National Mission on Drugs: annual monitoring report 2022-2023

2. Introduction

In January 2021, the Scottish Government announced a new National Mission to reduce drug deaths and harms, supported by an additional £50 million funding per year over the lifetime of this Parliament (2021 to 2026).

The aim of the National Mission is to reduce drug deaths and improve the lives of people affected by drugs. The National Mission on Drug Deaths: Plan 2022-2026 sets out the approach to achieve this aim and vision through the articulation of six outcomes: preventing people from developing problem drug use; reducing harms from the consumption of drugs; getting more people into high quality treatment and recovery services; addressing the needs of people with multiple and complex needs and supporting families and communities affected by problem drug use. These outcomes, alongside six cross-cutting priorities, have been developed in collaboration with stakeholders, including representatives with lived experience. They demonstrate the complexity of the challenge faced and the need for a whole systems approach to underpin the design and delivery of this work. The National Mission Outcomes Framework (‘the framework’) is set out in Figure 1.

This first standalone annual monitoring report provides an analysis of the progress made between April 2022 and March 2023 towards reducing the number of drug-related deaths and improving the lives of people affected by drugs in Scotland. It reports on the set of metrics described in the National Mission on Drugs: Monitoring Metrics Technical Paper, which are used to monitor progress towards the National Mission. It provides a robust statistical backdrop to better understand and monitor progress and complements the National Mission on Drugs Annual Report 2022-2023 (published October 2023), which outlines the activity, developments and achievements made towards the National Mission by national government, local government and third sector partners between April 2022 and March 2023. In addition, this and subsequent monitoring reports may inform the independent evaluation of the National Mission by Public Health Scotland.

Where data covering the period 2022/23 are not yet available, data up to the most recently published date have been included. The report is structured around the framework’s outcomes. Each chapter includes a summary of the metrics for a given outcome, followed by an introduction outlining relevant background information and policy context. Time-series data on each metric are then presented alongside commentary on any additional data or statistics that provide a wider picture and context. As the National Mission was announced during the COVID-19 pandemic in January 2021, data starting from 2019/20 have been included when available to provide an indication of the pre-pandemic levels of each metric. Each chapter concludes with a discussion of the overall progress made towards the outcome by drawing on insights from across the metrics.

There has been a wide range of individual policies and initiatives introduced as part of the National Mission. Assessing the extent to which progress is being made towards an individual outcome, and attributing this to any interventions associated with the National Mission, is not possible in the context of this quantitative monitoring report. Short of attribution, it is possible to explore individual metrics to understand if there has been any change since the start of the National Mission and, where possible, compare this to previous trend data.