Fourth Special Report
The Scottish Affairs Committee published its Third Report of Session 2024–26, Problem drug use in Scotland follow-up: Glasgow’s Safer Drug Consumption Facility (HC 630), on 16 September 2025. A letter and the Government Response were received on 6 November 2025 and are appended below.
Appendix 1: Letter from Minister of State for Policing and Crime, dated 6 November 2025
I would like to thank you and the whole Committee for your work on this report. I would also like to thank you for inviting my predecessor, Dame Diana Johnson MP, to give evidence to the Committee.
We fully appreciate the Committee’s concern over drug deaths in Scotland, with the UK Government recently holding a UK Drugs Ministerial in Edinburgh, supported by the Scottish minister, Maree Todd MSP, and attended by Sarah Murphy MS minister in the Welsh Government and ministers Naomi Long MLA and Mike Nesbitt MLA from the Northern Irish Government. The full day discussion allowed for the sharing of insights and perspectives from partners including Professor Owen Bowden-Jones, Chair of the ACMD, Zahra Hedges, chief executive of Winning Scotland on the Planet Youth prevention approach used in the Scottish Highlands, and Dr Mike Kelleher and Oliver John on widening the use of long-acting buprenorphine in Wales among others. I am grateful to Ashley Dalton MP, minister for Public Health and Prevention, for chairing the day. We will continue to work closely with our Scottish counterparts on this set of issues.
I attach the Home Office’s full response to the recommendations in the report. I hope that you will find it useful in clarifying the Government’s position. Very best wishes Sarah Jones MP Minister of State for Policing and Crime.
Sarah Jones MP
Minister of State for Policing and Crime
Appendix 2: Government Response
Introduction
The Government is grateful to the Scottish Affairs Select Committee for the report on its inquiry into problem drug use in Scotland follow up: Glasgow’s Safer Drug Consumption Facility published on 16 September 2025. We are grateful for the invitation to provide written and oral evidence to the Committee and for the opportunity to respond to its recommendations.
UK Government approach
The UK Government is firmly committed to tackling drug-related harms and providing people who use drugs with the support they need. The Government is focused on delivering a balanced approach with strengthened law enforcement to tackle supply coupled with investment in treatment, the development of a skilled workforce, sustainable recovery services and peer networks that will support people in recovery with employment, housing and education.
This is vital to address the problem and deliver our missions to make our streets safer and to improve the nation’s health.
The Government is determined to reduce the number of drug-related deaths throughout the UK and recognises the importance of evidence-based and high-quality treatment, which engages vulnerable people who use drugs. The Government will continue to take preventative public health measures to tackle the biggest killers in our society, including drug misuse, and better support people to live longer, healthier lives.
Commitment to working with Scotland to tackle drugs
We recognise the specific challenges faced in Scotland with substance misuse. We are committed to working closely and positively with the Scottish Government, whilst recognising that there are differences in approach.
A key part of this commitment is the UK Drugs Ministerial, which the UK Government chaired at the beginning of September, and which the Scottish Government generously provided a venue for in Edinburgh, with the next meeting to take place in early 2026. The meeting provided an opportunity to foster partnerships and collaboration across the UK, facilitating constructive dialogue on areas of differing approach and to agree action where appropriate at a UK level.
Alongside this ministerial collaboration, we are also working closely with the Scottish Government to enable licensed drug checking facilities to operate lawfully and sharing data and information, including recent wastewater analysis data which the UK government funded across England and Scotland.
Our response to the report’s recommendations
Provision of tourniquets and safer inhalation pipes
Recommendation: If an application for exemptions from the Misuse of Drugs Act 1971 to enable the provision of medical equipment at The Thistle were made by Glasgow City HSCP or the Scottish Government, the UK Government should consider such an application on its merits, as evidence suggests this could enable The Thistle to maximise its effectiveness. (Recommendation, Paragraph 127)
Response: Under section 9A of the Misuse of Drugs Act 1971 it is unlawful to supply articles which may be used for the administration of a controlled drug. The provision of tourniquets and other such equipment including safer inhalation pipes would constitute a breach of the law. The UK Government does not support drug consumption rooms (DCRs) or the expansion of facilities at The Thistle to enable users to inhale drugs and has no plans to make legislative changes to enable the provision of such paraphernalia as part of its operation. The Scottish Government has stated that in order to supply such equipment, Glasgow City Health and Social Care Partnership (HSCP) would need to apply to the Lord Advocate for the necessary exemptions; how to respond to such a request would be a matter for the Lord Advocate.
Drug checking licence for The Thistle
Recommendation: The Home Office should urgently complete its assessment of The Thistle for a drug checking licence and should ensure any necessary support is provided to ensure The Thistle is successful in its application. The Home Office should provide an update on the progress of the drug checking licence in its response to this report. (Recommendation, Paragraph 128)
Response: It is possible for drug checking services to obtain a Home Office licence, and the Home Office keeps an open dialogue with any potential applicants who wish to apply for a licence to ensure the strict requirements attached to drug checking are fully understood. While we do not usually comment on the status of drug checking licenses, with the permission of the applicant we are able to say that the Home Office controlled drug licence for the Glasgow drug checking service, which is a service being operated separately to The Thistle, was issued in October. This licence was issued to the Greater Glasgow and Clyde NHS Board for its premises at 55 Hunter Street, Glasgow. This enables the provision of substance misuse services including heroin assisted treatment and drug checking services. The Thistle safer drug consumption service, which also operates separately at this site, is not covered by this licence.
Evidence-based approach to policy making
Recommendation: The UK Government must demonstrate that it has an evidence-based approach to policy making and will consider the independent evaluation of The Thistle. Any intervention found to be effective at saving lives and reducing harm should not be dismissed. (Recommendation, Paragraph 136)
Response: The Government is committed to an evidence-based approach towards drug policy within the law, ensuring we are following the evidence and taking account of any relevant considerations when providing measures to tackle substance misuse. This commitment has been demonstrated by our world leading, evidence-based Individual Placement and Support Programme, which is successfully helping those struggling with substance dependence disorders find and keep paid jobs.
The Government has also demonstrated a commitment to following the evidence through its successful widening of the availability of naloxone to prevent overdose deaths. The Government has also been consistent in its support for heroin assisted treatment, and opioid substitution treatment (typically using methadone or buprenorphine) the most widely studied medical intervention for heroin dependence, with long-term evidence for reduced drug use, injecting and mortality.
Changing legislation to enable additional Drug Consumption Rooms
Recommendation: If the independent evaluation of The Thistle deems the pilot a success, and the Scottish Government proceeds to make The Thistle permanent, and perhaps to open further SDCFs, the UK Government should work with the Scottish Government to make the necessary changes to reserved legislation to ensure there is a full, sustainable legal framework for Safer Drug Consumption Facilities in Scotland. (Recommendation, Paragraph 138)
Response: The UK fully recognises the Scottish Government’s need to tackle drug misuse in areas where responsibility is devolved, including healthcare, criminal justice, housing, and education.
The legislative framework for drugs works as intended, enabling harmful substances to be controlled whilst ensuring access for those with legitimate reasons including researchers, pharmaceutical companies, clinicians and patients in receipt of valid prescriptions.
The Government has been clear that it has no plans to amend the Misuse of Drugs Act 1971 to enable the operation of DCRs in any part of the United Kingdom. The Thistle is subject to an independent evaluation, and we will welcome any evidence that emerges as part of that following the three-year pilot.