The Scottish Parliament

Question reference: S7W-02279

Asked by: Maggie Chapman, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Green Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 05 August 2026
Current Status: Answer expected on 2 September 2026

To ask the Scottish Government what it is doing in response to local patients’ reported concerns that cancer and other services have been and are being removed from Stracathro hospital.

Question reference: S7W-02281

Asked by: Maggie Chapman, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Green Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 05 August 2026
Current Status: Answer expected on 2 September 2026

To ask the Scottish Government what progress has been made on delivering the commitment made by the First Minister in January 2025 to introduce a new Centre of Excellence at Stracathro hospital.

Question reference: S7W-02280

Asked by: Maggie Chapman, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Green Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 05 August 2026
Current Status: Answer expected on 2 September 2026

To ask the Scottish Government what impact assessment it has made of the reported removal of cancer and other services from Stracathro hospital.

Question reference: S7W-01866

Asked by: Maggie Chapman, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Green Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 21 July 2026
Current Status: Answered by Neil Gray on 3 August 2026

To ask the Scottish Government what action it is taking to ensure that victims and survivors of rape and other serious sexual offences can have confidence that their cases will be investigated promptly, thoroughly and with appropriate specialist support, particularly in light of reported increasing numbers of such crimes.

The safety and welfare of survivors is absolutely paramount, and we are committed to ensuring survivors and their families get the support they need.

We recognise the key role that advocacy services play in helping victims come forward and engage with the justice process, like those co-ordinated by Rape Crisis Scotland, which is why we fully fund the National Advocacy Project. We have provided £2.17 Million per annum for this service for the period 2025-207 through the Victim Centred Approach Fund.

Our NHS is another critical part of providing that support, providing care and forensic examinations in the days following an assault. There is a Sexual Assault Response Co-ordination Service (SARCS) in every health board area, including in each of the island health boards.

The Scottish Government wants victims and survivors to report sexual crimes, including those that may have happened some time ago. This is against a backdrop of sexual crimes remaining heavily under-reported. Multiple factors will therefore lie behind the long-term increase in recorded sexual crime, including a greater willingness of victims to come forward, more historical reporting, more online offending and the impact of new legislation.

We continue to take robust action to tackle sexual offending through the Equally Safe Strategy – focusing on prevention, improving our laws, and encouraging more victims to come forward.

However, we know that sexual crime remains under-reported and that more needs to be done to support victims to report these terrible crimes and to improve their experience within the criminal justice system.

Investigating rape and sexual offences remain one of the top priorities for Police Scotland, and specialist sexual offence liaison officers are available to support victims.

The Scottish Government recognises the vital roles that police officers play in keeping communities safe. This year, we have increased police funding to over £1.7 billion, an increase of £81.5 million on the 2025-26 Autumn Budget Revision (ABR) budget, to deliver on its priorities including frontline service delivery.

Operational policing decisions are for the Chief Constable who is accountable to the Scottish Police Authority - not to Scottish Ministers. However, violence against women and girls is a key strand and tenet of Police Scotland’s 2030 vision and three-year business plan.

Question reference: S7W-01867

Asked by: Maggie Chapman, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Green Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 21 July 2026
Current Status: Answered by Neil Gray on 3 August 2026

To ask the Scottish Government what assessment it has made of the workload of officers investigating rape and other serious sexual offences; what its position is on whether current staffing levels are sufficient to ensure timely, thorough and trauma-informed investigations, and what plans it has to publish guidance regarding officer workload to support the effective management of such cases.

The Scottish Government encourages all victims and survivors to report sexual crimes, including those that may have happened some time ago.

Operational policing decisions and workload considerations are for the Chief Constable who is accountable to the Scottish Police Authority - not to Scottish Ministers. It would not be appropriate for Scottish Ministers to provide guidance in relation to officer workload.

However, violence against women and girls is a key strand and tenet of Police Scotland’s 2030 vision and three-year business plan.

The Scottish Government recognises the vital roles that police officers play in keeping communities safe. This year, we have increased police funding to over £1.7 billion, an increase of £81.5 million on the 2025-26 Autumn Budget Revision (ABR) budget, to deliver on its priorities including frontline service delivery.

Question reference: S7W-01868

Asked by: Maggie Chapman, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Green Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 21 July 2026
Current Status: Answered by Neil Gray on 3 August 2026

To ask the Scottish Government, in light of reports that a number of individual officers might be responsible for investigating in excess of 200 rape cases alongside other serious offences, (a) whether it has sought information from Police Scotland regarding this and, if so, what information it has received and (b) what assessment it has made of the impact that high investigative caseloads might have on the confidence of victims and survivors in reporting offences.

