Residential rehabilitation, Scottish Drugs Forum and consumption room information: FOI release

Information requested

• The Scottish Government has set itself the target to increase residential rehabilitation bed capacity in Scotland to 650 beds by 2026. What is the current total?
• The Scottish Government has allocated a £2 million Residential Rehabilitation Additional Placement Fund (APF) to support Alcohol and Drug Partnerships (ADPs) facing high demand for residential rehabilitation services. How much of this has been spent, and could you provide the full breakdown of where the money went?
• Could you supply all analysis undertaken by or for the Scottish Government and any briefings held about decriminalising the use of drugs in other countries, from the last 12 months?
• How much has the Scottish Government handed to the Scottish Drugs Forum in the last five years, and a breakdown of what this money was spent on?
• Neil Gray said on January 10 in a Scottish Government press release: "“Worldwide evidence demonstrates that drug consumption facilities can help save and improve lives." Could you provide the evidence?
• Could you supply all documentation held by the Scottish Government, including correspondence sent and received (including internal), minutes/notes from meetings, analysis and briefings about Ontario shutting its drugs consumption rooms, from the last 12 months?

Response

I enclose a copy of some of the information you requested, please note that the third part of your request will be issued in a separate response.

• In respect to the first part of your request, the Scottish Government published an interim report in November 2024 which provides the most recent count of residential rehabilitation capacity in Scotland. At the time of publication, the report showed that there had been a rise in residential rehabilitation capacity from an estimated 425 beds in 2021 to a maximum of 513 in 2024 – an increase of 21%. The report counted bed capacity as of September 2024, and since then further beds have become available, largely through the completing of projects directly funded by the Scottish Government. The next publication on residential rehabilitation bed capacity, containing an updated count, will be published in late 2025. Under section 25(1) of FOISA, we do not have to give you information which is already reasonably accessible to you.
• In respect to the second part of your request, the total amount of funding allocated for the Additional Placement Fund (APF) in financial year 2025/26, as of 30 June 2025, is £462,160.32. This figure comprises 35 applications, across 4 Alcohol and Drug Partnerships (ADPs). A full breakdown of the applications is provided in Annex A. An exemption under section 39(1) of FOISA applies to some of the information you have requested. This is because full disclosure would, or would be likely to, endanger the physical or mental health or safety of an individual. Where this applies, data has been replaced with ‘<5’. This exemption is subject to the ‘public interest test’. Therefore, taking account of all the circumstances of this case, we have considered if the public interest in disclosing the information outweighs the public interest in applying the exemption. We have found that, on balance, the public interest lies in favour of upholding the exemption.
• In respect to the fourth part of your request, the total amount of actual funding issued by the Scottish Government's Drugs Policy Division to the Scottish Drugs Forum (SDF) from 2021 to the date of your request is £8,231,835.45. This figure covers funding already issued between the financial years 2021-22 to 2024-25'. A full breakdown of the figure provided is included in Annex B.
• In respect to the fifth part of your request, the information you have requested has been addressed in the Scottish Government’s publication A Safer Drug Consumption Facility – Evidence Paper, which draws on a body of international research and evaluation. The paper is publicly available and can be accessed here:Safer drug consumption facilities: evidence paper - gov.scot. Under section 25(1) of FOISA, we do not have to give you information which is already reasonably accessible to you.
• In relation to the sixth part of your request, while our aim is to provide information whenever possible, the Scottish Government does not have the information you have requested. Having undertaken a search of our electronic Records and Document Management system, we have not identified any communications that provide the details you requested. This is a formal notice under section 17(1) of FOISA that the Scottish Government does not have the information you have requested.

About FOI

The Scottish Government is committed to publishing all information released in response to Freedom of Information requests. View all FOI responses at https://www.gov.scot/foi-responses.

FOI 202500476350 - Information released - Annex A and B

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