The Capital’s finest pubs, bars and hospitality stars were celebrated last night (Monday, 22 September 2025) at the Edinburgh Bartenders’ Ball, where the winners of the 2025 Edinburgh Bar Awards were revealed in front of a packed house of 300 at The Biscuit Factory.
The awards, voted on by the public and Edinburgh’s bar community, recognised the very best of the Capital’s world-class drinks scene, across 11 categories from cocktail creativity to pub culture, rising talent, and the people making it all happen behind the stick.
Top cocktail bar, Panda & Sons, were the night’s big winner, scooping Best Bar sponsored by Schweppes and Best Bar Team sponsored by Monkey Shoulder.
Leith-based Nauticus took home Best Pub, while Uno Mas was crowned Best Late Night Venue. Neighbourhood favourite, Old Pal, picked up the top prize in the Best Restaurant Bar category, with team member Freya Kemp named Rising Star.
The Legend Award, recognising outstanding contribution to Scotland’s hospitality scene, was presented to Siân Buchan by Backs! Hospitality.
Speaking about the winners, David Smillie, co-founder of Backs! Hospitality and organiser of the Edinburgh Bar Awards and Bartenders’ Ball, said: “Last night was incredible, congratulations to all our winners, finalists and everyone who came out to celebrate the Capital’s licensed trade.
“From iconic venues to rising stars, the winners represent the best of the best, the people and places that make this scene truly world-class.”
The second Edinburgh Bartenders’ Ball brought together over 300 of the city’s hospitality community for a night of complimentary drinks, food, and entertainment, celebrating a city that continues to set the standard for hospitality on the global stage.
2025 Edinburgh Bar Awards Winners
Best Bar (sponsored by Schweppes)
Winner – Panda & Sons Highly Commended – Hey Palu
Best Pub Winner – Nauticus Highly Commended – The Mother Superior
Best Restaurant Bar (sponsored by Liberty Wines) Winner – Old Pal Highly Commended – Little Capo
Best Bar Team (sponsored by Monkey Shoulder) Winner – Panda & Sons Highly Commended – The Cocktail Geeks
Best Late Night Venue (sponsored by Red Bull) Winner – Uno Mas Highly Commended – Nightcap
Unsung Hero (sponsored by Jubel) Winner – Cam Chittleborough Highly Commended – Sam Baxendale
Rising Star (sponsored by Bacardi) Winner – Freya Kemp – Old Pal Highly Commended – Emily Weston – The Cocktail Geeks
Best Shake (sponsored by Royal Mile Trade) Winner – Logan Pope Highly Commended – Saul Lavelle
If you have type 1 or type 2 diabetes, it’s recommended you go for your screening appointment when invited. It’s an important part of your NHS diabetic care.
Jali Collective launches its inaugural Jali Film Weekender, a new film festival celebrating Black, African and diaspora stories to be held in Edinburgh from 30 October – 2 November 2025 at the city’s newly reopened Filmhouse Cinema.
The theme of the 2025 Weekender edition is Dreams and Apparitions, which will weave through the programme’s films and events, exploring subjects such as grief, memory, imagination, new and alternate futures, and the seen and unseen in the African and diasporic experience.
The Weekender is rooted in fostering community, connection and representation, with a focus on platforming a range of voices, styles and stories from across the African continent and its global diaspora. A key ambition of the new collective and festival is to build intentional relationships with Black, African and diaspora audiences in Edinburgh and Scotland.
FILM HIGHLIGHTS
Opening Film – MEMORY OF PRINCESS MUMBI: The festival will open with the Scottish Premiere of Memory of Princess Mumbi, the groundbreaking new afro-futurist film from Swiss-Kenyan director Damien Hauser.
Fresh from its World Premiere at Venice Film Festival’s Giornate degli Autori in September (the first Kenyan film in history to do so), Memory of Princess Mumbi unfolds in a post-technological future African continent and is a joy-filled love letter to cinema, showcasing a beautifully unique, imaginative approach to filmmaking and use of AI.
Closing Film – PROMISED SKY: The festival will close with the Scottish Premiere of Promised Sky (Promis le Ciel), the acclaimed drama by Tunisian director Erige Sehiri that opened this year’s Un Certain Regard section at the Cannes Film Festival.
