SCOTLAND’S spending watchdog has appealed for an overarching drug and alcohol plan to be drawn up amid warnings over data gaps and a lack of funding transparency.

Audit Scotland has told SNP ministers that amid Scotland’s spiralling drug deaths crisis, “progress addressing these challenges has been slow”, while there has been “a lack of drive and leadership" by the Scottish Government.

Scotland is the European capital for drug-related deaths with 1,339 people killed in 2020, while 1,190 died solely because of alcohol. The Scottish Government has committed £250 million of extra funding to try and reserve the trend.

But in a stark new report, the public body has stressed that “overall funding to alcohol and drug partnerships reduced over several years”, but said that by April 20201, “it returned to around the level it was six years ago in cash terms, but with no real terms increase in funding”.

The document warns that “more focus is needed on addressing the root causes of drug and alcohol dependency and breaking the cycle of harm affecting multiple generations across communities”.

It adds: The Scottish Government needs to set out a clear integrated plan on how additional investment can be used most effectively and demonstrate how it is improving outcomes.

“Good quality, frequent and timely data will be crucial in supporting clear performance measurement and public reporting.”

The report has urged the Scottish Government to use existing monitoring, as well as the recommended plan to “assess the cost-effectiveness of funding in drug and alcohol services and the level of investment in prevention needed to achieve maximum benefit”.

The SNP Government should also demonstrate the impact of its policies using “clear measures and public reporting”, as well as addressing “time lags” in data being published.

Auditor General Stephen Boyle said: “We’ve recently seen more drive and leadership around drug and alcohol misuse from the Scottish Government.

“But it’s still hard to see what impact policy is having on people living in the most deprived areas, where long-standing inequalities remain.

“Drug and alcohol data is not good enough, and there is a lack of transparency about how money is being spent and allocated.

“The Scottish Government needs to set out an integrated plan, with clear measures showing how extra spending is being used to reduce the tragic loss of life we’ve seen over the last decade.”

Tory drugs spokeswoman Sue Webber said the report was “utterly damning” for the Scottish Government, adding: “This report makes it clear that the SNP’s current strategies to help those struggling with addiction are simply not working.”

Professor Angela Thomas OBE, director of heritage and libraries at the Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh, said: “Drug-related harms continue to be a major public health issue in Scotland and the College is committed to working with stakeholders who are interested in resolving this.

“We note from Audit Scotland’s report the limitations of current spending data on drugs and alcohol. We agree that, from a transparency standpoint, it would be helpful if the data around spending were clearer.

“We welcome steps taken by the Scottish Government and Glasgow Health and Social Care Partnership to propose a new service for safer consumption – which must be rolled out to other parts of Scotland if successful. We welcomed, too, the rollout of Naloxone – a potentially lifesaving medicine.

“The college has called for a range of action on drug deaths – including safe consumption facilities, consideration of decriminalisation of drugs possession, and the rollout of a heroin-assisted treatment programme across Scotland.

“We are pleased with the progress being made towards those objectives, although there is a long way yet to go until the drug deaths crisis is under control. Anything to expedite transformative drug and alcohol policies would be welcomed by the college.”

Scottish Labour’s drugs policy spokesperson, Claire Baker, said: “This stark report calls for urgent action to deliver a more strategic public health response to the drug and alcohol deaths crisis we face.

“The SNP have had 15 years to address the issues raised in this report and deliver the accountability, transparency and data that we need – but they have failed.”

She added: “It is not enough to just undo the cuts the SNP have inflicted on services over the years – we need to transform and improve them, using every power in our arsenal.

“We need a real plan and a public health response that will not just save lives but get people the help they need, when they need it, so we can tackle inequalities and help everyone lead fulfilling lives.”

A Scottish Government spokeswoman welcomed the report, acknowledging that Audit Scotland expressed “some concerns”.

She said: “As the report recognises, the Scottish Government is investing significant leadership and investment into the national mission to improve and save lives, at the heart of which is ensuring everyone can access the right treatment and recovery for them.

“We are investing record sums in the provision of services to address the impacts of both alcohol and drug use. In 2021/22, we provided the first £50 million of additional national mission funding, which will see an additional £250 million invested over the life of the parliament to improve outcomes for people who are harmed by drugs, and their families and communities."

“We are also exploring the evidence around managed alcohol programmes and are pleased to be able to contribute to the running of the model being piloted in Glasgow by Simon Community Scotland and its evaluation."

“The report highlights the need for better and more up-to-date data to monitor progress.”

She added: “In December 2021, the minister for drugs policy announced £1.1 million of new investment into public health surveillance projects to improve our real-time understanding of harms to enable better and faster responses.

“We will shortly be announcing a target to commence on April 1 which will increase the number of people in protective treatment for problematic drug use. We are also working with Public Health Scotland (PHS) to improve alcohol treatment data, including the development of PHS’s surveillance system.”

A Public Health Scotland study published today has indicated that minimal cross-border purchasing of alcohol is occuring in light of Scotland's mimumum unit pricing for alcohol.

The resarch found that this is unlikely to be happening on a scale that would significantly affect alcohol consumption at a population level or impact the intended outcomes and aims of MUP.

Helen Chung Patterson, public health intelligence adviser at Public Health Scotland, said: “The research published today shows that while cross-border purchasing does happen, the extent is small relative to the purchasing behaviours of Scotland’s population as a whole. 

“A key strength of this report is that it enables us to build up a picture of cross-border alcohol-purchasing behaviours from several perspectives. We have examined data on retail sales and alcohol licencing near the border, drawn on qualitative interviews with retailers, gathered customer survey data and explored the factors affecting in-person and online cross-border purchases.

When several different methods produce broadly similar results, as is the case with the report published today, this increases confidence in the findings.”