Chamber and committees

The Scottish Government, through the Licensing (Scotland) Act 2005, provides the overarching legal framework within which alcohol can be sold and supplied in Scotland. The 2005 Act makes provision for the licensing of premises in Scotland where alcohol is sold online and despatched from Scottish premises. Minimum unit pricing does not apply to alcohol sales which are despatched from outside Scotland directly to a buyer within Scotland.

The Scottish Government is aware of concerns raised about cross-border online alcohol sales in Scotland.

Officials have engaged with industry and business stakeholders, including the Scottish Grocers Federation and alcohol licensing stakeholders, on these matters to better understand these concerns. Additionally, through Scottish Enterprise, my officials have sought direct engagement with online retailers.

We will continue to engage with all relevant stakeholders to keep the potential impact of this developing market under review and to better understand the interaction between devolved and reserved matters in this area.

The Public Health Scotland evaluation of MUP found some evidence of cross-border purchasing, but its extent was observed to be minimal. The evaluation also found online sales to be relatively minor at a population level.

Public Health Scotland holds alcohol retail sales data for both the on-trade and off-trade, which includes all electronic point of sale data for the main supermarkets and a representative sample of smaller retailers and independent stores. Detailed information on cross-border online alcohol sales is not available and such information is likely to be commercially confidential and would require businesses to supply this on a voluntary basis.

The Scottish Government has no current plans to make any changes to the collection of online alcohol sales data.

The Scottish Government is committed to implementing further regulation of independent healthcare, through a phased approach to ensure that Healthcare Improvement Scotland (HIS) has the capacity and appropriate staff in place to regulate the independent sector effectively.

The Scottish Government plans to engage with HIS and other relevant stakeholders during 2025-26 to ensure the proportionate scope of regulation of the private ambulance and the first aid sector. We anticipate completing the engagement with stakeholders prior to the Scottish parliamentary elections in 2026.

Once scoping is complete, a public consultation will be brought forward detailing proposals for regulation of the sector.

I refer the member to the answer to the question S6W-36412 on 29 April 2025. 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 not aware of any actions to investigate the reported number of people exposed to diethystilbesterol (also known as DES or stilbesterol).

The regulation for the licensing, safety and efficacy of medicines is reserved to the UK Government and is the responsibility of the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA).

Extensive work is ongoing to improve coordination of public services as part of our commitment to public service reform. We will support all areas to follow the Getting It Right for Everyone model of person-centred services (GIRFE). This model brings the person, their families, carers and all service providers together to devise a package of care and support in a joined-up, holistic manner across various services and agencies to achieve the best outcomes for individuals. In December 2024 we published the GIRFE toolkit and Health Boards are now required to set out how they will embed the GIRFE principles and toolkit in NHS Annual Delivery Plans for the organisation and delivery of their services. In addition, we are establishing the new National Care Service Advisory Board to improve social care, social work and community health services.

More specifically to support individuals with complex co-occurring mental health and substance use issues we commissioned Healthcare Improvement Scotland (HIS) to create a gold-standard protocol that sets out how these services should work together, which has now been published. HIS are now working to support areas across the country to develop and implement their own protocols. We are also supporting Mental Health Officers (MHOs), who assess and support individuals with mental health conditions and are pivotal to integrated health and social care services. Actions underway include undertaking workforce planning initiatives to address shortfall in MHOs, developing a pilot exercise to reduce administrative burden, and developing a scheme to harness the potential of AI powered tools to support reporting and reduce associated workloads.

I refer the member to the answer to question S6W-33295 on 28 January 2025. 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.

HESA published 2023-24 student data in March 2025 with the data available from the same link referenced in the answer for S6W-33295:

https://www.hesa.ac.uk/data-and-analysis/students/table-59

We recognise the importance of support for individuals on release from custody. While we are not currently pursuing a pilot on post-custody outreach, we are improving support for these individuals by introducing a new national voluntary throughcare service, Upside, which offers one-to-one support for men and women leaving short sentences and periods of remand. This service, which launched on
1 April 2025, will assist people with the immediate challenges they face post-custody, including accessing housing, healthcare and social security, while also linking them to the wider support services they may require, such as mental health or substance use services.

In addition to this, through the Getting It Right For Everyone (GIRFE) model, we are supporting Health Boards to provide a package of care and support in a joined-up, holistic manner across various services and agencies. This will also support people with their needs on release from prison.

In recognition of financial pressures, our 2025-26 budget includes record levels of investment - over £21.7 billion for Health and Social Care and over £15 billion for the Local Government Settlement.

While the Scottish Government has overall responsibility for health and social care policy in Scotland, it is for Health and Social Care Partnerships to ensure that support services are in place to provide people with the appropriate support in the right place and at the right time. Decisions on how best to deliver services to local communities, including funding for services like the Notre Dame Centre, are ultimately for local partners to make.

However, these decisions should be made in consultation with people who use those services and in full awareness of the impact on them and on other services who may be asked to provide support in their place.

I would therefore encourage all partners to work together to find solutions that not only address financial pressures but put the needs of local people, particularly those who are most vulnerable, at the centre.

The Medication-Assisted Treatment (MAT) Standards set out what people should expect from substance use services. MAT Standard 3 sets out that people at high risk of drug-related harm should be proactively identified and offered support, while MAT Standard 9 sets out that all people with co-occurring drug use and mental health issues should receive mental health care. Implementation of the MAT Standards is supported by multi-year funding of £10.3 million per year over the life of the Parliament.