Promised Sky follows the intertwined fates of three women from sub-Saharan Africa living in Tunis and has drawn international praise for its humanistic storytelling and powerful portrayal of sisterhood and resilience.
FullProgramme Coming Soon: Audiences can expect a vibrant mix of narrative features, documentaries, animation, shorts and archive films, each offering distinct visions from Africa and the diaspora. The full programme, to be announced 6 October, will also feature filmmaker Q&As, panel discussions, workshops and other gatherings.
EXTENDED REALITY EXHIBITION
The inaugural edition will also showcase a special Extended Reality (XR) exhibition, which will run alongside film screenings. The exhibition is supported by the British Council and The Africa Centre as part of the UK/Kenya Season, a cultural programme celebrating creativity and innovation in both countries. The XR exhibition will be free to access during the festival. It features the first Scottish presentation of two immersive works by Kenyan artists that invite audiences to engage with nature, heritage, and technology:
ENKANG’ ANG’ – Created by Kenyan multimedia artist Naitiemu, Enkang’ Ang’ (meaning “Our Home” in Maasai) is an immersive VR experiencethat transports viewers into a traditional Maasai enkang’ (homestead). Through virtual reality and recorded conversations, Naitiemu’s project shares the rich indigenous Maasai culture with stories collected from women of the Twala Tenebo village. Enkang’Ang’ asks the poignant question, “How do we learn from our traditions and re-imagine our future?” Audiences will be able to virtually step inside a Maasai manyatta homestead, accompanied by video interviews with Maasai women elders sharing knowledge of their history, daily life and sustainable practices.
ARGO– Developed by XR game designer Joanna Oluoch, in collaboration with Nairobi’s Fallohide Studio, ARGO is Africa’s first public environmental augmented reality game. This cutting-edge AR experience transports players into the heart of Nairobi’s Oloolua Forest, allowing them to explore its serene nature trails, encounter wildlife, and discover hidden gems like a 20-foot waterfall and historic caves. Using a tablet or phone based app, visitors of all ages can take a virtual “nature walk” through digital recreations of the forest, interact with its flora and fauna, and learn about conservation. ARGO was launched in Kenya earlier this year as an innovative way to connect young people with nature, and the Jali Film Weekender will host one of its first public exhibitions outside the African continent.
ABOUT JALI COLLECTIVE
Founded earlier this year, Jali Collective is a new grassroots collective based in Edinburgh, Scotland, with the mission to widen access to African cinema and to celebrate and elevate Black, African, and diaspora stories through film and culture. The collective curates film screenings, festivals, workshops and related events that bring Black, African and diaspora cinema to audiences. Jali Collective was founded by three core members – Tomiwa Folorunso, Isabel Moura Mendes and Carmen Thompson – each of whom are long-standing producers, programmers and cultural organisers with deep roots in the film, festival and arts sectors in Scotland and beyond.
“Our aim with Jali Collective and the Weekender is to create a welcoming space for community and conversation around Black, African and diaspora cinema,” say Tomiwa, Isabel and Carmen. “These first announcements give a sense of the vision we want to share moving forward. By bringing these incredible works to Edinburgh, we hope to inspire audiences – especially Black and African diaspora communities – and spark dialogues that resonate long after the Weekender. We can’t wait to reveal the full programme very soon!”
Jali Film Weekender 2025 is supported by Screen Scotland and Film Hub Scotland (part of the BFI’s Film Audience Network, awarding funding on behalf of Screen Scotland and the BFI National Lottery), as well as British Council, the Africa Centre and other partners.
Sambrooke Scott, Head of Audience Development at Screen Scotland said: “We are very excited to support the launch of the Jali Film Weekender – a thrilling addition to Scotland’s film exhibition calendar, bringing bold, imaginative and deeply resonant Black, African and diaspora stories to communities in Edinburgh.
“At Screen Scotland we’re committed to ensuring that Scotland’s screen culture is representative of the richness and diversity of our communities, and Jali embodies that vision. It’s exciting to see such a dynamic new event create space for connection, conversation and discovery, delivered by the passionate and talented people who make up Jali – and we look forward to this edition, and the future of the Collective.”
Ilia Ryzhenko, Manager at Film Hub Scotland, says: “Our team at Film Hub Scotland is proud to support the inaugural edition of the Jali Film Weekender — a much-needed project delivered by an extremely experienced and knowledgeable team of programmers.
