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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 MSPs 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-05025

Asked by: Claire Baker, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 14 December 2021
Current Status: Answered by Angela Constance on 11 January 2022

To ask the Scottish Government by what date the public health surveillance system, referenced in the Scottish Drug Deaths Taskforce’s Interim Report, will be fully operational, and what information the system will collate.

The public health surveillance system for drug harms will be fully operational by 31 March 2022 and led by Public Health Scotland. An early warning system is in development and structures are in place to ensure evidence based approaches to reducing drug harms are implemented.

The system collates and analyses a range of information relating to drug harms made available through organisations such as Police Scotland, Health Boards Scottish Prison Services, Local Authorities, the third sector and people with lived and living experience.

Question reference: S6W-05028

Asked by: Claire Baker, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 14 December 2021
Current Status: Answered by Angela Constance on 11 January 2022

To ask the Scottish Government for what reason it has not established a drug checking service, such as WEDINOS, which was launched by NHS Wales in 2013, and whether it has any plans to establish a similar service in the future.

The Scottish Drug Deaths Taskforce has funded a project through Stirling University to research and develop the key components required to implement Drug Checking facilities in three areas in Scotland (Glasgow, Dundee and Aberdeen). Research began in January 2021 and will conclude with an evaluation report in January 2023. The project will also include a parallel programme of implementation.

The project team has committed to submitting applications to the Home Office in early 2022. Assuming support from the Home Office is forthcoming, we expect services to be established in Aberdeen, Dundee and Glasgow in 2022.

We have highlighted our desire to introduce these facilities to the Home Office as any activity which involves the possession of controlled drugs would require a Home Office licence. Kit Malthouse, the UK Government Minister for Policing, has indicated that he is open to discussing this with the Scottish Government and conversations have taken place between Scottish and UK officials to progress this.

Question reference: S6W-05023

Asked by: Claire Baker, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 14 December 2021
Current Status: Answered by Angela Constance on 11 January 2022

To ask the Scottish Government, in light of the National Patient Safety Alert issued by Public Health England, Potent synthetic opioids implicated in increase in drug overdoses, which was issued on 18 August 2021, whether it has been notified of any instances of (a) isotonitazene and (b) other synthetic opioids having been detected in the illegal drugs market in Scotland, and, if so, (i) when and (ii) where each instance occurred.

The emergence of new drugs is regularly monitored by Public Health Scotland and, following the alert from Public Health England in 2021, work is underway to incorporate screening for isotonitazene into toxicology procedures for both drug-related deaths and police seizures in Scotland.

In relation to detection of substances, unfortunately we do not hold information broken down to the level of detail requested. Scottish Government publish statistics on the number of drug possession and supply crimes and the quantities seized. These statistics relate to drugs controlled under the Misuse of Drugs Act 1971. The full report can be accessed via this link:

Drug seizures and Offender Characteristics, 2018-2019 and 2019-20 - gov.scot (www.gov.scot)

The Psychoactive Substance Act 2016 made it an offence to produce, supply, offer to supply, possess with intent to supply, possess on custodial premises, import or export psychoactive substances. The number of crimes of production, supply or possession in custody of a psychoactive substance was 2 in 2018-19, 10 in 2019-20 and 8 in 2020-21 (source: annex of the above noted report).

Question reference: S6W-05022

Asked by: Claire Baker, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 14 December 2021
Current Status: Answered by Angela Constance on 11 January 2022

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the comments by the Minister for Drugs Policy on 17 June 2021 about Public Health Scotland’s ongoing surveillance work (Official Report, c.57), how many people (a) have died and (b) were admitted to hospital in connection with the consumption of (i) isotonitazene and (ii) other synthetic opioids in 2021, broken down by NHS board.

Unfortunately, we do not hold the information requested.

National Records of Scotland produce an annual National Statistics publication each year on drug-related deaths in Scotland. The most recent year for which this drug death information is available is 2020. The next report, covering drug-related deaths during 2021, is due to be published in summer 2022.

Public Health Scotland information on hospital activity relating to illicit drug use in Scotland does not identify the substances specified - heroin and methadone are the only opioids with specific ICD-10 diagnostic codes (ICD-10 refers to ‘International Classification of Diseases 10th Revision, the international standard diagnostic classification for all general epidemiological, health management purposes and clinical use).

