Questions and answers

Question reference: S6W-39796

Asked by: Carol Mochan, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 06 August 2025
Current Status: Answered by Siobhian Brown on 19 August 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what action it is taking to improve the resources available to support the mental health and wellbeing of retail staff following an incident of retail crime.

The Scottish Government is committed to preventing violence and reducing its harm.

There are a range of options to support the mental health and wellbeing of employees, including those working in the retail sector.

Our Mental health and wellbeing strategy, published June 2023 sets out what a supportive system should look like, recognising the many different factors that can influence mental health and wellbeing, including employment.

As part of this work, we continue to work across government and with delivery partners to ensure employers are equipped with knowledge, skills and resources they need to promote and support conditions that enable good mental health at work.

Our ‘Supporting a Mentally Healthy Workplace’ employer platform, signposts employers to a range of free mental health and wellbeing resources and information. We continue to engage with employers to ensure content continues to meet the needs of employers across Scotland.

Scottish Government partners, including the Scottish Retail Consortium (SRC) and Scottish Grocers’ Federation (SGF), share best practice guidance and resources, such as the free Grocery Aid helpline, and Victim Support, for victims of violence and abuse in a retail setting.

Victim Support Scotland provide information, emotional support and practical assistance to help anyone affected by crime, including retail crime.

Question reference: S6W-39795

Asked by: Carol Mochan, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 06 August 2025
Current Status: Answered by Siobhian Brown on 19 August 2025

To ask the Scottish Government whether, in the next Budget, it will renew the additional £3 million of targeted funding allocated to Police Scotland to reduce retail crime.

The Scottish Government’s commitment to tackling retail crime was reaffirmed in our Programme for Government, which makes clear our strong support for Police Scotland’s robust approach in addressing this issue.

The Scottish Government has commenced work on developing a multi-year Scottish Spending Review, which will deliver on its priorities in a fiscally sustainable way. The Government’s core priorities will sit at the heart of the spending review process, and guide how and where we will allocate funding.

Decisions on the future of the funding for retail crime, will be taken in the context of developing the 2026-27 budget and the Scottish Spending Review.

Question reference: S6W-39845

Asked by: Carol Mochan, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 18 August 2025
Current Status: Answer expected on 15 September 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what its response is to concerns raised in the report by the UN Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights regarding human rights and access to maternity services, and what lessons can be learned in relation to Wigtownshire maternity services.

Question reference: S6W-39484

Asked by: Carol Mochan, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 22 July 2025
Current Status: Answered by Jenni Minto on 18 August 2025

To ask the Scottish Government, in light of reports of the UK Government committing £5.8 million to a smoke-free pregnancy incentive scheme in England in 2025-26, how much funding it has committed in total in 2025-26 for Quit Your Way services specifically aimed at delivering projects incentivising pregnant women in Scotland to give up smoking.

The Scottish Government provides funding annually to Health Boards for smoking cessation and prevention services. The funding is provided as part of a wider Outcomes Framework allocation, whereby budget is provided to Health Boards to cover a range of outcomes. It is up to Health Boards to decide how much of this funding to allocate to each outcome. The published Scottish Budget for 2025-2026 includes £72.2 million for the Outcomes Framework.

Question reference: S6W-39485

Asked by: Carol Mochan, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 22 July 2025
Current Status: Answered by Jenni Minto on 18 August 2025

To ask the Scottish Government, in light of reports of the UK Government committing an additional £70 million to support stop smoking services in England in 2025-26, how much funding it has committed in total in 2025-26 for the specialist Quit Your Way smoking cessation services delivered by regional NHS boards in Scotland.

The Scottish Government provides funding annually to Health Boards for smoking cessation and prevention services. The funding is provided as part of a wider Outcomes Framework allocation, whereby budget is provided to Health Boards to cover a range of outcomes. It is up to Health Boards to decide how much of this funding to allocate to each outcome. The published Scottish Budget for 2025-2026 includes £72.2 million for the Outcomes Framework.

