Chamber and committees

I refer the member to the answer to question S7W-01001 on 24 June 2026. 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.

I refer the member to the answer to question S7W-01001 on 24 June 2026. 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.

I refer the member to the answer to question S7W-01001 on 24 June 2026. 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.

I refer the member to the answer to question S7W-01001 on 24 June 2026. 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.

This answer covers the ten questions that you have tabled on cuckooing.

The Scottish Government has not had any discussions directly with social landlords on cuckooing. However, the Serious Organised Crime Taskforce (SOCT), which I chair, involves a wide range of agencies who come together to consider the threat and risk of serious organised crime. SOCT members use every means at their disposal to disrupt serious organised crime, including cuckooing and associated county lines activity. Membership of the SOCT includes Police Scotland, the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service, CoSLA, the National Crime Agency, and SOLACE.

In terms of awareness raising, the Scottish Government published practitioner guidance on criminal exploitation on behalf of the SOCT in 2023. The guidance was developed to support a shared understanding of criminal exploitation, which includes county lines and cuckooing. It helps professionals identify and support those at risk from being exploited by serious organised crime groups.

The guidance is available to all front-line workers such as social workers, Police Scotland, NHS, and education and third sector staff who come into regular contact with children and vulnerable adults.

Following publication of the guidance, the SOCT held a criminal exploitation awareness raising event in 2024 for practitioners and leaders within social work, education, health and other sectors. The aims of the event included raising awareness of criminal exploitation, including the practitioners guidance, and promoting multi-agency working between and across organisations to ensure better outcomes for young people and adults on the cusp of serious organised crime.

Cuckooing is not currently a criminal offence, therefore the Scottish Government holds no data on the prevalence of cuckooing. The Scottish Government worked closely with the Home Office on the Crime and Policing Act 2026, which will see the introduction of a new criminal offence for cuckooing once the provisions come into force. The offence will criminalise the control over another person's property without their consent for the purposes of enabling it to be used in connection with criminality. The use of this offence will allow for data to be collected on cuckooing in future.

Scotland’s refreshed Trafficking and Exploitation Strategy, published in July 2025, recognises cuckooing as a form of criminal exploitation. The new offence in the Crime and Policing Act will provide law enforcement partners with another option to consider when disrupting the activities of perpetrators who take over vulnerable individuals homes for the purposes of committing criminality.

The Scottish Government funds a number of services that support victims of cuckooing. These include:

• The Victim-Centred Approach Fund (VCAF), which has awarded over £75m to victims' organisations for the period 2022-2027 as part of the Scottish Government's commitment to putting victims at the heart of the justice system.
• In addition, the Victim Surcharge Fund, established in 2019, has provided over £3.4m in awards to 27 victim support organisations. The organisations can use this funding to provide practical help to victims, and the Fund has helped more than 10,000 people affected by crime.
• The Trafficking Awareness Raising Alliance (TARA) and Migrant Help, who will receive more than £3.5m in 2026-27 to provide support and assistance to adult victims of trafficking and exploitation.

Lastly, the Adult Support and Protection (ASP) Act 2007 places a duty on councils to make inquiries about a person's well-being, property or financial affairs if it knows or believes that the person is an adult at risk, and that it might need to intervene in order to protect the person's well-being, property or financial affairs. The Act provides a multi-agency framework for intervention and support for adults at risk of harm. It provides measures to identify and to provide support and protection for those individuals who are vulnerable to being harmed whether as a result of their own or someone else's conduct.

All ASP referrals warrant a carefully considered and measured response, and should be acted upon as a source of information that may or may not be presented as evidence at a later stage.

I refer the member to the answer to question S7W-01001 on 24 June 2026. 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.

I refer the member to the answer to question S7W-01001 on 24 June 2026. 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 is concerned at reports of harm from ketamine, particularly amongst young people.

The Scottish Government does not publish data on treatment for ketamine dependency at the level of detail requested.

In the 2023 Scottish Health Survey, 3% of those aged 16-24 reported that they had used ketamine in the previous 12 months. The Scottish Health Survey 2023 - volume 1: main report - gov.scot.

There is the possibility for under-reporting of drug use in surveys and those who have substance use issues may be less likely to take part in a survey. To note also that the survey only samples from private households, so anyone who is homeless or living in an institution will not be included.

The Scottish Health Survey includes questions on drug use every two years and the next release of this data will be later in 2026 which will provide further data on the prevalence of ketamine use.

The Scottish Government does not hold this information. Public Health Scotland provide information through Drug and Alcohol Information System (DAISy) the national database that holds data about drug and alcohol services.

The DAISy initial assessments report tables, provide information on ketamine which is grouped into a larger ‘dissociatives’ category and presented at NHS Board of Residence level per financial year. Tables 4.4 and 4.5 relate to the drugs cohort and report on all drugs listed at assessment and main drug only; tables 5.9 and 5.10 are the same but for the ‘both drugs and alcohol’ cohort. These figures relate to the first assessment a person has had in each year, NHS Board and substance type, so do not represent individuals. Disclosure control has been applied so values are not available for every NHS Board. Data are available for financial years 2021-22 to 2024-25 inclusive.

The quarterly RADAR management information dashboard, presents monthly data for the main drug reported at assessment, by NHS Board of treatment, which includes specific data on ketamine (Chart 2: Main Drug). These data can be found on the ‘Service Indicators’ page and are for all assessments recorded in DAISy. The data include all assessments for drugs and both alcohol and drugs so are not equivalent to individuals. Data in the dashboard currently cover November 2020 – February 2026 and no data have been suppressed. Filters at the top of the page can be used to select the area and time period of interest, and there is a filter above the chart to select the drug of interest. To note that there is a minor issue with ‘Chart 1’ in the current version of the dashboard, which means that data for individual NHS Boards are not displayed. Chart 2 is unaffected and the issue will be corrected in the next release (July 2026).

There is currently no national collection of data on ketamine-induced bladder damage. The Scottish Government are ensuring that Alcohol and Drug Partnerships and specialist services take the needs of ketamine usage into account in commissioning and delivering acute care and aftercare services.