By Adam Morris
The ramping up of drug-drive testing across Scotland is expected to place so much pressure on the system that analysis may have to be outsourced to England and Wales.
Police Scotland wants to train up local officers to carry out roadside tests, a process which is currently only undertaken by traffic cops.
And while the expansion has near universal approval in terms of road safety, there are concerns that a system which already struggles to stay on top of the current scale of drug-driving will be placed under intolerable pressure.
A police report stated: “An incremental rollout of roadside testing to local policing officers in the absence of a long-term sustainable model in forensic services will require reliance on additional outsourcing of toxicology testing to England and Wales.”
Drug-driving laws were strengthened in 2019, and the number of cases continues to exceed initial predictions.
Drug-driving now comfortably outstrips drink-driving in terms of numbers, with drivers who are pulled over testing positive around 50 per cent of the time.
Demand continually runs around 20 per cent higher than planned, meaning that Police Scotland must spend around £500,000 a year outsourcing testing to a single external supplier.
“There’s no use catching the drivers if we don’t have the resources to see the cases through”
Scottish Conservative MSP Liam Kerr
This ensures that virtually all cases can be processed within the six-month statute of limitations, meaning nobody accused of the offence is let off on a time-bar technicality.
But with more tests coming down the tracks, police are concerned about capacity.
Bosses are also worried that more tests could mean the “potential for cases to be time-barred and expected performance criteria against the six-month timeline not being met”.
“The more drug drive tests the better – it’s clearly a problem that’s getting totally out of hand,” said Scottish Conservative justice spokesperson Liam Kerr.
“But the expansion has to be matched by proper investment – there’s no use catching the drivers if we don’t have the resources to see the cases through.
“While pooling and sharing with England is great, most people would expect Scotland’s justice system to be capable of running our own tests.”
The expansion follows a pilot scheme in Shetland over Christmas, where local officers took on some of the work of roads officers in carrying out testing.
Operation Seltern proved hugely successful, and will be expanded gradually across the country, with all areas being covered by the spring of 2027.
Each drug-wipe test costs £17, with the outsourcing adding a further £266 per case. Once fully operational, it is expected to cost the police an extra £1.5 million a year.
But the plan to export tests to England and Wales may not be straightforward, with the service south of the border in chaos.
A recent Westminster report on forensics described it as being “in a graveyard spiral”, and cited the system in Scotland as a better model.
“I am confident the plan will make a positive difference to road safety outcomes,” said Superintendent Andy Barclay, who prepared a report on the issue for the Scottish Police Authority.
“Any consideration of a force-wide rollout would need to be considered alongside significant demands of medical practitioners, custody suites, productions stores and criminal justice partners.
“Increasing the volume of police officers capable of carrying out drug-wipes, and achieving subsequent detections, is intended to have a positive impact on road safety and improve the confidence of the public in policing interventions.”