LAST week the National Records of Scotland published their statistics covering alcohol-specific deaths in 2022.

These showed a two per cent increase to 1,276 deaths compared to 2021, which includes 28 people from Inverclyde.

Once again, I offer my sincere condolences to those who have lost a loved one through alcohol-related harm, and I recognise that these figures will be painful for many people.

I therefore agree with Elena Whitham MSP, the Minister for Drugs and Alcohol Policy, that more work is required to reduce alcohol-related harm, which she made clear during her visit last Wednesday to Moving On Inverclyde (MOI), a local addictions service.

To do that, we will need to better understand the reasons for this increase.

The Scottish Government will continue to work closely with Alcohol and Drug Partnerships (ADPs) and the third sector to address this public health priority, backed by substantial investment.

This year £113m will be made available to ADPs to support local and national initiatives ensuring that local services can respond to local needs.

I was grateful to the minister for taking the time to meet with service users and staff at MOI, so she could hear first-hand how the organisation is saving lives locally.

As vice-chair of the organisation, and being on the board for over eight years, I know how hard all those involved in the organisation work at helping people in our community.

The minister hearing this from service users was extremely important.

Recovery services across the public and third sectors must now redouble their efforts if we want to ensure these figures don’t increase again next year.