“We cannot wait for the full reveal of the programme, which comprises several art forms and includes many enhanced screenings and discussions.”
EAST AFRICAN SHORT FILM PROGRAMME: MANYATTA MENGI MASHARIKI
Manyatta Mengi Mashariki is a short film programme spotlighting exciting new voices from Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda, Ethiopia and Reunion Island. Curated by filmmaker Hawa Essuman, producer Fibby Kioria and filmmaker Wanjeri Gakuru the programme offers fresh perspectives on the human condition across the genres of comedy, action and drama.
The 7 selected short films are Rolex (2020), Benon Mugumbya (Uganda); Scalp Deep (2020), Naseeba Bagalaaliwo (Uganda), Love & Brain (2020), Semagngeta Aychiluhem (Ethiopia); Stero (2022), Tevin Kimathi & Millan Tarus (Kenya); Transaction (2025), Wanjeri Gakuru (Kenya); An Ode To The Time I Loved Bread (2021), Neema Ngelime (Tanzania); Set Lam (2023), Vincent Fontano (Reunion Island).
Taking place at Filmhouse on 14 October, tickets will be on sale on 1 October, the screening will be followed by a discussion with Hawa Essuman (Manyatta Mengi Mashariki) and Carmen Thompson (Jali Collective).
The Manyatta Mengi Mashariki screening is supported by the British Council and the Africa Centre as part of the British Council UK/Kenya Season 2025, of which Jali Collective are the Scotland regional partner.
Hawa Essuman, Wanjeri GakuruandFibby Kioriaof Manyatta Mengi Mashariki say, “This showcase provides a snapshot of the current voices of the makers and watchers emerging in eastern African cinema.
“As members and champions of this ecosystem we’re incredibly pleased and proud to present the topics and visual language representative of the region. It’s been a joy to create and we can’t wait to share it with UK audiences”.
There is no evidence that taking #paracetamol during pregnancy causes autism in children.
Always follow NHS guidance and report any suspected side effects via the Yellow Card scheme https://bit.ly/2A6B165
Dr Alison Cave, Chief Safety Officer at the MHRA, said: “Patient safety is our top priority. There is no evidence that taking paracetamol during pregnancy causes autism in children.
“Paracetamol remains the recommended pain relief option for pregnant women when used as directed. Pregnant women should continue to follow existing NHS guidance and speak to their healthcare professional if they have questions about any medication during pregnancy.
“Untreated pain and fever can pose risks to the unborn baby, so it is important to manage these symptoms with the recommended treatment.
https://twitter.com/i/status/1970506529125064995
“Our advice on medicines in pregnancy is based on rigorous assessment of the best available scientific evidence.
“Any new evidence that could affect our recommendations would be carefully evaluated by our independent scientific experts.
“We continuously monitor the safety of all medicines, including those used during pregnancy, through robust monitoring and surveillance. We encourage anyone to report any suspected side effects to us via the Yellow Card scheme.”
Paracetamol is recommended as the first-choice painkiller for pregnant women, used at the lowest dose and for the shortest duration.
If pain does not resolve, then patients are advised to seek advice from their healthcare professional.
Scottish Autism is aware that pronouncements regarding autism from the US Government will be a source of anxiety and worry for many in our community.
We are clear that public policy should be focused on recognising and accommodating the needs and rights of autistic people rather than stigmatising neurodivergence as something to be ‘treated’ or prevented. Spreading misinformation about the identified reasons why some people are born autistic does nothing to further this aim.
Scottish Autism’s focus is on finding better ways to support autistic people and their families. Our research, campaigning and service provision reflect this priority and always will.
Our Advice Line is open 10am-4pm Monday, Tuesday, Thursday & Friday and our Community Advisors can help you to identify what support may exist in your area.
You can call the Advice Line on 01259 222022, email advice@scottishautism.org or LiveChat with us via our website.
Local Labour politicians have come out against the proposal to list the Brunton Theatre building.
Their opposition was stated in an open letter to Historic Environment Scotland where they claimed listing the current building would jeopardise plans to build a new theatre in Musselburgh.
The letter was signed by Labour MSPs Sarah Boyack and Martin Whitfield, East Lothian MP Douglas Alexander, Edinburgh East MP Chris Murray and Musselburgh Councillors Andy Forrest and Ruaridh Bennett.
