Chamber and committees

That is really interesting and helpful. Do you have an end point for that? Are you working within a timescale to produce that evidence?

Thank you.

I see that we have Leeanne Hughes back online. Leeanne, I do not know whether you heard my question. I will not go through it all again. Your submission refers to women whose tolerance to drugs reduces during their sentences, and they often overdose when they come out. You say that that has been a problem during Covid because of the lack of access to GPs. Could you expand on that, please?

Natalie, the first time you spoke you alluded to a gap in services. Can you expand a wee bit on your thoughts on that?

Would you be able to send the committee the approximate number of referrals that you make?

I am interested primarily in the drugs figure. I do not know how easy it would be for you to get the other figures. It would be interesting to know, on the drugs side, how many people are being directed to services.

Is it up to each individual officer to make a judgment on whether someone should be referred? Are there guidelines for officers about that?

Neil Richardson, could you give us an update on the work of the Scottish Drug Deaths Taskforce and the pilot schemes that have been running? I do not know whether you know much about the Medics Against Violence pilot programme in Inverness; if you do, could you tell us a wee bit about it, to give us a rounded picture?

I have a question for Leeanne Hughes. The submission from Sacro and Shine says:

“From April-September 2021, 63% of all prison referrals in Shine related to women on remand.”

Those women are usually on remand for low-level offences, and some of them have

“serious drug dependency problems and may also be on a methadone prescription”.

I do not think that such women should be anywhere near prison.

The submission also states that, during their sentence, women’s tolerance to drugs reduces, and problems arise if women who are released use drugs in the same way as they did previously, which can result in overdoses. It says that the problem of women overdosing has been exacerbated during Covid, because of the lack of access to GP services. Could you expand on those points, please, Leeanne?

Leeanne does not seem to be there. Would anyone else like to respond until she returns?

That was the word that you used. Can you expand on that?

I want to ask Superintendent Conway about the police referral system and the factors that are taken into account when deciding what action to take. I will then discuss the Scottish Drug Deaths Taskforce with Neil Richardson.

Superintendent Conway, can you give us an idea of how many referrals to services are made when your officers encounter someone who has been using drugs? I am not asking for an exact figure; I would just like to know the approximate level of such referrals. What do your officers look for? Could you tell us a wee bit about how they make that judgment at the time?