A new ten-year plan to reduce drug and alcohol harm and deaths has been jointly published by the Scottish Government and the Convention of Scottish Local Authorities (COSLA).
Preventing harm, promoting recovery: Scotland’s alcohol & drugs strategic plan 2026-2035 replaces the five-year national mission on drugs, the final funding for which was announced late last month.
The plan, which is backed by £160m funding for 2026-27, aims to ‘improve collaboration between government and grassroots delivery with a locally-led, accountable system, guided by clear national direction and support’. A damning 2022 report from Audit Scotland said that delivery of drug and alcohol services in the country was overly complex, with lines of accountability ‘not always clear’ – making spending and value for money difficult to track. A subsequent Audit Scotland report said that while some headway had since been made, the country’s ongoing drugs death crisis had led to the government shifting attention away from alcohol harm.
One key priority for the new plan is to expand treatment standards to include alcohol and all drugs, the Scottish Government states, while there will also be a ‘renewed focus’ on prevention, and support for residential rehab – especially ‘improving pathways through detox, crisis care and stabilisation’. The plan is ‘underpinned by a human-rights approach’, it adds.
Although the most recent figures for drug and alcohol deaths in Scotland both showed decreases from previously record highs, the drug death rate remains the highest in Europe – with the most deprived communities bearing the brunt.
WithYou recently published its manifesto for drug and alcohol services ahead of this May’s parliamentary elections, calling for a dedicated alcohol strategy, expansion of harm reduction, and ‘clear outcomes and accountability’ across all services.
The fact the new plan was a joint government-COSLA initiative would ‘strengthen national and local partnership working so that people can receive the right help when and where they need it’, said drug and alcohol policy minister Maree Todd. ‘The last five years have seen record investment in alcohol and drugs services, with significant progress, but we want to do more. This plan marks the next phase in our response to tackling alcohol and drug harms. We are already widening access to treatment, residential rehabilitation and life-saving naloxone, and Glasgow hosts the UK’s first safer drug consumption facility. As we respond to new challenges – including an increasingly toxic drugs supply – this plan refocuses our efforts in a more co-ordinated and sustainable way.’
‘Back in 2024, Audit Scotland called out the Scottish Government for shifting focus away from alcohol harm and made a strong recommendation that by mid-2025, the Scottish Government must “agree actions to increase focus and funding for tackling alcohol-related harm, while continuing to tackle drug-related harm”,’ said SHAAP chair Dr Alastair MacGilchrist. ‘Today’s plan is welcome but we have been pressing the Scottish Government for some time to act with urgency to address Scotland’s alcohol problem. With almost one in five Scottish adults showing signs of hazardous or harmful drinking, around 30,000 alcohol-attributable hospital admissions every year, and more than three people dying an avoidable alcohol death every day, the scale of the challenge demands action that matches the rhetoric.’
His organisation would ‘now advocate for accountability – and funding’, he added, ‘so that today’s plan is not forgotten about after May’s elections, but forms the basis of meaningful and sustained action to address the treatment gap for people struggling with alcohol problems across Scotland.’
‘Scotland’s drug-related death toll is still tragically high, so it is crucial that the Scottish Government continues to take action,’ said service engagement manager at AbbeyCare, Billy Henderson. ‘We welcome the commitment to maintaining a minimum of 1,000 rehab beds annually, and the focus on bridging the gap between detox and rehabilitation. By strengthening the links between statutory services, recovery communities, and mutual aid groups, this plan addresses the critical aspects needed to save lives and support long-term recovery.’
‘The strategy provides the long-term framework we’ve been calling for,’ added director of Scotland at WithYou, Louise Stewart. ‘We particularly welcome the commitment to expand safer drug consumption facilities beyond Glasgow, explore drug checking through mobile and postal services, develop overarching treatment standards covering all substances with clear accountability for delivering them, and commission a national needs assessment for alcohol treatment. The strategy’s human rights-based approach is also vitally important, and embedding the Charter of Rights across all services will be critical. But the next government must guarantee that this strategy is backed by protected, multi-year funding that rises with inflation. Without that, we risk losing the workforce, the momentum and the progress that’s been built.
Although alcohol deaths outnumbered drug deaths in 2024, alcohol has ‘consistently received less policy focus and funding,’ she continued. ‘The strategy commits to a national needs assessment for alcohol treatment, considers expanding alcohol care teams in hospitals, and promises an action plan later in 2026. These are important steps. But we are calling for a dedicated alcohol strategy with ring-fenced resources. That action plan must be published swiftly with clear timelines. Alcohol cannot be overshadowed again.’
Preventing harm, promoting recovery: Scotland’s alcohol & drugs strategic plan 2026 – 2035 is available here