The signatories raised concerns that “preserving the current building also preserves many of the issues it faces, including a lack of accessibility, concerns over safety and vital maintenance”.
The letter also reiterated the elected representatives’ commitment towards a new theatre space in Musselburgh that can continue the cultural legacy of the current building while providing better facilities to improve accessibility.
The current theatre was mothballed last October after it closed its doors in 2023 for the last time due to the presence of RAAC.
Commenting on the letter, Ms Boyack said:“I hope this letter illustrates to Historic Environment Scotland why we oppose the listing of the current building.Our driving priority must be the continuation of a theatre in Musselburgh – listing will jeopardise this.
“I am looking forward to working with the Brunton Theatre Trust and with HES to find a solution that ensures that Musselburgh residents get an accessible and functioning theatre space.”
Edinburgh’s new guide supports the creative journey of artists by identifying spaces and opportunities for support in the city
Following extensive engagement with artists, the guide sections and content were developed to provide information and tips to help navigate a new industry and home environment.
This also encourages networking, engagement with local communities and better understanding of the opportunities Edinburgh offers for creative collaborations and artistic ambitions.
Developed in partnership with Creative Edinburgh in response to growing diversity in the city, the online guide can be read in more than 130 languages. It comes after the recent addition of a translation and audio transcription functionality to the Council’s website.
Artists and creatives who have recently settled in the city can also benefit from subsidised premium membership and mentorship opportunities through Creative Edinburgh.
Culture and Communities Convener Margaret Graham said: “Thanks to our world-renowned festivals, heritage sites, and community art spaces, Edinburgh has attracted a culturally diverse community of artists over the centuries.
“There really is inspiration to discover all over the city so it’s no surprise that so many choose Edinburgh as the place to develop their careers.
“I’m delighted that we’re now able to give creatives and artists the opportunity to learn more about Edinburgh’s cultural life and the support available to them to ensure they have the best possible start in the city.”
Ola Wojtkiewicz, Executive Director at Creative Edinburgh, said: “Artists, makers, and creative practitioners are at the heart of what makes Edinburgh unlike any other city. For the past fourteen years, Creative Edinburgh has proudly supported thousands of creatives across the city—that’s why we exist as a charitable organisation.
“We’re especially proud to collaborate with the City of Edinburgh Council on the Multilingual Cultural Guide. As a multicultural and multilingual team ourselves, we deeply value the importance of welcoming artists from around the world and helping them thrive in Edinburgh. This spirit of inclusion is part of what makes the city so vibrant.
“As part of our ongoing partnership, we’re delighted to offer 25 fully funded Premium memberships and a series of tailored mentorship opportunities for artists from diverse heritage backgrounds.
“These initiatives are designed to help creatives navigate their careers in a new environment and make the most of the rich support available to them in Edinburgh.”
Marcin Krupa, visual artist and gallery curator, said:“I arrived in Edinburgh 12 years ago with a couple of hundred euros in my wallet. Right now, I work for an art school, and I am a gallery curator. It wasn’t always an easy journey, but I believe that in Edinburgh there is a great creative potential and a plenty of opportunities.
“I was able to achieve my dreams and financial independence thanks to generous people living here and thanks to various organisations that supported me.
“When I came to Edinburgh, I felt I was surrounded by people who are willing to help me. I felt accepted and became part of the local creative community.”
To mark Recycle Week (22nd – 28th September), Aldi is calling on children in Edinburgh & The Lothians to get creative by designing a poster to inspire people to recycle.
Britain’s fourth-largest supermarket is inviting children aged 5–14 to submit their designs for the chance to see them showcased on Aldi’s digital screens in stores nationwide.
Three winning designs – one from England, one from Scotland and one from Wales – will be chosen by a panel of Aldi’s sustainability experts and displayed in their local store.
The competition is part of Aldi’s ongoing drive to support sustainable shopping behaviours, including reducing single-use plastic and increasing recycled content in packaging.
Luke Emery, National Sustainability Director at Aldi, said:“At Aldi, we are always looking for ways to reduce waste and make recycling easier for customers. This competition is a fun way to spark children’s imagination and show that small actions can have a big impact.
“Recycling is something we can all do, but sometimes it takes a spark of creativity to bring the message to life. By asking children to share their own ideas and artwork, we hope to inspire families and communities to think differently about the choices they make every day.”
