Questions and answers

Chamber and committees

Questions and answers

Parliamentary questions can be asked by any MSP to the Scottish Government or the Scottish Parliamentary Corporate Body. The questions provide a means for ��˿�� to get factual and statistical information.

Written questions must be answered within 10 working days (20 working days during recess)
Other questions such as Topical, Portfolio, General and First Minister's Question Times are taken in the Chamber

Urgent Questions aren't included in the Question and Answers search. There is a SPICe fact sheet listing Urgent and emergency questions.

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Question reference: S6W-39643

Asked by: Sharon Dowey, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 29 July 2025
Current Status: Answer expected on 26 August 2025

To ask the Scottish Government how many of the recommendations of the Independent Review of the Victim Notification Scheme have been implemented.

Question reference: S6W-39642

Asked by: Sharon Dowey, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 29 July 2025
Current Status: Answer expected on 26 August 2025

To ask the Scottish Government for what reason it reportedly took them over one year to respond to the Independent Review of the Victim Notification Scheme.

Question reference: S6W-39644

Asked by: Sharon Dowey, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 29 July 2025
Current Status: Answer expected on 26 August 2025

To ask the Scottish Government which of the recommendations of the Independent Review of the Victim Notification Scheme have not yet been implemented, and for what reason.

Question reference: S6W-39229

Asked by: Sharon Dowey, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 08 July 2025
Current Status: Answered by Angela Constance on 29 July 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what discussions the Cabinet Secretary for Justice and Home Affairs has had with Police Scotland regarding the mental health of police officers in the past year.

Question reference: S6W-39228

Asked by: Sharon Dowey, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 08 July 2025
Current Status: Answered by Angela Constance on 29 July 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what measures are being taken to improve the mental health of police officers.

Whilst this is an operational matter for the Chief Constable, I am pleased that Police Scotland has signed up to the Mental Health at Work Commitment, which prioritises mental health in the workplace. In addition to Trauma Risk Incident Management assessments and Occupational Health counselling, Police Scotland has invested £17 million to enhance welfare provision. This included a new 24/7 Employee Assistance Programme, direct access to occupational health services and a greater focus on mental health.

This highlights the priority that Police Scotland places on supporting the health and wellbeing of the workforce, supported by a Health and Wellbeing Action Plan to underpin delivery.

Question reference: S6W-39227

Asked by: Sharon Dowey, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 08 July 2025
Current Status: Answered by Angela Constance on 29 July 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what its position is on whether the measures that are in place at Police Scotland to deal with police officer trauma are sufficient.

Whilst this is an operational matter for the Chief Constable, I welcome Police Scotland’s commitment to supporting officers after critical incidents.

Scotland’s police officers and staff do a challenging job and I also welcome the Chief Constable’s commitment to workforce wellbeing. I am pleased that in addition to the provision of Trauma Risk Incident Management assessments and Occupational Health counselling, Police Scotland has invested £17 million to enhance welfare provision. This included a new 24/7 Employee Assistance Programme and direct access to occupational health services, where officers suffering psychological or physical trauma can be supported.

Question reference: S6W-39546

Asked by: Sharon Dowey, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 24 July 2025
Current Status: Answer expected on 21 August 2025

To ask the Scottish Government whether it plans to introduce a presumption of shared parenting into law.

Question reference: S6W-38829

Asked by: Sharon Dowey, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 27 June 2025
Current Status: Answered by Angus Robertson on 21 July 2025

To ask the Scottish Government, regarding its work to further the case for Scottish independence, whether it will set out what the evidence base was for the statement by the First Minister in his Scotland 2050 Conference speech, that "a clear majority of Scots … believe that our nation should have the right to choose our future".

The Scottish Parliament elections in May 2021 resulted in 72 of the 129 ��˿�� elected on manifestos which commit them to a referendum on Scottish independence during this Parliament.

A range of publicly available polling evidence is available showing support for Scotland’s right to choose its own future, and the right of the people of Scotland to choose their future was the belief of all three main Westminster party leaders at Scottish level, who signed a pledge in 2014 saying: “Power lies with the Scottish people and we believe it is for the Scottish people to decide how Scotland is governed.”

Following the independence referendum, the cross-party Smith Commission, containing representatives of all parties in the Scottish Parliament, agreed that:

“nothing in this report prevents Scotland becoming an independent country in the future should the people of Scotland so choose.”

Question reference: S6W-39104

Asked by: Sharon Dowey, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 02 July 2025
Current Status: Answered by Neil Gray on 18 July 2025

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on plans for the delivery of a treatment centre at Carrick Glen Hospital.

We are working with all health boards to develop a whole-system NHS infrastructure plan. This will reflect on needs across Scotland and support continued safe operation of existing facilities, as well as determination of longer term investment priorities. The National Treatment Centre (NTC) programme is currently paused and the development of the NTC Ayrshire and Arran remains under review at the current time.

As detailed in the 2025-26 budget, we are funding a £139 million additional investment across NHS infrastructure to support improvement and renewal. We will seek to progress the development of business cases projects and invest an extra £20 million in equipment to bolster productivity. Any final decision to progress to construction will be subject to the outcome of the Scottish Government Investment Infrastructure pipeline.

Question reference: S6W-39010

Asked by: Sharon Dowey, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 25 June 2025
Current Status: Answered by Maree Todd on 14 July 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what discussions it has had with local authorities following the publication of its report, Suspected drug deaths in Scotland: January to March 2025, on 10 June 2025, which found that Greater Glasgow, Ayrshire and Lanarkshire were the police divisions with the highest rates of suspected drug deaths in this quarter.

The Scottish Government regularly engages with local health boards through the Public Health Scotland-led National Drug Deaths Incident Management Team process, which strives to support and coordinate multi-agency activities to reduce drug related deaths including through consideration of ongoing trends and risks. Through this process, we have engaged with local areas following reports of an increase in clusters of drug harms in people using heroin during the course of 2025, including Greater Glasgow and Clyde, Ayrshire and Arran, and Lanarkshire.

Local response to trends and risks is coordinated through Alcohol and Drugs Partnerships, appropriately applying local intelligence and coordinating the collaborative deployment of resources of local partners and services, including those of local authorities. The Scottish Government engages regularly with representatives of the ADPs – with the last meeting with those from the named localities and others on 11 June 2025.