Chamber
Meeting of the Parliament 09 October 2025
09 Oct 2025 · S6 · Meeting of the Parliament
Item of business
Right to Addiction Recovery (Scotland) Bill: Stage 1
In closing, I thank all the members who contributed to the debate, and I reiterate my thanks to the many stakeholders who have made important and constructive contributions throughout the stage 1 scrutiny of the bill. I will begin by recognising the intention behind the Right to Addiction Recovery (Scotland) Bill. Improving access to treatment and recovery services is a shared goal that reflects the urgency and importance of tackling the harms that are caused by substance use in Scotland. However, as the Health, Social Care and Sport Committee’s stage 1 report makes clear, good intentions alone are not enough. Legislation must be workable, evidence based and capable of delivering real and lasting change.
Treatment is not a single intervention. Recovery is not a linear journey. A compassionate, person-centred approach recognises that recovery involves rebuilding lives, not just stopping substance use. It involves renewing hope and self-respect, fostering meaningful connections and enabling individuals to take charge of their own lives.
In the same item of business
The Deputy Presiding Officer (Liam McArthur)
LD
The next item of business is a debate on motion S6M-19128, in the name of Douglas Ross, on the Right to Addiction Recovery (Scotland) Bill at stage 1. I invi...
Douglas Ross (Highlands and Islands) (Con)
Con
I have thought a lot about how to open this debate. I have moved through different positions on what I want to emphasise at the very beginning—there is so mu...
Alex Cole-Hamilton (Edinburgh Western) (LD)
LD
Does Douglas Ross recognise that treatment for drug addiction and chaotic lifestyle factors is often about more than only rehabilitation? It is about harm re...
The Deputy Presiding Officer
LD
Mr Ross, I can give you the time back for that intervention.
Douglas Ross
Con
Thank you. I agree with Alex Cole-Hamilton’s point, and I am grateful to him for the way in which he has approached the bill. I know that he needs to be conv...
The Minister for Drug and Alcohol Policy and Sport (Maree Todd)
SNP
First, I make it clear that the belief in a right to recovery is something that unites us all, wherever we sit in this Parliament. No one in Scotland should ...
Brian Whittle (South Scotland) (Con)
Con
Will the minister take an intervention?
Maree Todd
SNP
Yes.
Brian Whittle
Con
I am grateful to the minister for giving way, but I am slightly confused, because you have spent the first part of your speech backing the principles of the ...
The Deputy Presiding Officer
LD
Please speak through the chair.
Brian Whittle
Con
Surely the principles of the bill are about the right to recovery, which you have alluded to.
The Deputy Presiding Officer
LD
Always speak through the chair.
Maree Todd
SNP
It is clear, from the evidence that was presented throughout the scrutiny process, that the bill raises profound legal, practical and resource concerns that ...
Sue Webber (Lothian) (Con)
Con
Will the minister take an intervention?
Maree Todd
SNP
If the member will let me continue, I will set out our concerns about the legislation. The committee’s report outlines fundamental flaws in the legislation,...
Douglas Ross
Con
The committee heard from a number of people who were opposed to the bill. I made the point to the committee that 80 per cent of those who responded to the ca...
The Deputy Presiding Officer
LD
I can give you the time back, minister, for taking interventions.
Maree Todd
SNP
I absolutely acknowledge the willingness of the member in charge to amend the bill, but the committee concluded that the bill would need fundamental revision...
Jackie Baillie (Dumbarton) (Lab)
Lab
Will the minister accept an intervention?
Maree Todd
SNP
In a moment. However, the committee was clear in its final report, which drew on evidence from expert witnesses, including people working in clinical fields...
Douglas Ross
Con
On that point, if the minister is open and willing, she should allow the bill to progress to stage 2, so that we can sort it out. That would be being open an...
Maree Todd
SNP
I have already said that there are fundamental issues and that experts who have scrutinised the bill and who have given evidence on it have raised the potent...
The Deputy Presiding Officer
LD
Minister, please resume your seat. The minister has taken a number of interventions and has responded to those. I do not expect to hear a barrage of comment...
Maree Todd
SNP
As I said, I am confident that everyone in this chamber shares the ambition to tackle drug and alcohol deaths in this country, and I am more than willing to ...
The Deputy Presiding Officer
LD
You need to conclude, minister.
Maree Todd
SNP
I confirm that the Scottish Government’s intention is to vote against the motion.
The Deputy Presiding Officer
LD
I call Clare Haughey to speak on behalf of the Health, Social Care and Sport Committee. 15:15
Clare Haughey (Rutherglen) (SNP)
SNP
As convener of the Health, Social Care and Sport Committee, I welcome the opportunity to speak in this stage 1 debate on the Right to Addiction Recovery (Sco...
Douglas Ross
Con
I am grateful to the committee convener for taking an intervention. I ask this in a genuinely non-partisan way. She is speaking about the evidence that the c...
Clare Haughey
SNP
I remind Mr Ross that the committee looks at the evidence that it receives in its entirety—that includes written evidence as well as oral evidence—and that t...