Questions and answers

Question reference: S6W-36231

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 assessment it has made of the potential impact of its additional investment of £250 million under its National Mission on Drugs, including any estimated annual savings.

Public Health Scotland (PHS) has been commissioned to conduct a comprehensive and independent evaluation of the National Mission. As part of the evaluation, PHS has 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-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.

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: S6O-04453

Asked by: Douglas Ross, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 12 March 2025
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 19 March 2025

To ask the Scottish Government, in light of the potential impact on victims of crime in Scotland, what discussions it has had with the UK Government regarding the time taken to determine applications made to the Criminal Injuries Compensation Authority.

Question reference: S6O-04412

Asked by: Douglas Ross, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 05 March 2025
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 12 March 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what its position is on whether seagulls should continue to be protected in law.

Question reference: S6O-04381

Asked by: Douglas Ross, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 26 February 2025
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 5 March 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what discussions the economy secretary has had with ministerial colleagues regarding any economic impact of delaying the full dualling of the A96, in light of the Moray and Inverness chambers of commerce calling for the road to be dualled in full and raising concerns that delays to delivering this are "constraining economic growth" in the area.

Question reference: S6O-04312

Asked by: Douglas Ross, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 29 January 2025
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 6 February 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what its response is to the petition, reportedly signed by hundreds of Keith residents and businesses, regarding the disruption caused on the A96 by the ongoing works at Union Bridge, including the calls for businesses to be compensated for any significant losses during these works.

Question reference: S6W-32888

Asked by: Douglas Ross, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 08 January 2025
Current Status: Answered by Fiona Hyslop on 17 January 2025

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answers to questions S6W-31866 and S6W-32202 by Fiona Hyslop on 11 December 2024 and 3 January 2025 respectively, in light of it not providing the numerical figures requested in the questions, whether it will provide the information requested regarding how many miles of the A96 have been dualled in each year from 2011 to date, and for what reason it did not provide this information in its previous answers.

Question reference: S6O-04218

Asked by: Douglas Ross, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 15 January 2025
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 22 January 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what its response is to the reported concerns by the Scottish Association of Meat Wholesalers that falling cattle levels are leading to a reduction in beef supplies, and that gaps could subsequently appear in the red meat sections of supermarkets.

Question reference: S6T-02279

Asked by: Douglas Ross, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 13 January 2025
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 14 January 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what early assessment it has made following the opening of the safer drug consumption facility, The Thistle.

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