Chamber and committees

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: S7W-02341

Asked by: Martyn Day, MSP for Falkirk East and Linlithgow, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 06 August 2026
Current Status: Answer expected on 3 September 2026

To ask the Scottish Government what percentage of funds in Scottish Local Government Pension Funds has been invested in social and affordable housing in Scotland over the past 10 years.

Question reference: S7W-02282

Asked by: Martyn Day, MSP for Falkirk East and Linlithgow, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 05 August 2026
Current Status: Answer expected on 2 September 2026

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S6W-43953 by Jenni Minto on 9 March 2026, what processes are in place to assess the impact that the new funding will have on reducing waiting times for gender-affirming care at Glasgow's Sandyford Gender Identity Clinic.

Question reference: S7W-01613

Asked by: Martyn Day, MSP for Falkirk East and Linlithgow, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 08 July 2026
Current Status: Answered by Neil Gray on 5 August 2026

To ask the Scottish Government whether it is considering any legislative changes to address any gaps in the recognition of smear campaigns and reputational abuse as forms of coercive and controlling behaviour.

As indicated in the answer to question S7W-01612 on 5 August 2026, the offence of abuse of a partner or ex-partner is designed to respond to the many different forms of coercive and controlling behaviour that can arise in an abusive relationship. As such, the Scottish Government is not aware of any gaps in the law that would prevent the prosecution of abusive behaviour that could be described as a smear campaign or reputational abuse where it occurs in the context of domestic abuse. However, the Scottish Government keeps the criminal law under continual review to ensure that it remains effective. 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.

Question reference: S7W-01612

Asked by: Martyn Day, MSP for Falkirk East and Linlithgow, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 08 July 2026
Current Status: Answered by Neil Gray on 5 August 2026

To ask the Scottish Government what its position is regarding whether smear campaigns and reputational abuse are adequately recognised under existing domestic abuse legislation, police and prosecution guidance and victim support practice.

The Domestic Abuse (Scotland) Act 2018 provides for an offence of abuse of a partner or ex-partner which criminalises psychological, as well as physical, abuse. The Act defines abuse as behaviour which a reasonable person would consider likely to cause the victim to suffer physical or psychological harm where the accused either intends to cause such harm or else is reckless as to whether their behaviour would be likely to result in such harm.

The Act provides an illustrative definition of abusive behaviour which includes behaviour which is abusive and which has as its purpose, or which a reasonable person would think would be likely to have the effect of:

isolating the victim from friends, relatives or other sources of support;
frightening, humiliating, degrading or punishment the victim.

As such, depending on the facts and circumstances of the case, the offence can be used to prosecute someone who engages in smear campaigns or reputational abuse of their partner or ex-partner. In other cases, it may be possible to prosecute such behaviour using offences such as threatening or abusive behaviour with a domestic abuse aggravation where the offence is committed by the victim's partner or ex-partner.

Police Scotland and the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service (COPFS) are operationally independent of the Scottish Ministers and are responsible for any guidance in place for police and prosecutors.

Victim support organisations have long-standing experience in dealing with victims who have suffered different forms of coercive and controlling behaviour and can tailor their approaches in offering support depending on the specific circumstances of any given case.

Question reference: S7W-01629

Asked by: Martyn Day, MSP for Falkirk East and Linlithgow, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 08 July 2026
Current Status: Answered by Maree Todd on 5 August 2026

To ask the Scottish Government what consideration it has given to the introduction of population-level policies aimed at regulating environmental risk factors for liver disease, including an automatic uprating of minimum unit pricing (MUP) for alcohol in line with inflation, restrictions on alcohol advertising and sponsorship, an alcohol harm prevention levy on retailers selling alcohol, restrictions on the display of alcohol products and adverts in retail outlets and restrictions on price and location of promotions on products high in fat, sugar and salt.

