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Chamber and committees

Official Report: search what was said in Parliament

The Official Report is a written record of public meetings of the Parliament and committees.  

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Dates of parliamentary sessions
  1. Session 1: 12 May 1999 to 31 March 2003
  2. Session 2: 7 May 2003 to 2 April 2007
  3. Session 3: 9 May 2007 to 22 March 2011
  4. Session 4: 11 May 2011 to 23 March 2016
  5. Session 5: 12 May 2016 to 5 May 2021
  6. Current session: 12 May 2021 to 19 July 2025
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Displaying 1555 contributions

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Meeting of the Parliament [Draft]

General Question Time

Meeting date: 5 June 2025

Rona Mackay

Last summer, ScotRail removed Bishopbriggs and Lenzie from the Edinburgh service due to driver shortages, which significantly impacted commuters in my constituency. Will the minister confirm whether driver numbers have now recovered sufficiently to prevent a repeat of such timetable reductions, and whether full service retention is planned for those stations?

Meeting of the Parliament [Draft]

General Question Time

Meeting date: 5 June 2025

Rona Mackay

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on ScotRail driver recruitment and training programmes, in light of reports of previous service reductions being attributed to staffing shortages. (S6O-04766)

Meeting of the Parliament [Draft]

First Minister’s Question Time

Meeting date: 5 June 2025

Rona Mackay

New analysis from Loughborough University has highlighted a strong correlation between Westminster’s cruel two-child cap and child poverty. It also found that SNP policies such as the Scottish child payment have contributed to overall lower levels of poverty across Scotland compared with the rest of the United Kingdom. Will the First Minister advise what assessment the Scottish Government has made of that report? Can he say more about what action the Scottish Government is taking to eradicate child poverty in Scotland despite the barriers that Westminster puts in the way?

Criminal Justice Committee [Draft]

Substance Misuse in Prisons

Meeting date: 4 June 2025

Rona Mackay

I want to pick up on a point that Tracey McFall made, on which everyone seemed to agree. You all know what the problems are—they are long standing. Is it partly an organisational problem? Obviously, more money always helps, but is there an element of agencies not working together to secure pathways? Are there gaps in the system that could be cured by better organisation?

Criminal Justice Committee [Draft]

Substance Misuse in Prisons

Meeting date: 4 June 2025

Rona Mackay

That is what I was trying to get at—

Criminal Justice Committee [Draft]

Substance Misuse in Prisons

Meeting date: 4 June 2025

Rona Mackay

I will ask my other questions later, convener, and let Pauline continue.

Criminal Justice Committee [Draft]

Substance Misuse in Prisons

Meeting date: 4 June 2025

Rona Mackay

I think that everybody agrees on early intervention. Would anyone else like to comment on whether people with addiction problems should be in prison?

Criminal Justice Committee [Draft]

Substance Misuse in Prisons

Meeting date: 4 June 2025

Rona Mackay

Okay, thank you—

Criminal Justice Committee [Draft]

Substance Misuse in Prisons

Meeting date: 4 June 2025

Rona Mackay

Tracey McFall’s point about the lack of parity between organisations is key to what we are talking about. As has been said, it can work and there are some success stories. Before I move on, I want to pick up a point with Kevin Neary. You have been doing excellent work with ex-offenders for years. On the basis of your experience over all the years that you have been doing that work, do you think that things are getting worse?

Criminal Justice Committee [Draft]

Substance Misuse in Prisons

Meeting date: 4 June 2025

Rona Mackay

That is exactly the point that I was going to raise, but, just for context, before I come to that, HMP Low Moss, which is in my constituency has a recovery cafe onsite. It can see 200 prisoners engage in any given week. It says that there are pathways for external referral but a lack of available spaces, so it is kind of working, but we do not have the finished article.

Kevin Neary talked about women in prison, and I am incredibly worried about the number of women in prison and the knock-on effect on families. As Kevin said, most of the women—or a lot of them—have addiction problems and the majority of them have been domestically abused, sexually abused or have mental health conditions. In last week’s evidence session, Kirsten Horsburgh from the Scottish Drugs Forum said that she did not think that prison is the place for people with addiction problems, and I agree with her. She also said that there is definitely an argument for decriminalising drugs. What are your thoughts on her views? Can we reach a consensus on how to deal with this? The status quo is clearly not working, so we need a radical shift in the approach.