Operational policing decisions and workload considerations are for the Chief Constable who is accountable to the Scottish Police Authority - not to Scottish Ministers. It would not be appropriate for Scottish Ministers to seek information from Police Scotland in relation to officer workload.

However, violence against women and girls is a key strand and tenet of Police Scotland’s 2030 vision and three-year business plan.

The Scottish Government encourages all victims and survivors to report sexual crimes, including those that may have happened some time ago.

Question reference: S7W-01869

Asked by: Maggie Chapman, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Green Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 21 July 2026
Current Status: Answered by Neil Gray on 3 August 2026

To ask the Scottish Government what steps it is taking to ensure that Police Scotland officers investigating rape and serious sexual offences have sufficient time and resources to deliver trauma-informed investigations and maintain meaningful communication with victims throughout the investigative process, and what measures are in place to ensure that victims and survivors of rape receive appropriate support where investigations are delayed because of investigative capacity or workload pressures.

Operational policing decisions and workload considerations are for the Chief Constable who is accountable to the Scottish Police Authority - not to Scottish Ministers.

Investigating rape and sexual offences remain one of the top priorities for Police Scotland. Specialist sexual offence liaison officers (SOLOs )are available to support victims. SOLOs ensure that victims are kept informed of progress and understand the reasons for any significant delays. Police Scotland also work closely with specialist support organisations and partners to ensure victims continue to have access to appropriate support and advocacy.

The Scottish Government provides funding for trauma specialists at Public Services Delivery Scotland to support the criminal justice organisations to embed the Trauma Informed Justice Knowledge and Skill Framework. They have been working with Police Scotland to develop and deliver training at the trauma enhanced practice level of the framework, across evidence gathering, interpretation and presentation roles.

Question reference: S7W-01833

Asked by: Maggie Chapman, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Green Party
Date lodged: Monday, 20 July 2026
Current Status: Answered by Gillian Martin on 3 August 2026

To ask the Scottish Government what action it is taking, in partnership with other public agencies, to ensure that water treatment infrastructure and sewerage systems are fit for purpose and any associated contamination of rivers and seas is addressed.

Scottish Ministers set the strategic objectives for Scotland's water and wastewater services and provide the policy framework within which Scottish Water operates. The Scottish Government supports investment in water and wastewater infrastructure through Government borrowing as set out in our Principles of Charging statement. Scottish Water is responsible for planning and delivering investment.

Scottish Water operates independently and is subject to oversight by independent regulators, including the Water Industry Commission for Scotland, the Scottish Environment Protection Agency and the Drinking Water Quality Regulator.

Question reference: S7W-01835

Asked by: Maggie Chapman, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Green Party
Date lodged: Monday, 20 July 2026
Current Status: Answered by Gillian Martin on 3 August 2026

To ask the Scottish Government how it is supporting SEPA in carrying out water quality testing and investigations in Dundee and Angus.

The Scottish Government sets the regulatory framework and provides Grant in Aid Funding to SEPA to undertake monitoring of bathing waters.

SEPA undertakes routine monitoring of designated bathing waters, including those in Dundee and Angus, during the bathing season (1 June 2026 to 15 September 2026). Where a potential pollution incident is identified, either through reporting or routine monitoring, SEPA undertakes investigations. SEPA has provided an overview of bathing waters, including its monitoring and investigation process here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tcy2_8MjhWg

Question reference: S7W-01840

Asked by: Maggie Chapman, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Green Party
Date lodged: Monday, 20 July 2026
Current Status: Answered by Gillian Martin on 31 July 2026

To ask the Scottish Government what action it is taking to ensure that people seeking to use Monifieth Beach do not experience a repeat of the recent health warnings and instructions to stay out of the sea due to high levels of E coli.

Designated bathing waters are routinely sampled by SEPA during the bathing season and inspections on Scottish Water assets are also carried out pre-bathing and during bathing season (1 June 2026 to 15 September 2026) to ensure compliance.

The Monifieth bathing water is classified as “Excellent”. However, short-term fluctuations in water quality can occur at all bathing waters for a variety of reasons, for example following heavy rain due to a range of pollution sources. Where advice against bathing is issued SEPA investigates to identify and take action to mitigate where possible any sources of pollution.

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Question reference: S7W-02279

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