The Minister for Drugs Policy has set up the National Drugs Mission Oversight Group, composed of international experts, policymakers and people affected by drugs, to assess and support the Scottish government's National Mission on Drugs.

Angela Constance, the Minster for Drugs Policy set up the new National Drugs Mission Oversight Group, who met for the first time this week, following the First Minister’s appointment of Professor Alan Miller as lead on the National Collaborative process.

The group will act to “support the National Mission to reduce drugs deaths”, to scrutinise actions taken by the Scottish government. With the aim of improving policy and practice in government and the wider sector, the group will advise on adapting services to save more lives and amplify the voices of lived experience.

Ms Constance said:

“I thank all those who have joined the Oversight Group and, following a constructive first meeting, I look forward to hearing their ideas on how we can improve and accelerate our efforts to tackle the drugs deaths emergency.”

The group met for the first time on the 1^st of July with their next meeting scheduled in in October, with the brief to reconvene every three months to scrutinise the Scottish government’s plan to deliver the national mission and share best practice.

The group has been established among a range of government and public initiatives to help lower the rates of drug-related deaths in Scotland, the highest in Europe. Recent reports show there were 1,295 drug-related deaths between January and December 2021, representing an 8% decrease from 2020.

In January 2021, Nicola Sturgeon announced a new national mission to reduce drug deaths and harm, supported by £50m in additional annual funding.  The mission aims to provide effective treatment and support and improve frontline services and long-term support through a more “joined-up approach across policies to address underlying issues”.

In June, Public Health Scotland (PHS) launched RADAR, an early warning system for monitoring and identifying trends to prevent drug-related harm across Scotland. The team will collaborate across communities and parliament to help address the harm caused by drugs in Scotland.

A key pledge in the national mission is to increase residential rehabilitation capacity and use.

Earlier this year, a site in North Ayrhsire to develop a specialist family drug rehabilitation centre was secured. When it opens in summer, it will be the second Scottish centre allowing parents going through rehab to live with their children, though Ms Constance admitted that more could have been done to keep local councillors in the loop.

One of the roles of this new group will be to hold the government accountable and assess how it is and can best support people affected by drugs in Scotland, including in its National Collaborative mission.

Announcing the launch of the Oversight Group this week, Ms Constance said:

“The first year of the National Mission was about building the foundations for change - rolling out Medication Assisted Treatment (MAT) standards, expanding access to residential rehabilitation, setting a new treatment target, increasing funding to community and grass-roots organisations and preparing the ground for innovation such as Safer Drug Consumption Facilities.

“Now we must focus on delivering on those foundations and the Oversight Group will provide scrutiny, challenge and expert advice on the National Mission, including the government response to the final recommendations of the Drug Deaths Taskforce, which are expected towards the end of July.”

Professor Miller, Professor of Practice in Human Rights Law at University of Strathclyde, was recently designated the role of leading drug and alcohol policy development with human rights-based approach. He was appointed to “ensure that the voices and rights of people with lived and living experience are at the centre of policy and decision making.”

Professor Miller said:

“I am committed to bring together and amplify the voices of experience in a way which will empower people affected by drugs.

“This will help improve treatment and recovery services as a matter of urgency whilst also importantly help us all tackle the underlying causes of problematic drug use through anchoring in Scotland’s pending new human rights framework the rights of those affected by drugs.”

Among the members of this new oversight group which will provide scrutiny and advice to this process are the CEO of Scottish Families Affected by Alcohol and Drugs, Justina Murray, Dr Sharon Stancliff of the New York Health Department and three lived or living experience representatives.

Ms Constance says that the £250m backing from the Scottish government will help in their efforts to tackle this public health emergency and as the Drugs Policy Minster she is more determined than ever to deliver necessary change.

Read more: Pharmacists reassess role in preventing drug deaths; MSPs to revisit Scotland's health gap; Edinburgh cabbies to carry naloxone

Sign up to our bulletin for key health & social care updates straight to your inbox.