# 'Lives at risk' in Scotland as drug and alcohol services face cuts, campaigners warn **By:** Hannah Brown **Published:** 2026-08-17T05:00:00Z **Source:** [The Herald](https://www.heraldscotland.com/news/26468526.vulnerable-scots-left-limbo-alcohol-drug-service-cuts) --- Vulnerable Scots ‘left in limbo’ by alcohol and drug service cuts Turning Point crisis centre (Image: Newsquest) Vulnerable people battling addiction could be left “in limbo” as vital drug and alcohol services face closure and insecure funding across Scotland, campaigners have warned. It comes amid concern over frontline provision in Glasgow, where Turning Point Scotland has advised that it will not renew contracts to deliver two long-running alcohol and drug services when they expire in October. Glasgow City Health and Social Care Partnership has now confirmed it will take over both the Glasgow Alcohol and Drug Crisis Service and the Residential Stabilisation Service. The Crisis Centre contract ends on October 4 and will transfer to the HSCP with no job losses, loss of beds or move to another building, while existing staff will transfer under TUPE arrangements. The Stabilisation Service contract ends later in October and will also be taken over by the HSCP, although its future delivery will be reviewed and any changes have yet to be determined. Turning Point Scotland said this month it was “deeply disappointed” by developments surrounding the services. Maryam Tariq, of Sisters Against Cuts, warned the changes reflected wider uncertainty facing organisations supporting people with addiction, mental ill-health, homelessness and trauma. Ms Tariq helped campaign against the threatened loss of Murray’s women’s service in Glasgow, which provides counselling, emotional wellbeing support and group sessions for women in recovery. The campaign has secured breathing space through alternative funding and fundraising, but she said vulnerable people and overstretched staff should not repeatedly have to fight to preserve services on which recovery can depend. “We shouldn't be in limbo and begging for scraps year after year,” she told The Herald. Speaking about Turning Point Scotland, she warned that people would not simply disappear if specialist provision was lost. “They're going to die in the street. They're going to end up in a police cell. I mean, where else are they supposed to go?” Ms Tariq said addiction had to be considered alongside pressure on mental health, housing and social work. “The way I look at addiction, for example, is that this is caused by systemic failures and mental distress,” she said. “We do have a mental health crisis at the moment. We're also Europe's drug capital as well in Glasgow, and I just think, like, at the exact moment we need these services most and poverty services most, the Scottish Government and Glasgow City Council are pulling the plug on services. We should be increasing them, not taking them out.” Ms Tariq said women were at particular risk because addiction, poor mental health and experiences of domestic and sexual violence can overlap, while specialist help can be difficult to access. (Image: PA Wire) She described Murray’s as a "final lifeline” for some women, adding: “This is at a crisis point. They can't get support anywhere else.” She said the service gives women one-to-one counselling and emotional wellbeing support as well as the opportunity to meet others with similar experiences. “There's such a stigma around addiction, but particularly for women,” she said. Ms Tariq warned that removing specialist support could leave women who had experienced abuse with fewer routes to safety. “If you don't have support, you're going to go back to your abuser,” she said. She added that service users should not have to campaign repeatedly to protect support. “We don't want to be campaigning,” she said. “We shouldn't have to be doing this. It's really difficult for us to do that, but we are doing it because we care and we want to keep the service.” Green MSP Iris Duane, who has raised the future of Murray’s women’s service with the First Minister in parliament, also called for greater security for third-sector services. “We need more money for these services,” she said. “We need guaranteed multi-year funding in many cases.” Ms Duane said short-term settlements made it difficult for organisations to plan ahead while the loss of one service could increase pressure on others. The MSP said. “This is affecting people every single day in my region, and I really want to see action be taken swiftly.” She also raised concerns about the changes involving Turning Point Scotland, saying the transition appeared to be happening without enough time to protect continuity for service users. “It seems rushed.” she said, “We should have never even found ourselves in a scenario where such a vital service, such as Turning Point, is seeing a reduction of capacity at a time where we're not seeing a reduction of the issues.” Ms Duane said cuts presented particular dangers for women who had experienced gender-based violence and relied on specialist organisations for support. “It's isolating individuals,” she said. “It's incredibly scary to think about what the scenario is that these people might be in, and how ultimately it is the government's job to help them.” She said arguments over which level of government was responsible should not overshadow the people relying on services. “They're not looking for the headlines. They just