The Scottish Government recognises the significant impact of liver disease, which affects at least two million people across the UK and is often associated with harmful alcohol consumption and poor diet. Improving population health, tackling health inequalities and increasing healthy life expectancy remain key priorities, and we are committed to taking forward a range of evidence-based actions to address health harms associated with alcohol and less healthy food products.

Scotland's Alcohol & Drugs Strategic Plan, published in March 2026, included a commitment to publish an Alcohol Harm Prevention Plan, which will set out the next steps to address alcohol-related harm in Scotland.

Alongside preventative measures, the Scottish Government is working with Alcohol and Drug Partnerships and NHS Boards to develop a nationwide model for the early detection of alcohol-related liver disease. This builds on the learning from the innovative intelligent Liver Function Testing (iLFT) pilot pioneered by NHS Tayside. In addition, through the Centre for Sustainable Delivery, we have established a Specialty Delivery Group for Liver Disease to support improvements in care and outcomes.

The Food (Promotion and Placement) (Scotland) Regulations 2025 will come into force on 1 October 2026 to restrict volume price and location promotions of food and drink high in fat, sugar or salt (HFSS), both in-store and online. The Regulations deliver a key action under the Population Health Framework and seek to make the balance of products on promotion healthier, reduce overconsumption of HFSS foods, and contribute to reducing population levels of overweight and obesity and their consequent health harms.

Scottish Government also recognises the link between liver disease and an increased risk of liver cancer. Cancer remains a national priority, and the forthcoming ten-year Cancer Strategy will place a strong emphasis on prevention, including action on cancers with poorer survival rates, such as liver cancer. Supported by an initial three-year action plan, the strategy will take a comprehensive approach to improving outcomes, from prevention and diagnosis through to treatment and post-treatment care.

Question reference: S7W-02226

Asked by: Martyn Day, MSP for Falkirk East and Linlithgow, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Monday, 03 August 2026
Current Status: Answer expected on 31 August 2026

To ask the Scottish Government what action it is taking to increase public awareness of the support available to people experiencing gambling-related harm, including the National Gambling Helpline.

Question reference: S7W-02224

Asked by: Martyn Day, MSP for Falkirk East and Linlithgow, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Monday, 03 August 2026
Current Status: Answer expected on 31 August 2026

To ask the Scottish Government, regarding the introduction of Vaping Products Duty and the Vaping Duty Stamps Scheme on 1 October 2026, what discussions it has had with (a) HM Revenue and Customs, (b) Border Force, (c) Police Scotland, (d) Trading Standards Scotland and (e) COSLA regarding arrangements for sharing intelligence on and coordinating enforcement against illicit and non-compliant vaping products.

Question reference: S7W-02223

Asked by: Martyn Day, MSP for Falkirk East and Linlithgow, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Monday, 03 August 2026
Current Status: Answer expected on 31 August 2026

To ask the Scottish Government what assessment it has made of the additional staffing, training, systems and financial costs that local authority trading standards services will incur in implementing and enforcing the Tobacco and Vapes Act 2026, and whether it plans to provide dedicated implementation funding or national guidance to support local authorities in meeting those responsibilities.

Question reference: S7W-02228

Asked by: Martyn Day, MSP for Falkirk East and Linlithgow, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Monday, 03 August 2026
Current Status: Answer expected on 31 August 2026

To ask the Scottish Government what assessment it has made of the impact of gambling-related harm on people’s mental health, financial wellbeing and family relationships.

Question reference: S7W-02218

Asked by: Martyn Day, MSP for Falkirk East and Linlithgow, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Monday, 03 August 2026
Current Status: Answer expected on 31 August 2026

To ask the Scottish Government, in light of the findings from SEPA’s expanded per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) monitoring programme, which detected PFAS at almost 90% of monitored surface water sites and around 60% of monitored groundwater sites, whether PFAS monitoring, source protection measures and treatment requirements will be explicitly provided for in its investment objectives for Scottish Water under the Strategic Review of Charges 2027 (SR27) to ensure that PFAS levels do not contravene environmental standards.