Chamber and committees

It would be helpful to have that information.

David Malcolm, what range of staff do you represent? Do you represent public-facing staff, too?

Just to mention another example, I note that Wayne Couzens had a prior record. Chief Superintendent Hay, you said that Police Scotland already vetted officers. Would that approach root out something like that?

That is very helpful. Thank you very much.

In my papers, it says:

“In 2022, males were twice as likely to have a drug misuse death as females. Most of the decrease in the past year was in males.”

I thought that you said that there was a changing pattern with regard to men and women.

That was helpful. I also note Kirsten Horsburgh’s comments about men being more likely to be homeless and all the factors that might lead them to be vulnerable to a drug death.

Good morning, minister. Could you expand on what you said about the human rights framework and say what you meant when you talked about parity of health esteem? I have some knowledge of alcohol addiction, and I would say that the issue goes beyond simply stigma, with the NHS, for example, not being keen to admit people who are desperate to get some help but who are still drinking—unless, of course, they have experienced something serious, such as a cardiac arrest. Is that what you meant by parity of health esteem, or did you mean something else?

I will follow up with a separate question. I raised an issue with the previous panel about some of the concerns that the public in Glasgow have about safer consumption rooms. I am sure you agree that it is really important that the community feels that the service is being run well. Could you comment on that? Do the proposals allow for those users who may want to make the transition to rehabilitation?

Does anybody else want to answer that question?

Good morning. I am interested in the statistics on male deaths, as that issue seems to be one of the big problems. Has any work been done to try to understand why that is? Can you help me to understand why there is a prevalence of drug deaths among men?