Questions and answers

Question reference: S6W-38203

Asked by: Douglas Ross, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 03 June 2025
Current Status: Answered by Ivan McKee on 11 June 2025

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S6W-36629 by John Swinney on 3 April 2025, whether all ministers, including the First Minister, received new mandates from the Scottish Parliament's Pay and Pensions Team following the decision to equalise the MSP element of ministers' salaries with that of MSPs who are not currently serving ministers from 1 April 2025, and, if so, whether the Scottish Government will publish all of these mandates.

Ministerial pay is set and administered by the Scottish Parliament and the Scottish Government has no role in this. It is the Scottish Government's understanding that new mandate letters were issued to Ministers, including the Law Officers, by the Scottish Parliament on 8 April 2025. The Scottish Government was not copied into these mandate letters and does not hold them. Any request for the letters to be published should be put to the Scottish Parliament.

Question reference: S6W-37746

Asked by: Douglas Ross, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 28 May 2025
Current Status: Answered by Jenny Gilruth on 6 June 2025

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S6O-04664 by Jenny Gilruth on 15 May 2025, whether it will provide the information requested regarding which of the portfolio questions taken in the Chamber on 24 April 2025 raised matters that fall within the specific responsibilities of the Cabinet Secretary for Education and Skills, as listed on the Scottish Government website, in light of reported concerns about her missing the session for reasons not related to her ministerial duties.

Portfolio Question Time is an opportunity to raise questions relevant to the portfolio concerned and, as already set out in response to S6O-04664, all of the Education and Skills questions raised on 24 April 2025 were answered by a Minister from the Education and Skills portfolio, in line with rule 13.7 of the Parliament’s standing orders.

As Cabinet Secretary for Education and Skills, all matters within the Education and Skills portfolio pertain to my responsibilities.

Question reference: S6O-04741

Asked by: Douglas Ross, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 28 May 2025
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 4 June 2025

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will propose the scheduling of time for a parliamentary debate or statement on the works at Union Bridge on the A96 in Keith, in light of reports that ongoing delays have resulted in the trunk road being reduced to one lane with traffic lights for almost a year.

Question reference: S6O-04711

Asked by: Douglas Ross, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 21 May 2025
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 28 May 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what its position is on whether NatureScot considers and respects the views of local people and businesses when considering applications to control seagulls.

Question reference: S6O-04677

Asked by: Douglas Ross, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 14 May 2025
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 21 May 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what discussions the economy secretary has had with ministerial colleagues regarding the potential impact on businesses and residents in the Highlands should a visitor levy be introduced.

Question reference: S6O-04664

Asked by: Douglas Ross, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 07 May 2025
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 15 May 2025

To ask the Scottish Government which of the portfolio questions taken in the Chamber on 25 April 2025 raised matters that fall within the specific responsibilities of the Cabinet Secretary for Education and Skills, as listed on the Scottish Government website, in light of reported concerns about her missing the session for reasons not related to her ministerial duties.

Question reference: S6W-36237

Asked by: Douglas Ross, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 28 March 2025
Current Status: Answered by Neil Gray on 15 April 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what information it holds on how much was spent by local authority social work departments in (a) 2023-24 and (b) 2024-25 on services to help people recover from addiction to alcohol and/or drugs; what proportion of the budget this represented, and what the estimate is for 2025-26.

Local Authority Social Work Services provide broad holistic service coverage and support to individuals with a wide range of needs, and it is a matter for local authorities to allocate, and account for the allocation of, Local Authority funds to those services. For this reason, the Scottish Government does not collect the granular detail of Local Authority Social Work spend on services to aid those affected by problematic use of alcohol and drugs.

Question reference: S6W-36232

Asked by: Douglas Ross, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 28 March 2025
Current Status: Answered by Neil Gray on 15 April 2025

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide a breakdown of the impact on the budget of (a) NHS Scotland, (b) other aspects of the healthcare sector, (c) Police Scotland, (d) the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service, (e) the Scottish Prison Service, (f) other law enforcement agencies and (g) other emergency services, including any estimated annual savings, of each pound of additional investment in treatment for addiction to (i) drugs and (ii) alcohol, and what information it has regarding the impact on the budgets of (A) relevant charitable or voluntary organisations and (B) local authority social work departments.

We do not currently hold information on the impact that each pound of additional investment in drugs and alcohol has had on the budgets of (a) NHS Scotland, (b) other aspects of the healthcare sector, (c) Police Scotland, (d) the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service, (e)?the Scottish Prison Service, (f) other law enforcement agencies and (g) other emergency services. We do not hold information on the impact of budgets of relevant charitable or voluntary organisations and local authority social work departments.

As part of the 2025-26 Equality and Fairer Scotland Budget Statement, we conducted an overview analysis of the impact of drugs and alcohol policies on different groups of people in Scotland. However, we are endeavouring to better understand the impact of the financial uplift provided by the National Mission. Public Health Scotland (PHS) have been commissioned to conduct a comprehensive and independent evaluation of the National Mission. As part of the evaluation, PHS have also commissioned an external study of how National Mission funds have been allocated and spent, and the benefits which that expenditure has (or is likely to have) delivered.

The study will have a number of different research objectives including a summary of existing review-level evidence on treatment effectiveness and cost-effectiveness for treatments in scope, as well as an overview of evidence gaps. The economic evaluation report is anticipated to be published in the first half of 2026. The final evaluation report will be published in 2026.

Question reference: S6W-36234

Asked by: Douglas Ross, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 28 March 2025
Current Status: Answered by Neil Gray on 15 April 2025

To ask the Scottish Government how much of its alcohol and drugs services budget for (a) 2023-24 and (b) 2024-25 was spent on local authority social work services; what proportion of the budget this represented, and what the estimate is for 2025-26.

The Scottish Government allocates specific National Mission funds via regional Health Boards, for onward disbursement by Integration Authorities, per local Alcohol and Drugs Partnerships’ (ADP) strategic planning. Local Authority Social Work Services provide broad holistic service coverage and support to individuals with a wide range of needs, and it is a matter for local authorities to allocate, and account for the allocation of, Local Authority funds to those services. Any decision to supplement social work services’ funding with National Mission monies is for the judgement of ADPs and is not currently reported to the Scottish Government.

Question reference: S6W-36230

Asked by: Douglas Ross, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 28 March 2025
Current Status: Answered by Neil Gray on 15 April 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what its position is on Professor Dame Carol Black's assessment in her report, Review of drugs part two: prevention, treatment and recovery, that “each £1 spent on [drug] treatment will save £4 from reduced demands on health, prison, law enforcement and emergency services".

We are supportive of Professor Dame Carol Black's report highlighting the importance of spending on drug treatment. The figures used in her review are sourced from Public Health England, so cannot be directly applied to Scotland.

Public Health Scotland (PHS) have been commissioned to conduct a comprehensive and independent evaluation of the National Mission. As part of the evaluation, PHS have also commissioning an external study of how National Mission funds have been allocated and spent, and the benefits which that expenditure has (or is likely to have) delivered.

The study will have a number of different research objectives including a summary of existing review-level evidence on treatment effectiveness and cost-effectiveness for treatments in scope, as well as an overview of evidence gaps. The economic evaluation report is anticipated to be published in the first half of 2026. The final evaluation report will be published in 2026.

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