Question reference: S6W-39794

Asked by: Carol Mochan, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 06 August 2025
Current Status: Answered by Siobhian Brown on 15 August 2025

To ask the Scottish Government, in light of the finding in the Scottish Grocers’ Federation 2024 Crime Survey that 99.6% of retailers that responded reported that violence against staff occurs at least once a month, whether it will provide an update on what action it is taking to reduce violence against retail staff.

We have made £3 million available this year for Police Scotland specifically to work alongside retailers to tackle crime affecting their sector, which costs businesses millions each year and has a knock-on effect on the prices we pay in the shops. This forms part of a record investment of £1.64 billion for policing this year – an increase of £90 million on 2024-25.

Police Scotland’s action plan aims to tackle retail crime through a number of specific actions on how to prevent such incidents and pursue those responsible. The newly-established Retail Crime Taskforce will target repeat offenders of retail crime by using analytical data and intelligence to carry out proactive enforcement activities in areas most heavily impacted.

The team will also engage with retailers to identify ways in which they can enhance security and crime prevention measures in place and reduce incidents occurring.

The Scottish Government’s investment will also be used to develop diversionary programmes aimed at reducing reoffending and youth offending, with a focus on the role of organised crime.

We have also provided over £6 million to implement actions within the Violence Prevention Framework for Scotland, since 2023, which specifically seeks to prevent violence from happening and if and when it does occur, to reduce the harm.

Question reference: S6W-39667

Asked by: Carol Mochan, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 31 July 2025
Current Status: Answered by Neil Gray on 14 August 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what its response is to the Lancet Commission’s research on liver cancer, and what action it plans to take in light of the research’s findings that three-in-five liver cancer cases could be prevented by reducing alcohol consumption and obesity, and by increasing uptake of the hepatitis vaccine.

The Scottish Government welcomes the Lancet Commission’s research, which highlights that up to 60% of liver cancer cases are preventable through reducing alcohol consumption, tackling obesity, and increasing hepatitis vaccination.

Preventing more cancers is a key ambition of our 10 year Cancer Strategy for Scotland 2023-2033 and Cancer Action Plan for Scotland 2023 – 2026. We are taking actions to reduce the consumption of alcohol, to promote healthy weight, increase hepatitis vaccinations and to address health inequalities – all key contributors to liver cancer risk.

These include delivering on the 20 actions within our Alcohol Framework which sets out our priorities for preventing alcohol-related harm, developing an implementation plan of preventative actions to improve Scotland’s food environment and continuing to target support for babies born to hepatitis B positive mothers. Encouragingly, Public Health Scotland (PHS) published data shows strong uptake of the hepatitis B vaccine in children (over 94%).

We are also working with PHS and NHS Boards to strengthen adult vaccination uptake, improve data systems, and reduce inequalities in access to vaccination.

Question reference: S6W-39668

Asked by: Carol Mochan, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 31 July 2025
Current Status: Answered by Neil Gray on 14 August 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what action it is taking to improve early detection for liver damage and cancer, in light of the findings in the Lancet Commission’s research on liver cancer.

Cancer remains a national priority, within the Scottish Government and across NHS Scotland. Our 10 year Cancer Strategy for Scotland 2023-2033 and Cancer Action Plan for Scotland 2023 – 2026 set out a comprehensive approach to improving cancer outcomes, with earlier and fast diagnosis a key ambition.

We are working in partnership with Alcohol and Drug Partnerships and NHS Boards to increase awareness of liver disease and support for early detection and treatment. This includes developing a nationwide model for the early detection of alcohol-related liver disease, building on learning from the innovative intelligent Liver Function Testing (iLFT) pilot pioneered by NHS Tayside and the Scottish Government through the National Centre for Sustainable Delivery (CfSD).

Question reference: S6W-39847

Asked by: Carol Mochan, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 12 August 2025
Current Status: Answer expected on 9 September 2025

To ask the Scottish Government how it supports charities like Nurture the Borders, based in Selkirk, which provides a variety of services for pregnant women who would not be able to access them otherwise.

Question reference: S6W-39846

Asked by: Carol Mochan, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 12 August 2025
Current Status: Answer expected on 9 September 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what support it is providing for women to access antenatal classes in remote areas like the Scottish Borders.

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