Entries open Monday 22nd September 2025 and close Friday 31st October 2025. Parents and teachers can submit a copy of children’s designs on A4 paper, alongside the name and age of the entrant, via email to recycleweek@aldi.co.uk.For more information and T&Cs, visit: LINK.
2 – 25 October 2025 | The Scottish Gallery, Edinburgh
This October, The Scottish Gallery is proud to present a landmark double exhibition: 50 Years of Naboland and The Behrens Family. Together, these parallel shows celebrate one of the most original artistic journeys of our time, while also revealing the extraordinary breadth of creativity across three generations of the Behrens family.
For half a century, Reinhard Behrens has constructed and voyaged through his mythical land of Naboland. With its submarine expeditions, dreamlike seascapes, and imaginative cartographies, Naboland has become both a place and an odyssey. It is an astonishing body of work that defies convention and redefines storytelling through art.
This immersive exhibition will transform two floors of The Scottish Gallery into Naboland itself, offering audiences the chance to step inside Behrens’ unique universe. The exhibition will also be accompanied by a new publication from The Scottish Gallery which will provide further insights into the mythology, imagery and enduring significance of Behren’s extraordinary creation.
50 Years of Naboland will position Reinhard Behrens rightly as one of the most original and visionary artists of his generation.
Alongside Naboland, The Scottish Gallery is delighted to present The Behrens Family, a showcase of creativity that spans painting, sculpture, music, film, automata and more.
This family exhibition includes works by:
Reinhard Behrens
With its submarines, strange coastlines, and dreamlike cartography, Reinhard’s work invites us to consider travel, place, and the persistence of wonder.
Margaret Behrens Smyth
Margaret Smyth, painter, brings a quiet lyricism to her work. Her paintings, often rooted in nature and memory, offer a meditative counterpoint to the narrative drama of Naboland. Together, Reinhard and Margaret’s artistic lives have formed a deeply generative partnership that has nurtured creativity across generations.
Kirstie Behrens
Kirstie Behrens is an accomplished printmaker specialising in etching and drawing. A graduate of Duncan of Jordanstone, Dundee, her practice is grounded in careful observation and process, with a particular sensitivity to mark-making and material. Her work reflects her mother’s quietude and her father’s precision, offering a contemplative and refined perspective on the world.
David Behrens
David Behrens is a trained musician blending music, sculpture, and movement in his kinetic automata and mobiles. He channels a playful intelligence into his artistic practice, with each mobile or automata animated by a sense of narrative and mechanical poetry. While David’s art shares his father’s sense of invention, his speaks with a distinct voice shaped by sound, rhythm, and cinematic vision.
Together, these four voices offer a kaleidoscopic view of artistic inheritance, innovation and collaboration, demonstrating how creativity can flourish within and across generations.
Christina Jansen, Director of The Scottish Gallery, says: “It is time that Reinhard Behrens is recognised for his astonishing art odyssey.
“50 Years of Naboland is not just a retrospective, it is a journey into imagination itself. Alongside the wider Behrens family, this exhibition affirms their collective brilliance and unique contribution to contemporary art.”
The John Muir Trust publishes three key manifesto asks for the upcoming Scottish parliamentary elections
In May 2026, voters in Scotland will head to the polls for the last time before we hit the critical 2030 deadline for nature and climate action. The next cohort of parliamentarians and the Government will have the monumental task of delivering a nationwide effort to restore nature by 2030.
Wild places are absolutely critical to the success of this national mission. Without proper protection for wild places, nature will not be able to rebound.
With so little time left, the Trust has decided to focus its advocacy efforts on three key asks.
To reach the Scottish Government’s nature restoration targets, we need a significant reduction in Scotland’s deer population. For this to happen at scale, it also needs happen at pace. The National Deer Management Plan financially rewards landowners and land workers who are being proactive and enabling nature restoration by carrying out sustainable deer management.
We are asking political parties to commit to:
The principle of a National Deer Management Plan
Funding that plan by redirecting existing subsidies to total £59 million over the first four years of its implementation
Increasing the annual deer cull from 180,000 to 250,000
Such actions will help triple Scotland’s total woodland creation target while saving £900 million in taxpayers’ money. They will enable natural regeneration and colonisation at scale – creating an additional 350,000ha of native woodland. And they will put an end to peatland degradation caused by overgrazing and trampling.
