Chamber and committees

The Scotland Legacy Group was established in 2025 and tasked by the Royal Household and the Scottish Government to advise on an appropriate Scottish memorial to commemorate Queen Elizabeth II.

The Group's role is advisory. It will shortly be undertaking a programme of public and stakeholder engagement to inform its recommendations and has not yet reached conclusions on the form, location or design of any future memorial. Individuals and organisations who wish to express views or ideas on the Scottish memorial will be encouraged to feed those views into that engagement programme.

The detail of any next steps will be advised in due course.

To date there have been no specific discussions with Police Scotland or the Lord Advocate regarding the legal status of individuals possessing or distributing drug-testing equipment.

The Lord Advocate is independent of the Scottish Government and is responsible for prosecution policy in Scotland. Any decisions regarding prosecution are a matter for the independent Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service within the existing legal framework.

We remain committed to supporting evidence-based harm reduction approaches and continue to work with partners to respond to emerging drug trends and reduce drug-related harm.

The Scottish Government has not provided funding specifically for the evaluation, purchase or distribution of rapid testing strips. However, organisations receiving National Mission funding may have used a proportion of that funding to support such activities as part of wider harm reduction or service delivery programmes.

The Scottish Government has committed more than £1.7 million to deliver Scotland’s drug checking pilot, including the establishment of a National Testing and Research Laboratory at the University of Dundee and local drug checking services planned in Aberdeen, Dundee, Edinburgh and Glasgow. In line with our evidence-based approach, the drug checking pilot will be evaluated, and we expect to provide further detail on our evaluation approach over the coming months.

To date there has been no specific consideration given to the feasibility of making rapid adulterant screening test strips available alongside naloxone at community fire stations or other civic safe access points.

We are aware of both the potential benefits and limitations of rapid testing strips as harm reduction tools, including their role in supporting engagement and risk reduction, alongside recognised limitations relating to accuracy and false negative results. We are working with partners including Public Health Scotland and Healthcare Improvement Scotland to consider the evidence and inform appropriate Scottish guidance.

We remain committed to an evidence-based approach to harm reduction and to responding rapidly to changing drug trends, including through expanded naloxone provision and the development of drug-checking services.

We remain committed to exploring any evidence-based harm reduction measure which will help us to reduce drug-related harms and save lives. If a local area identified an automated vending machine as a measure which would benefit their area, Scottish Government officials would be happy to work with them on the feasibility and logistics of implementing it.

Services across Scotland have already developed flexible and targeted approaches to supplying Injecting Equipment Provision (IEP) equipment by introducing more mobile and more fluid approaches (such as IEP vans) that actively go out to areas where they know people will use them.

The Scottish Government is currently working to support the delivery of a pilot drug checking service in Scotland, with local sites planned in Aberdeen, Dundee, Edinburgh and Glasgow, supported by a National Testing and Research Laboratory at the University of Dundee. This pilot is intended to: provide evidence into the effectiveness of drug checking services in Scotland; improve understanding of substances circulating in Scotland’s drug supply; and support harm reduction responses to emerging drug threats.

Through our new Alcohol and Drugs Strategic Plan, we have committed to exploring options to expand access to drug checking. This could include alternative models but will be informed by local need and international best practice. Given the urgency of the challenge, following the establishment of the pilot programme we will not delay in exploring how to further expand access to drug checking, working closely with partners and learning from the pilot as it progresses.

While the adoption of specific programmes and approaches is a matter for individual local authorities, the Scottish Government welcomes the focus on phonics as part of the steps being taken by Glasgow City Council to improve reading and literacy outcomes for pupils. As per answer to Parliamentary Question S7W-03170 on 21 September 2026, Education Scotland's professional learning resource, Learning to Read in the Early Years (2024) identifies systematic phonics as a critical component of early reading instruction.

A part of its work to review and update the curriculum, Education Scotland oversees a National Literacy Network which includes representatives from Glasgow City Council. In addition, Glasgow City Council is represented within the Curriculum Improvement Cycle Collaboration Group for English and Literacy. Education Scotland will therefore continue to engage with local authority representatives to ensure that evidence on the impact of the programme can be considered and shared more widely.

All answers to written Parliamentary Questions are available on the Parliament's website, the search facility for which can be found at https://www.parliament.scot/chamber-and-committees/written-questions-and-answers.

The Scottish Government has no plans to commission a feasibility study around the restoration of Holyrood Abbey as a national memorial chapel.

Holyrood Abbey is a Property-in-Care managed by Historic Environment Scotland on behalf of Scottish Ministers. The Properties-in-Care are part of the national estate of historic monuments and sites that are cared for to ensure their long-term preservation and deliver public benefit.

Decisions regarding the conservation, maintenance and management of Holyrood Abbey are therefore made by Historic Environment Scotland.

I meet regularly with Education Scotland and local authority representatives to discuss a range of education policy and delivery matters.

As per answer to Parliamentary Question S7W-03170 on 21 September 2026 Education Scotland has published strengthened national guidance Learning to Read in the Early Years. That guidance makes it clear that systematic phonics, including synthetic approaches, is an essential and evidence-based method to promote decoding.

In addition, Education Scotland is strengthening the Literacy and English curriculum through the Curriculum Improvement Cycle. This will include a period of engagement and feedback in autumn 2026, providing an opportunity for a wide range of stakeholders to provide comment on that framework.

All answers to written Parliamentary Questions are available on the Parliament's website, the search facility for which can be found at https://www.parliament.scot/chamber-and-committees/written-questions-and-answers.

Education Scotland’s professional learning resource, Learning to Read in the Early Years (2024) makes it clear that systematic phonics is a critical component of early reading instruction.

During 2024, 2025 and 2026, Education Scotland delivered 25 professional learning events to support research-informed early reading pedagogy and practitioner enquiry, engaging 785 practitioners. This included year-long professional learning programmes which, including the 2026-27 cohort, will have engaged 309 practitioners from 84 schools and early learning and childcare settings. Education Scotland will continue to promote and share this guidance and professional learning resources.