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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.

Find out more about parliamentary questions

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Question reference: S7W-04445

Asked by: Rachael Hamilton, MSP for Ettrick, Roxburgh and Berwickshire, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 22 October 2026
Current Status: Answer expected on 19 November 2026

To ask the Scottish Government whether it has discussed with COSLA the potential for local authorities to voluntarily designate an elected member as a so-called Survivor Champion to raise awareness of safeguarding concerns and barriers to accessing trauma support, particularly in rural communities.

Question reference: S7W-04446

Asked by: Rachael Hamilton, MSP for Ettrick, Roxburgh and Berwickshire, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 22 October 2026
Current Status: Answer expected on 19 November 2026

To ask the Scottish Government what discussions it has had with Police Scotland regarding the involvement of survivor-led organisations in training on child sexual exploitation, and what arrangements are in place for survivors to raise directly with senior police officers concerns regarding systemic safeguarding failures.

Question reference: S7W-04448

Asked by: Rachael Hamilton, MSP for Ettrick, Roxburgh and Berwickshire, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 22 October 2026
Current Status: Answer expected on 19 November 2026

To ask the Scottish Government what arrangements there are for independent scrutiny of Police Scotland's handling of historical allegations of child sexual exploitation, including whether such allegations are assessed for ongoing risks to children and referred to relevant child protection agencies where appropriate.

Question reference: S7W-04443

Asked by: Rachael Hamilton, MSP for Ettrick, Roxburgh and Berwickshire, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 22 October 2026
Current Status: Answer expected on 19 November 2026

To ask the Scottish Government what guidance it provides to child protection committees on involving grassroots survivor-led organisations in the development and review of local safeguarding and referral procedures, and what assessment it has made of the extent to which this takes place in rural communities.

Question reference: S7W-04447

Asked by: Rachael Hamilton, MSP for Ettrick, Roxburgh and Berwickshire, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 22 October 2026
Current Status: Answer expected on 19 November 2026

To ask the Scottish Government what support is available through its No One Left Behind approach to employability for survivors of childhood abuse and exploitation who require flexible, trauma-informed pathways into employment, including community-based or outdoor projects, and what discussions it has had with the Department for Work and Pensions regarding the interaction between such voluntary support and benefit conditionality.

Question reference: S7W-04442

Asked by: Rachael Hamilton, MSP for Ettrick, Roxburgh and Berwickshire, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 22 October 2026
Current Status: Answer expected on 19 November 2026

To ask the Scottish Government what assessment it has made of the effectiveness of child protection awareness programmes that encourage children to disclose abuse to trusted adults, particularly in rural communities where alleged perpetrators might hold positions of authority or influence, and what its position is on the extent to which such programmes provide alternative routes for reporting concerns.

Question reference: S7W-04435

Asked by: Rachael Hamilton, MSP for Ettrick, Roxburgh and Berwickshire, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 22 October 2026
Current Status: Answer expected on 19 November 2026

To ask the Scottish Government what funding arrangements, including opportunities for multi-year funding, are available to grassroots, survivor-led organisations in rural communities to deliver local safeguarding, prevention and survivor-support activities ahead of the conclusion of the public inquiry into group-based child sexual abuse and exploitation.

Question reference: S7W-04440

Asked by: Rachael Hamilton, MSP for Ettrick, Roxburgh and Berwickshire, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 22 October 2026
Current Status: Answer expected on 19 November 2026

To ask the Scottish Government what arrangements are in place to ensure that historical medical, psychiatric and safeguarding records that might be relevant to investigations of childhood abuse are appropriately preserved and securely transferred when NHS facilities, residential schools or independent boarding schools close.

Question reference: S7O-00390

Asked by: Rachael Hamilton, MSP for Ettrick, Roxburgh and Berwickshire, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 21 October 2026
Current Status: Due to be taken in the Chamber on 28 October 2026

To ask the Scottish Government whether any consultation or risk assessment was carried out prior to the closure of the Duns road policing department.

Question reference: S7W-03495

Asked by: Rachael Hamilton, MSP for Ettrick, Roxburgh and Berwickshire, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 22 September 2026
Current Status: Answered by Tom Arthur on 1 October 2026

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the commitment in the Scottish National Party manifesto to enact a statutory price cap on essential food items, what its response is to comments from the Federation of Small Businesses and Scottish Grocers Federation published in The Scottish Sun on 19 September 2026 that the policy could have adverse implications for both smaller food retail stores and small food suppliers.

The cost-of-living crisis means that many families are struggling to put food on the table, and we are taking action to help households with those pressures. That is why we are consulting on a proposal which seeks to make essential food items more affordable for households struggling to pay for their weekly shop, particularly those on lower incomes. Through our consultation and ongoing engagement with stakeholders, we are carefully considering the full range of perspectives and evidence to help inform policy development. This engagement will help ensure that any future scheme is proportionate, deliverable and aligned with the policy's objectives.