Question reference: S6W-05104

Asked by: Claire Baker, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 13 December 2021
Current Status: Answered by Angela Constance on 10 January 2022

To ask the Scottish Government how many of the drug-related deaths that were included in the National Records for Scotland (NRS) Homeless Deaths reports for 2017-2020, were also included in the drug-related deaths figures that were published by the NRS in each year between 2017 and 2020.

Question reference: S6O-00572

Asked by: Claire Baker, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 15 December 2021
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 22 December 2021

To ask the Scottish Government what progress it has made on its commitment to increase the number of employee-owned businesses in Scotland to 500 by 2030.

Question reference: S6O-00547

Asked by: Claire Baker, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 08 December 2021
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 16 December 2021

To ask the Scottish Government how it is engaging with, and investing in, the live performance sector to support its recovery.

Question reference: S6W-04220

Asked by: Claire Baker, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 09 November 2021
Current Status: Answered by Angela Constance on 23 November 2021

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the statement by the Minister for Drugs Policy on 26 October regarding holistic support for families (Official Report, c. 69), how much of the £3.5 million of funding for the current financial year has been allocated to each alcohol and drug partnership to support the mental health and wellbeing of family members affected by drug use.

As part of our national mission to reduce drug related deaths and improve lives, we have provided Alcohol and Drug Partnerships (ADPs) with £3.5 million per year to support the implementation of the Whole Family Approach Framework. This will improve holistic family support for anyone affected by harms from drug or alcohol use.

Table 1 shows how much of this funding has been allocated to each ADP, advised to ADPs by letter on 17 June 2021.

Table 1:

*Figures have been rounded.

Alcohol and Drug Partnership	Allocation (£)
Aberdeen City	133,437
Aberdeenshire	147,380
Angus	75,617
Argyll and Bute	66,566
Clackmannanshire and Stirling	89,794
Dumfries & Galloway	104,719
Dundee City	101,420
East Ayrshire	83,642
East Dunbartonshire	64,896
East Lothian	65,061
East Renfrewshire	55,698
Edinburgh	292,849
Falkirk	100,797
Fife	238,447
Glasgow City	417,575
Highland	164,162
Inverclyde	57,076
Midlothian	56,362
Moray	60,013
North Ayrshire	95,016
North Lanarkshire	222,004
Orkney Islands	17,546
Perth and Kinross	96,334
Renfrewshire	118,893
Scottish Borders	74,416
Shetland Islands	17,095
South Ayrshire	79,487
South Lanarkshire	207,274
West Dunbartonshire	63,301
West Lothian	109,727
Western Isles	23,398
Total	£3,500,000

Question reference: S6W-04219

Asked by: Claire Baker, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 09 November 2021
Current Status: Answered by Angela Constance on 23 November 2021

To ask the Scottish Government what the projected cost is of the national marketing campaign to reduce the stigmatisation of people with a drug problem; how long it will run for; whether it is being targeted to particular locations, and how it is being funded.

We know that people with experience of drug problems, either through their own use or by association often experience stigma and discrimination that can be a barrier to people accessing help and support. We must all act to end the stigma associated with problem drug use.

As part of our efforts to tackle societal stigma, we are launching a national campaign to reduce stigma. The projected cost of the campaign is £900,000 and has been funded by the Scottish Government’s ‘Reducing Drug Deaths’ budget.

The campaign will launch in early December, and run until late February for a total of 8 weeks. The campaign is not targeted to particular locations and will run across Scotland, but utilise regional and local media as well as national media.

Question reference: S6W-04218

Asked by: Claire Baker, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 09 November 2021
Current Status: Answered by Angela Constance on 23 November 2021

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the statement by the Minister for Drugs Policy on 26 October 2021 that there will be a "rapid review of the services that are required to support people who experience mental health and substance use problems" (Official Report, c. 69), who will carry out the review; whether it will provide further details of the review’s remit, and when it anticipates (a) the review will be completed and (b) a report will be published.

This rapid review will be carried out by people with clinical expertise and will set out expectations for the delivery of support for people who experience mental health and substance use problems. It will involve key stakeholders and be led by the views of people with lived and living experience. The remit of the review will include, but is not limited to, the following:

The provision of assessment and specialist support for people who experience a dual diagnosis of a mental health condition alongside their substance use problem;
The delivery of psychosocial support to people with substance use problems in settings which include third sector and primary care;
The impact of additional, multiple and severe disadvantages on the need for, and delivery of, appropriate mental health and substance use services.

The review will be completed and a report will be published in late Autumn 2022.