This policy is supported by all major landowning environmental charities alongside Scottish Environment LINK, Stop Climate Chaos Scotland, the Scottish Rewilding Alliance, Community Land Scotland and the Scottish Tenant Farmers Association. It is being co-developed with the Association of Deer Management Groups as part of a pilot scheme for 2025-26 announced by the Scottish Government in its last Programme for Government.
Read more about the National Deer Management Plan here.
Introduce a CELT (Carbon Emissions Land Tax) Bill
The Carbon Emissions Land Tax is a great example of a tax that enacts the key principles of Polluters Pay and Just Transition. It is a grown-up, transparent behavioural-change tax that rewards nature and climate conscious landowners and penalises those who are unwilling to manage land in the public interest.
The tax will help local communities build wealth and resilience in the face of the climate and nature crises. The tax would be implemented on a local authority level, and the proceeds would therefore also go back to the local community. Earmarked for climate and nature initiatives, this revenue would empower local councils to fuel a growing environmental sector, providing livelihoods in rural areas.
Here, we are asking political parties to commit to:
Introducing a CELT Bill by May 2026
Ensuring that the CELT Bill follows the principles of behavioural change taxes by creating an escalating system for tax rates over time
Ensuring that the CELT Bill applies to all large landowners in Scotland, defined as owning over 1,000ha.
Doing all of the above will result in three essential outcomes. It will remove 6m tonnes of greenhouse gases from the atmosphere annually by 2040. It will enable nature restoration at an unprecedented scale by positively impacting more than 60% of Scotland’s land, owned by the approximately 800 largest landowners. And it puts the Polluter Pays and Just Transition principles into action by disincentivising harmful environmental practices, while ensuring revenue from the tax is reinvested in the communities most affected by polluters.
Our Carbon Emissions Land Tax proposal is supported by over 50 organisations, community groups, trade unions, churches and businesses representing over a million people in Scotland. It is also backed by a 4-to-1 majority of Scots according to a YouGov poll.
You can find more details about the tax mechanism and answers to common questions here.
Legislate for a new Nature Restoration designation and review the planning system
In difficult times, we must make choosing nature easier. The Nature Restoration designation does just that by giving communities, private and charitable landowners the choice and autonomy to protect wild places now and into the future.
This new designation focuses on reducing the threats and pressures to nature and biodiversity, as opposed to current designations which focus on protecting the little that is left, condemning the country to work from a degraded baseline.
Rather than protecting specific characteristics, the new Nature Restoration designation focuses on combating a variety of threats, from INNS to pollution, helping us empower nature to do what it does best: grow, diversify, thrive. This is a nature designation for the 21st century that allows nimbleness in the face of changes brought on by the climate and nature crises.
In challenging times, we must make it easier to choose nature. The new Nature Restoration designation empowers communities, private landowners, and charities to protect wild places – now and for generations to come.
Unlike existing designations that focus on preserving what little remains, this forward-looking approach tackles the root causes of biodiversity loss. It shifts us away from a degraded baseline and toward a thriving future.
Rather than protecting isolated features, the Nature Restoration designation addresses a wide range of threats – from invasive species to pollution – giving nature the space and support it needs to grow, diversify, and flourish.
This is a designation built for the 21st century: adaptive, ambitious, and responsive to the twin crises of climate and biodiversity. It’s a bold step toward restoring Scotland’s natural legacy.
In this case, we are asking political parties to commit to:
Creating a new statutory designation aimed at setting aside land as areas where natural processes take the lead
Ensuring that the new designation protects land from industrial developments
Designating 10% of Scotland’s land as nature restoration areas.
Doing this will once again bring three essential outcomes. It will institutionalise the land management concepts that underpin nature restoration. It will protect areas of land of low biodiversity value from development long into the future.
And it will popularise the concept of nature restoration among the wider public, prompting people to see landscapes through a rewilding lens.
As we get closer to election day, the John Muir Trust’s policy team will be busy lobbying behind the scenes to get these commitments on party manifestos. To be successful, we will need strong public support.
The Health, Social Care and Sport Committee highlight a series of concerns with the Bill and say it will require significant amendments, should it proceed to Stage 2.
The Member’s Bill, introduced by Douglas Ross MSP, seeks to give people diagnosed with drug or alcohol addiction a statutory right to receive treatment from a relevant professional.
