Drug and Alcohol Treatment Services (Punitive Sanction Regimes)

– in the Scottish Parliament at on 27 February 2020.

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Photo of Ruth Maguire Ruth Maguire Scottish National Party

6. To ask the Scottish Government what its position is on the use of punitive sanction regimes in drug and alcohol treatment services. (S5O-04176)

Photo of Jeane Freeman Jeane Freeman Scottish National Party

The Scottish Government does not advocate the use of punitive sanctions in drug and alcohol treatment and recovery services. In line with the approach in the rest of our national health service, a person-centred approach to treatment and recovery is a key focus of our “Rights, Respect and Recovery” strategy, and it is highlighted as part of our eight-point treatment plan.

Photo of Ruth Maguire Ruth Maguire Scottish National Party

The cabinet secretary will share my concern that punitive sanction regimes do exist in drug and alcohol treatment services. What will the Scottish Government do to ensure that that ends and that all treatment services meet people where they are and offer them the best chance of support and recovery?

Photo of Jeane Freeman Jeane Freeman Scottish National Party

As I think members across the chamber understand, in addition to the significant additional investment that the First Minister mentioned at First Minister’s question time, which my colleague Ms Forbes will make clear in the budget debate to come, all of the investment should be focused on ensuring that all our services, including mental health services, wrap around individuals rather than forcing them to fit into the nature of processes and services and how services want to run themselves.

That was a clear signal and a clear recommendation that came to us from the Dundee drugs commission, and we are actively taking that approach in our plans for the coming financial year.

That significant investment, which is in addition to the £50 million-odd that sits with our health boards for this work, will be used proactively to ensure that we are listening, as Mr FitzPatrick was doing yesterday, to the voices of those with personal experience and service providers and users. We will ensure that the drug and alcohol treatment services are targeted at what individuals need and that they reach out beyond health into housing and other matters that are the responsibility of our local authority colleagues. In that way, we will put the services around the individuals and genuinely help them to move on with their lives.

The Deputy Presiding Officer:

Question 7, which will be the last question, will have to be brief on all counts.