want to live,” she said. The warnings come as the Scottish Government seeks to deliver its national mission to reduce drug deaths and harms. Earlier this year, ministers and Cosla launched a ten-year Alcohol and Drugs Strategic Plan, backed by more than £160 million for alcohol and drugs policy in 2026-27 and committing to improve pathways through detox, crisis care and stabilisation. Ms Tariq said that ambition was difficult to reconcile with the insecurity facing frontline services. “I think what Maree Todd had said, her comments about being a national mission. I think it's totally out of touch,” she said, “You can't talk about a national mission and then be talking about cuts or you know not not taking any action on these issues.” The Herald revealed last month that Ms Todd had questioned whether struggling alcohol services required additional funding after organisations warned they lacked capacity. Minutes from a private meeting recorded the minister asking whether “extra money was required” and suggesting there instead needed to be “a redistribution of funds that are already available”. Ministers said addressing concerns with frontline services is a "priority" which will be backed with funding. Responding to the concerns, a Scottish Government spokesperson said: “Every drug and alcohol death is a tragedy, and we understand the concerns being raised about frontline services. This is a priority, backed by record funding of over £160 million in 2026–27, a 75% increase since 2020–21, and a new £36.9 million Alcohol and Drugs Fund providing the multi-year stability partners have called for. “We're widening access to treatment, rehabilitation and naloxone, sustaining The Thistle safer consumption room, and responding to an increasingly toxic supply, including nitazenes. We continue working with local partners, to protect crisis, stabilisation and recovery services.” The Government also pointed to its latest alcohol and drugs strategy and the £36.9m fund launched to reduce drug and alcohol deaths. A Glasgow HSCP spokeswoman said it had “worked at pace to agree a solution which will retain the Crisis Centre as a matter of priority and allow a review [of] the stabilisation service”. She said this followed meetings with Turning Point Scotland after the charity indicated it did not intend to negotiate an extension to its contracts if a solution to financial and property-related issues with City Property could not be reached. The spokeswoman added: “Whilst the HSCP has assured the crisis centre remains a priority, we will be required to complete an equality impact assessment including a consultation in advance of any final decision regarding the stabilisation service. “This decision is based on the intentions of TPS and the commitment the HSCP has to its most vulnerable service users. The HSCP cannot comment of the relationship between TPS and City Property.” Ms Tariq questioned how pressure on services fitted with the Government’s commitment to trauma-informed public services. “You can't have a trauma-informed Scotland while shutting trauma services,” she said. She argued that campaigning to preserve Murray’s showed organised pressure could make a difference. “We got extensions at Murray's because we fight,” she said, “My message, I guess, would be to Turning Point Scotland that we need to link arms. We need everybody else to link arms: the communities, the unions, and we need to fight this.” She added: “We're going to keep losing these services because if it's Murray's and then Turning Point Scotland, then what's next is the question.” The Scottish Trades Union Congress said the situation was “hardly in-keeping” with the Government’s national mission while services underpinning it were being removed. An STUC Spokesperson said: "It's entirely indicative of the immense cuts agenda that's permeating through our public services that Turning Point - a crucial support charity for those in need - is facing closure with both service users and staff at risk of abandonment .  "It's hardly in-keeping with the Scottish Government’s "national mission" to tackle our drug dependency crisis whilst simultaneously presiding over the removal of services that underpin that very mission.  "Campaigners are absolutely right to oppose any cuts to vital services across our communities. The trade union movement stands with all those impacted as we seek to build a nation which prioritises investment for those in need, not cuts in times of crisis." The difficulties have also involved a property dispute between Turning Point Scotland and City Property Glasgow. Turning Point Scotland previously said its landlord proposed increasing the annual rent for its crisis centre from £65,000 to £131,000. The HSCP stressed that the changes were not a result of dissatisfaction with Turning Point Scotland as a provider, but followed the charity advising it could not extend the contracts without satisfactory resolution of financial and property-related matters. Ms Tariq called on Glasgow City Council and the Scottish Government to intervene. “We're not statistics; we're human beings,” she said. She added: “They should be intervening decisively. They need to fund the needs. They need to end this really aggressive form of commercialisation of public services, and put people before profit.” Glasgow City Health and Social Care Partnership, Glasgow City Council, City Property Glasgow and Turning Point Scotland have been contacted for comment.