Chamber and committees

Reported incidents of drink spiking are likely to be recorded by the police as either (i) crimes of administering a substance for sexual purposes under section 11 of the Sexual Offences (Scotland) Act 2009, or (ii) drugging (assault). The former is recorded when a person intentionally administers a substance, or causes a substance to be taken, with the purpose of stupefying or overpowering, to enable any person to engage in a sexual activity involving the victim. The latter is similar in that a crime is committed when drugs are feloniously administered with intent to produce stupefaction, however there doesn’t need to be further intent, and it is not necessary that any injury to the victim is caused.

It is not possible to track these cases through the Justice system as each organisation uses their own administrative database for operational purposes. However figures can be provided on crimes recorded by the police, charges reported to the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service and of those charges, the number resulting in a conviction. It should be noted that crimes recorded in any one reporting year may become charges/prosecutions in later years. Furthermore, in the most recent years, a large proportion of the charges prosecuted remain ongoing. As the cases involved progress and reach a conclusion, it is possible that further convictions may be recorded.

In Scotland, conduct amounting to spiking can be prosecuted using a range of common law and statutory offences. As well as the common law offence of drugging and the statutory offence contained in section 11 of the Sexual Offences (Scotland) Act 2009, common law offences such as assault or culpable and reckless conduct can be considered. This framework allows prosecutors to assess each case individually and select the charges that best reflect the facts and circumstances of the case.

Challenges in prosecuting cases often arise from evidential difficulties which can include delayed reporting, the rapid metabolisation of substances, and lack of forensic opportunities. In most instances, the Procurator Fiscal becomes involved in an individual case in a substantive way on receipt of a report from Police Scotland, or other reporting agency. When a report alleging “spiking” is submitted to the Procurator Fiscal, and there is sufficient credible, reliable and admissible evidence in law, prosecutors adopt a robust approach when deciding what action best serves the public interest.

Total recorded crimes of either Drugging or Administering a substance for sexual purposes, Scotland, 2020-21 to 2024-25

The proposal to directly award Ferguson Marine four new vessels are subject to completion of detailed legal, commercial and subsidy control assessments, including engagement with the Competition and Markets Authority. This due diligence is currently underway within the Scottish Government.

The proposed approach is intended to establish a credible and sustained pipeline of work for the yard. This is expected to support its long-term financial sustainability, alongside strengthened governance, enhanced assurance arrangements, and a programme of yard modernisation.

The safety of our maternity services is apriority to this government and we recognise the importance of these issues to the people of Wigtonshire.

I refer the member to the answer to question S7W-00376 on 8 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

As part of the 100-day manifesto commitment, Transport Scotland, Scottish Rail Holdings Group and Caledonian Sleeper Limited will work together to undertake a feasibility study into extending the Caledonian Sleeper service to Europe. This will include engagement with relevant rail infrastructure managers.

In January 2026, Ferguson Marine’s CEO formally wrote to the previous Scottish Parliament’s Net Zero, Energy and Transport (NZET) Committee advising the target delivery date for MV Glen Rosa has been further delayed to Q4 2026.

The yard remains firmly committed to delivering the vessel to the highest standard and their letter to the NZET committee in January also confirmed their confidence in this updated timeline and cost forecast.

The Scottish Government will continue to hold the yard to account for delivery, cost control, and full transparency as the project moves towards completion, while also ensuring Parliament is kept updated through formal reporting to the Committee.

Data on the number of people on a housing waiting list is not held centrally by the Scottish Government. Estimates of the proportion of households on a housing waiting list is published on an annual basis using data from the Scottish Household Survey (SHS). However, the SHS does not sample people living in communal establishments/temporary accommodation. Due to the impact of COVID-19 restrictions, SHS data is not available for 2020 and 2021.

The latest data can be found on our website Households in Scotland by housing tenure: Scottish Household Survey, 2024 - gov.scot. Previous years can be found here: Scottish Household Survey: results - gov.scot. Data for 2025 will be published later this year and a publication date will be announced on the Scottish Government’s Official statistics: forthcoming publications list: Official statistics: forthcoming publications - gov.scot.

The Scottish Government also publishes the number of applications for local authority housing on an annual basis. This can be found on the Scottish Government website here: Housing Statistics 2025: Key Trends Summary - gov.scot. Local authority level data can be found in the tables linked to this publication: Housing statistics: Management of local authority housing - gov.scot. Please be aware of the caveats stated in the publication – the data:

• Is not a complete picture for Scotland, as six councils with no local authority housing stock (so for example, Glasgow) do not provide us with data on waiting lists.
• Will include double counting, as households can apply to multiple lists.
• Will include applications where housing is no longer needed, however they may not be removed from the housing list immediately.

The Scottish Government has no plans to introduce congestion charges in cities.

The Scottish Government’s role is to provide strategic leadership for NHS Scotland to ensure a sustainable NHS workforce. Operational matters relating to staffing and the provision of specialist services, such as immunology and allergy services, are the responsibility of individual NHS Boards and will depend on service needs, taking account of national, regional and local priorities.

Boards are required to ensure that suitably qualified and competent staff are available in appropriate numbers to support safe, high-quality care and staff wellbeing, in line with the requirements of the Health and Care (Staffing) (Scotland) Act 2019.

To support them in this regard and in pursuance of our own legal duties under the Act, we keep under regular review NHS Scotland's requirement for immunologists through annual reviews of the number of specialty training places needed to meet anticipated future service demand and consultant need across all specialties.

As outlined in our manifesto, and as part of wider plans to support a just transition to net zero by 2045, the Scottish Government is committed to commissioning a feasibility study into the potential use of tram-trains on the South Suburban line in Edinburgh within the first 100 days of Government.