- Asked by: Claire Baker, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Labour
-
Date lodged: Friday, 12 June 2026
-
Current Status:
Answered by Maree Todd on 23 June 2026
To ask the Scottish Government what specialist services are available in Scotland for people experiencing long-term health complications arising from ketamine use.
Answer
The UK Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs (ACMD) recommended in their ketamine review of January 2026, that work on drug treatment should be collaborative with specialist urology, pain management, hepatology and gastroenterology services.
In Health Boards throughout Scotland, Urology departments have clinical guidance in assessment and multidisciplinary management of bladder symptoms related to ketamine use. Due to an increase in admissions of young people, Aberdeen Royal Infirmary Urology department has created a specialist 'ketamine bladder' clinic.
The Scottish Government are aware of a significant spike in ketamine harms - particularly among young people, and it is an integral part of our new Strategic Plan, to create further standards to ensure services can adapt to changing drug trends. It highlights the need for responsive and adaptive services, with improvement to treatment pathways in drug services, and connections to primary, acute and specialist settings.
- Asked by: Claire Baker, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Labour
-
Date lodged: Friday, 12 June 2026
-
Current Status:
Answered by Maree Todd on 23 June 2026
To ask the Scottish Government whether it has carried any recent public health campaigns relating to ketamine use and, if so, what evaluation has been made of their effectiveness.
Answer
At this time the Scottish Government has not carried out any public health campaigns in relation to ketamine use.
The Scottish Government however provides funding to Public Health Scotland, to monitor ketamine use and related harms, through its RADAR (Rapid Action Drug Alerts and Response) program. The system acts as an early warning network to track emerging trends, local clusters of harm, and toxicology data in Scotland.
There are several Scottish Government funded organisations that are publicising the risks of taking ketamine and where to get help. These include:
- The Scottish Drugs Forum provides free targeted e-learning resources for healthcare staff and the public, helping them recognize early warning signs of ketamine dependency and understand how to reduce the risks
- Turning Point, a leading national social care charity, is running a nationwide campaign focusing on early intervention and harm reduction, to help people understand the tolerance limits and mental health impacts of ketamine
- Change, Grow, Live are a health and social care charity that is running an online campaign, to help people understand what ketamine is, detailing the side effects, risks and how to keep safe when taking it.
- Asked by: Claire Baker, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Labour
-
Date lodged: Friday, 12 June 2026
-
Current Status:
Answered by Maree Todd on 23 June 2026
To ask the Scottish Government what action it is taking to raise awareness among young people of the risks associated with ketamine use, including that of permanent bladder damage.
Answer
The Scottish Government are aware of an increase in ketamine use by young people, and published the Standards for Young People in November 2025, to ensure support in drug services meets their needs.
Several Scottish Government funded organisations are publicising the risks of taking ketamine and where to get help. These include:
- Crew, an Edinburgh based charity, provides Nightlife Harm Reduction at clubs and festivals, offering welfare, advice, harm reduction information and immediate crisis support
- Turning Point, a leading national social care charity, is running a nationwide campaign focusing on early intervention and harm reduction without using scare tactics, aimed at helping youth understand the tolerance limits and mental health impacts of ketamine
- With You, a support charity that is providing information and help to young people on their website, including peer written stories of other young people’s experience with ketamine.
- Asked by: Claire Baker, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Labour
-
Date lodged: Monday, 08 June 2026
-
Current Status:
Answered by Gillian Martin on 16 June 2026
To ask the Scottish Government whether it will evaluate recent research from the Biology Centre of the Czech Academy of Sciences on the impact of reintroducing large herbivores on the richness and abundance of pollinator species, and whether it has any plans to incorporate these findings into its biodiversity strategy, land-use strategy, and future rural payment schemes.
Answer
There is evidence of the benefits of large herbivore impact on biodiversity outcomes in some circumstances from a range of contexts, including in the UK. The Scottish Biodiversity Delivery Plan includes an action to explore how best to support optimal herbivore densities to enhance biodiversity outcomes in the uplands. We have funded the James Hutton Institute to research the effects of different domestic grazing regimes on biodiversity at the Glen Finglas Woodland Trust site for over 20 years. The results show variable benefits to biodiversity from different grazing regimes with ‘winner and losers’ under each type of grazing. Our approach is therefore to support such interventions in nature restoration projects in the right circumstances, on a case by case basis.
