Publication - FOI/EIR release

Scottish Government expenditure on the Digital Lifelines Project: FOI release

Published: 8 September 2025
Directorate: Population Health Directorate
Topic: Money and tax, Public sector
FOI reference: FOI/202500461149
Date received: 7 April 2025
Date responded: 7 May 2025

Information request and response under the Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act 2002

Information requested

How much money has the Scottish Government spent on the Digital Lifelines project since it was started in 2021, and can you give a breakdown per year and what the money was spent on?

Response

The Scottish Government has allocated £3,702,953 to the Digital Lifelines Project since 2021. The project aims to support digital inclusion activity across Scotland. This has included the sourcing of devices, connectivity and digital champion training support for community organisations working with people at risk of drug harm to build their capacity to tackle digital exclusion amongst this group. In addition, funds were also allocated to progress the development, testing, review, and roll-out of technological solutions to reduce overdose and drug-related deaths in Scotland. Funding was also used to establish effective and accessible mechanisms to gather learning, share best practice, and to the provision of external programme evaluation. The Digital Lifelines website provides the detail of activity that has been undertaken with funding: Reports | Digital Lifelines.

A further breakdown of what this money was spent on is provided below.

Programme Team Costs

Year	Amount
2021/22	£131,863
2022/23	£145,263
2023/24	£172,065
2024/25	£200,990

Programme Delivery Costs

Funded Organisation	Amount Awarded	Role in Programme and Delivery Period	Deliverables
Scottish Council for Voluntary Organisations	£2,000,000	Key delivery partner 2021-2025	Supply organisations with devices, connectivity, and training to promote digital inclusion for people at risk of drug harm. Offer grants to help organisations enhance their capacity to address digital exclusion, adopt digital transformation, and create innovative solutions.
Turning Point Scotland	£214,000	Key delivery partner 2021-2023	Lead and coordinate engagement within the sector. Create an effective, accessible platform to gather insights, share best practices, and develop sector- wide solutions. Assist in developing and piloting new digital solutions both internally and across the sector.
Drug Research NetworkScotland	£250,000	Key delivery partner 2021-2023	Ensure productive and mutually beneficial links with the Overdose and Responder Alert Technologies (ODART) project. Leverage important knowledge capital regarding barriers to implementation / take up of drug death prevention interventions due to digital exclusion. Lead the design of a research and evaluation framework for the programme, facilitating the active involvement of key partners. Support data collection, synthesis, analysis and writing up of programme outcomes and outputs alongside partners.
Digital Health and Care Innovation Centre	£336,000	Key delivery partner 2021-2025	Activities to support the design and delivery of phase two of Digital Lifelines Scotland: Analyse & Distil Discover Activities Current Service Mapping/ Future Service Mapping. Work with Drug Research Network Scotland to share learning and knowledge exchange. Provide support, project management and evaluation of existing funded digital products and services projects including: Hear4U Scotland On-Line Engagement (OLE) with addiction services using Near Me By My Side Digital Harm Reduction App
University of St Andrews – ODART OLE	£116,000	Funded Project 2021-2024	A report considering evidence for key elements of digital interventions to enhance the therapeutic relationship in Addiction Services and engagement of people who use drugs with treatment. Provision of an outcomes assessment framework tailored to people who use drugs in Scotland and delivered digitally. A proposal for a package of improvements and additional features / add-ons to Near Me that will enhance the effectiveness.
University of Stirling – ODART Here4U	£136,908	Funded Project 2021-2024	Supporting the introduction and adaptation of the Here4U Scotland app, focusing on assessing uptake, implementation, and acceptability. Specific objectives included evaluating the impact of virtual access to remote supervision, exploring opportunities for digital solutions to reduce drug-related deaths, enhancing co-design engagement, and transitioning digital supervision to encourage positive service user interaction and ownership.

About FOI

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Contact

Please quote the FOI reference
Central Correspondence Unit
Email: contactus@gov.scot
Phone: 0300 244 4000

The Scottish Government
St Andrew's House
Regent Road
Edinburgh
EH1 3DG

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