Home Office plea over drugs deaths
SNP ministers urged to work with UK to tackle crisis
‘Expect these challenges to be tackled’
THE SNP Government must tackle Scotland’s ‘deeply concerning’ drug death crisis head-on, the Home Office has warned.
It has raised serious concerns about the failure to get a grip on the tragic toll north of the Border.
The UK Government also urged SNP ministers to work with them on the issue.
Latest official figures showed 1,330 in Scotland lost their lives because of drug misuse in 2021 – and the death rate per million people is now five times greater than England’s.
But the SNP Government has repeatedly refused to take part in the UK Government’s Project Adder scheme, which aims to combine tough policing strategies with rehabilitation.
A Home Office spokesman said: ‘The rate of drug deaths in Scotland is deeply concerning. The Scottish Government is responsible for tackling drug misuse in areas where responsibility is devolved and we expect these challenges to be tackled head-on.
‘Drug misuse is a priority for this Government and we are committed to working closely with the Scottish Government on this issue to improve the particular challenges of drug abuse in Scotland.’
Last week’s shocking figures on drug deaths have led to increased concern among UK Government ministers that greater action is needed on the issue.
Tory ministers want concerted efforts across the whole of the UK to tackle the problem.
While the legal framework on the misuse of drugs is reserved to Westminster, the Scottish Government does have some powers in relevant devolved areas, including healthcare, criminal justice, housing and education.
Project Adder stands for Addiction, Diversion, Disruption, Enforcement and Recovery, and the Home Office believes it is crucial to prevent drug use in local communities, support people through treatment and recovery, and tackle the supply of illegal drugs. In May, then Policing Minister Kit Malthouse condemned SNP ministers for refusing to take part in Project Adder.
He said: ‘I don’t know what the resistance is. We have a duty to all of our citizens to learn from good ideas, wherever they come from.
‘The numbers have been getting worse and worse in Scotland over the last ten years or so.
‘There are lots of factors behind that but what we all need to do now is focus on getting the solutions right and drive those numbers down.’
The number of drug deaths in Scotland fell by 9 last year compared with 2020, when there were 1,339 drug-related deaths.
Scotland has the highest proportion of drug deaths per million of population in Europe.
SNP Drugs Minister Angela Constance said last week: ‘I do not underestimate the scale of the challenge that we face.
‘We continue, and the figures demonstrate it, we continue to face a significant, heart-breaking, loss of life that is utterly unacceptable.
‘It is beholden on the Scottish Government, but it is also beholden on other tiers of government and of course services at a local level to change our approach. We need to be meeting the needs of individuals, not meeting the needs of the services or institutions.’
A Scottish Government spokesman said yesterday: ‘Every life lost to addiction is a tragedy and our sympathy goes to all those affected by the loss of a loved one through drugs.
‘With the backing of an additional £250million over the course of this parliament, we are focused on delivery and change on the ground, implementing approaches we know can help save lives. Work will continue at pace to address the emergency.
‘We welcomed the final report from the Drugs Deaths Taskforce, which we established to provide expert advice on the emergency response to rising drug-related deaths in Scotland.
‘Many of the recommendations proposed in previous reports have already been implemented.
‘We are determined to go far further and the taskforce’s recommendations in their final report will be central to delivering that.’
‘Determined to go far further’
IT is now eight years since Alex Salmond used his final days as first Minister to unveil a monument to his party’s tuition fees policy.
erected on the campus of Heriot-Watt university, the giant stone carried the engraving: ‘The rocks will melt with the sun before I allow tuition fees to be imposed on Scotland’s students.’
Today, the stone is gone and its words ring bitterly hollow.
Scottish students may be exempt from tuition fees but they are also increasingly excluded from universities in Scotland.
The SNp has presided over a situation in which Scottish universities prioritise feepaying students from abroad at the expense of capable Scottish students.
Nicola Sturgeon wanted to be judged on education. The judgment is now in and it is damning. She is the first Minister on whose watch it became harder for Scots to get a university education in Scotland.