completing roll out amongst frontline staff.
• Continuing to drive implementation of the MAT Standards across the country. All delivery partners have returned implementation plans and report on progress on either a monthly or quarterly basis.
• A whole systems approach to prevention.

S6W-26219

Asked by: Lennon, Monica (Scottish Labour - Central Scotland)

Question

To ask the Scottish Government what impact the COVID-19 pandemic has had on alcohol (a) consumption, (b) hospitalisations and (c) deaths in Scotland.

Answered by McKelvie, Christina - Minister for Culture, Europe and International Development

Public Health Scotland published a summary of evidence on the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on alcohol consumption and harm in Scotland and England looking at data up to around 2021. This found that, overall, alcohol consumption decreased following the start of the COVID-19 pandemic. However, changes in drinking behaviours were polarised with some increasing their alcohol consumption and others decreasing . This was associated with drinking behaviour before the pandemic: those who increased their alcohol consumption tended to drink more before the pandemic, and those who decreased consumption tended to drink less. Over the COVID-19 pandemic, alcohol-related hospitalisations decreased, and alcohol-related deaths increased – potentially due to changing patterns of consumption and to the decrease in access to services over the pandemic.

More recent data shows that:

• For all adults, prevalence of hazardous or harmful drinking has generally decreased over time, with levels dropping from 34% in 2003 to 22% in 2022.
• In 2022/23, there were 31,206 alcohol-related hospital admissions (stays) in Scotland, a decrease of 11% since 2021/22.
• In 2022, 1,276 people in Scotland died from alcohol-specific causes, a 2% increase from 2021 and the highest number of annual deaths recorded since 2008

It is not possible to know the extent to which these trends are attributable to the COVID-19 pandemic. However, increases in alcohol-specific mortality since 2019 are observed across many other countries including all 4 nations of the UK, other European countries, the US and Canada. It is widely observed, including by The Office for National Statistics, that these rises are likely in part to be the result of increased alcohol consumption during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Public Health Scotland’s evaluation has found that the evidence points to minimum unit price having a positive impact on health outcomes. It is estimated to have cut alcohol consumption, alcohol-attributable deaths and likely to have reduced hospital admissions during the study period.

S6W-26218

Asked by: Lennon, Monica (Scottish Labour - Central Scotland)

Question

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on what action it has taken to address alcohol harm since it was cited in the 2022-23 Scottish Budget as a public health emergency.

Answered by McKelvie, Christina - Minister for Culture, Europe and International Development

The Scottish Government continues to take whole population and targeted approaches to tackle alcohol-related harms. We have laid legislation seeking the agreement of Parliament to continue Minimum Unit Pricing, and set the price per unit at 65 pence. Members of the Health, Social Care and Sport Committee voted to approve those orders on 26 March 2024 and I am pleased that there is cross party support for this policy.

We will continue to engage with all stakeholders, including public health organisations and the alcohol industry, around potential restrictions to alcohol marketing. This will take the form of targeted engagement, with the aim of consulting on a more specific set of proposals later this year.

We have asked Public Health Scotland to investigate the reasons behind the apparent 40% reduction in the number of people accessing specialist alcohol treatment.

We are working with stakeholders to develop a National Service Specification, informed by the forthcoming UK alcohol treatment clinical guidelines. They will aim to provide clarity on the types of treatment and recovery services available.

Apr. 15 2024

Found: resources for the COVID-19 National Contact Centre, agency locums and nurses, patient transport, drug and alcohol