The Committee recognises the strength of evidence received throughout its Stage1 scrutiny which revealed a high level of dissatisfaction with availability and access to support services for those experiencing harm from drug or alcohol misuse.
However, the Committee’s Stage 1 report also highlights widespread stakeholder concerns that the Bill’s focus is too narrow and could lead to a deprioritising of prevention and early intervention when tackling harmful drug and alcohol use.
The Committee says it has heard substantial evidence of the significant strain those working in drug and alcohol services are currently under and says the Bill could potentially exacerbate pressure on the workforce and resources.
Fears that the three-week statutory deadline in the Bill could compromise treatment quality, limit choice, and increase relapse risk are also highlighted. The Committee raises concerns that this treatment deadline could end up putting further pressure on over-stretched resources.
There are also concerns that the costs of implementation set out in the Financial Memorandum are a significant underestimate and the Committee concludes that the Bill may result in resources being diverted from addressing the needs of individuals in order to achieve legal compliance with the Bill.
The Committee points to ‘strong evidence’ that the right to treatment outlined in the legislation could set a dangerous precedent and expectation for a similar legal right to treatment for other conditions.
Further concerns are also raised by the Committee that an unintended consequence of the Bill could be a significant rise in litigation, in cases where health services are unable to meet the legal rights set out in the Bill.
Stakeholders’ doubts about whether legal rights alone can overcome cultural, capacity, and resource barriers, and concerns over proposed enforcement routes as being too costly and complex are highlighted by the Committee.
There are also concerns about the way the Bill might interact with the existing legal framework governing the rights of people suffering harm from alcohol or drug use.
Should it proceed to Stage 2, the Committee calls on Douglas Ross to consider further ways of ensuring that the Bill works in tandem, rather than in conflict, with the existing policy and legal framework.
Clare Haughey MSP, Convener of the Health, Social Care and Sport Committee, said: “Our Committee recognises the long-standing and serious harms that drug and alcohol misuse can have on individuals and families across Scotland.
“The number of people suffering from drug and/or alcohol use in Scotland is still far too high and our evidence made it clear that more must be done to tackle these issues.
“However, a majority of our committee do not believe this Bill is the correct vehicle to effectively support those suffering harm from alcohol or drug use.
“Our report highlights our serious concerns with the Bill in its current form and it is because of those concerns that a majority of our committee is unable to recommend to Parliament that the Bill should proceed to Stage 2.
“We acknowledge the Bill’s aim of helping those suffering from drug and alcohol misuse. However, our evidence has highlighted that the Bill in its current form could negatively impact individuals who are suffering and put even greater strain on services that are already deeply stretched.
“On behalf of the Committee, I am grateful to everyone who has provided evidence and informed our scrutiny of the general principles of this Bill.”
Douglas Ross MSP responded: “Disappointing that Holyrood’s Health Committee has said the Right to Recovery Bill should fall.
“But Parliament doesn’t have to agree. This Bill would guarantee a legal right to treatment. With lives lost every day, I hope MSPs back further work on it.”
Other key findings in the report:
the Committee notes concerns that the Bill places a particular emphasis on abstinence-based types of treatment over harm reduction, rather than focusing on what is best for each individual
the Committee voices concerns that the Bill could prove exclusionary, in that individuals who have not received a diagnosis of addiction would not be able to exercise the right to access treatment conferred by the Bill
the Committee notes a range of concerns about the language and definitions used in the Bill. For example, the Committee highlights suggestions that a more appropriate alternative term to “addiction” would be “substance use disorder”, as defined by the “Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders”
the Committee is concerned by the Bill’s lack of acknowledgement of the crucial role families and carers play in supporting individuals, the role of multi-disciplinary teams, and regrets that the Bill makes no direct reference to the critical role of independent advocacy.
Public Support for Right to Recovery Ignored
Annmarie Ward of FAVOR UK (Faces and Voices of Recovery) said:We have published a detailed statement responding to the Health, Social Care and Sport Committee’s Stage 1 report on the Right to Recovery Bill.
“The statement sets out why the Committee’s decision ignores overwhelming public support, repeats long-debunked myths, and privileges government-funded institutions over families and lived experience.
“Scotland remains the drug death capital of Europe. Nearly 80 percent of consultation respondents supported the Bill, yet the Committee has chosen to defend the status quo rather than recognise the urgent need for enforceable recovery rights. This deserves immediate scrutiny.”