- Asked by: Claire Baker, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Labour
-
Date lodged: Monday, 08 June 2026
-
Current Status:
Answered by Gillian Martin on 16 June 2026
To ask the Scottish Government what research it has undertaken on the use of wild or semi-wild large herbivores as a nature-based tool for insect conservation and habitat restoration.
Answer
The Scottish Government are not currently planning to undertake further research in this area, as evidence of the potential benefits in the right circumstances already exists.
- Asked by: Claire Baker, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Labour
-
Date lodged: Wednesday, 03 June 2026
-
Current Status:
Taken in the Chamber on 10 June 2026
To ask the Scottish Government how it is taking forward plans to rebalance the non-domestic rates system.
Answer
Taken in the Chamber on 10 June 2026
- Asked by: Claire Baker, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Labour
-
Date lodged: Thursday, 12 March 2026
-
Current Status:
Answered by Shirley-Anne Somerville on 20 March 2026
To ask the Scottish Government, further to annex 1 of the Tackling Child Poverty Delivery Plan 2026-2031, for what reason the monetary investment in the Tackling Child Poverty Fund as a result of the allocation of “two child limit funds” has increased from £49 million to £61.5 million, and how this fund would have been financed had the “two-child limit” remained in place.
Answer
The Scottish Budget 2026-27 committed £61.5 million to the Tackling Child Poverty Fund, with Annex 1 of the Tackling Child Poverty Delivery Plan 2026-31 setting out further detail of how these funds have been allocated in 2026-27. This represents an increase of £49 million for the Tackling Child Poverty Fund relative to 2025-26.
The Scottish Government put eradicating child poverty at the heart of the Scottish Budget 2026-27, therefore if funding previously committed to the Two Child Limit Payment was not available, this additional funding would have been considered as a priority as part of the budget and spending review process.
- Asked by: Claire Baker, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Labour
-
Date lodged: Thursday, 12 March 2026
-
Current Status:
Answered by Shirley-Anne Somerville on 20 March 2026
To ask the Scottish Government, further to annex 1 of the Tackling Child Poverty
Delivery Plan 2026-2031, how it planned to fund the statutory requirement
to uprate the Scottish Child Payment, including the introduction of a £40 weekly
payment for under-one-year-olds, had the “two-child limit” remained in place.
Answer
We put eradicating child poverty at the heart of the Scottish Budget 2026-27 and Scottish Spending Review, which sets out the Scottish Government’s spending plans up to 2028-29.
If funding previously commitment to the planned Two Child Limit Payment was not available, then additional investment associated with the Scottish Child Payment and premium for children under the age of one would have been considered as a priority as part of the budget and spending review process.
- Asked by: Claire Baker, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Labour
-
Date lodged: Thursday, 12 March 2026
-
Current Status:
Answered by Shirley-Anne Somerville on 19 March 2026
To ask the Scottish Government what its estimated cost for 2026-27 is of (a) uprating the Scottish Child Payment and (b) introducing the £40 weekly payment for under-one-year-olds.
Answer
The cost of uprating Scottish Child Payment for 2026-27 will be around £17.7 million.
Estimated costings of the premium relating to children under the age of one were included in the Scottish Fiscal Commission’s report, Scotland’s Economic and Fiscal Forecasts – January 2026. It estimated that around 12,000 children will receive this increased support once the payment is delivered, with estimated costs of £3.5 million (part-year) in 2027-28 and around £7 million (full-year) in 2028-29.
- Asked by: Claire Baker, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Labour
-
Date lodged: Friday, 27 February 2026
-
Current Status:
Answered by Shirley-Anne Somerville on 12 March 2026
To ask the Scottish Government how many Pension Age Winter Heating Payments were still to be paid by 24 January 2026, and what the estimated total value was of any such payments.
Answer
The Scottish Government is delivering the strongest package of winter support compared with anywhere else in the UK.
Pension Age Winter Heating Payment is forecast to support at least 880,000 pensioners with heating bills this winter.
Applications can continue to be submitted until 31 March 2026 therefore the information requested is not available in any data publication. Applications received after this date may still be considered in certain circumstances. Additionally, individuals may choose to opt out of receiving the Pension Age Winter Heating Payment.
Management information published on 4 March 2026 shows that as of 21 February 2026,over 1,051,000 Pension Age Winter Heating Payments had been issued and the total value of payments issued was over £188.1 million.
