Drug Driving Overview – Performance

In September 2025, Police Scotland transferred 87% of all samples to the SPA laboratory within 14-days (target set being 80%) 93% of all samples were transferred within 21 days (target set being 90%) and 96% of all samples were transferred within 28 days (target set being 100%).

It is recognised that the 100% target has not been met in terms of submission at 28 days. The main contributory factors are incomplete administration and productions, alongside delays in completing the process of lodging and arranging transfers.

To address this several measures have been introduced including:

• Direct intervention with officers who are not submitting samples with due urgency and regard for compliance requirements. Supervisors and managers are also provided with information in terms of shortcomings in performance.
• Education and remedial training around the procedures for lodging the samples and reminders around the submission priorities is being provided.
• Alternative transport arrangements for locations where police drivers are not transporting samples timeously.

Although the figure is 96% for 28 day submission, through close engagement between Police Scotland and Forensic Services, processes are in place to enable the 120-day end-to-end process agreement for all sample submissions to be examined and reports provided to reporting officers and this figure currently sits at 99%.

Drug driving continues to see significant growth in terms of the positive roadside results; the following data indicates the increases in testing and positive outcomes.

• In 2022/23 the positive figure was 2522 roadside tests (Positive rate 52%)
• In 2023/24 the positive figure was 2775 roadside tests (Positive rate 51%) (+10%)
• In 2024/25 the positive figure was 3305 roadside tests (Positive rate 55%) (+19%)
• In 2025/26 the positive figure is currently 1542 roadside tests (Positive rate 57%) and is projected to be in the region of 3700 tests by 31 March 2026 (+12%) increase against 2024/25.

The implementation of the incremental expansion in the two chosen areas will add further data to this and determine if road users remain undetected and whether this increasing trend is likely to continue.

To ensure appropriate governance, throughout the pilot there will be close engagement between Road Policing and the selected sub- divisions.

An interim update will be provided at the next Forensic Services meeting.

It is the intention of Road Policing to provide a broader update on the scale and demand measured from the initial incremental roll out locations to the Forensic Services Committee, following the Festive Campaign in early 2026.

At this stage further detail can be considered on the model for a potential wider roll-out of drug wipes, and how this will be done in a system wide approach, maintaining alignment between Police Scotland and Forensics.

The priority will be to continue with the levels of service delivery and provide clear future financial planning. The Chief Constable has included this in the 2026 budget request which would support the ambition to continue to expand.