Chamber and committees

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.

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Question reference: S7W-01569

Asked by: Claire Baker, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 07 July 2026
Current Status: Answer expected on 4 August 2026

To ask the Scottish Government when it expects the terms of reference of the Anti-Racism Coalition to be agreed.

Question reference: S7W-01568

Asked by: Claire Baker, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 07 July 2026
Current Status: Answer expected on 4 August 2026

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide information regarding who represented the Anti-Racism Coalition at the meeting attended by the First Minister and the Scottish Refugee Council in June 2026, following disorder in Glasgow and other parts of Scotland.

Question reference: S7W-01571

Asked by: Claire Baker, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 07 July 2026
Current Status: Answer expected on 4 August 2026

To ask the Scottish Government who has been involved in the establishment of the Anti-Racism Coalition and determining its terms of reference.

Question reference: S7W-01573

Asked by: Claire Baker, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 07 July 2026
Current Status: Answer expected on 4 August 2026

To ask the Scottish Government what action it is taking to ensure that Scotland's African and black communities and citizens are represented on the Anti-Racism Coalition.

Question reference: S7W-01570

Asked by: Claire Baker, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 07 July 2026
Current Status: Answer expected on 4 August 2026

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide a list of the strategic stakeholders, which it funds and works closely with on key anti-racism priorities, that it anticipates will form the Anti-Racism Coalition.

Question reference: S7W-01572

Asked by: Claire Baker, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 07 July 2026
Current Status: Answer expected on 4 August 2026

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide information on the arrangements for ministerial oversight of the work of the Anti-Racism Coalition.

Question reference: S7W-01009

Asked by: Claire Baker, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Friday, 12 June 2026
Current Status: Answered by Neil Gray on 24 June 2026

To ask the Scottish Government what support is available to victims of cuckooing, where a person's home is taken over by others for criminal activity.

Question reference: S7W-01007

Asked by: Claire Baker, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Friday, 12 June 2026
Current Status: Answered by Neil Gray on 24 June 2026

To ask the Scottish Government what discussions it has had with Police Scotland regarding cross-border organised crime and so-called county lines drug activity affecting Scotland.

Question reference: S7W-01001

Asked by: Claire Baker, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Friday, 12 June 2026
Current Status: Answered by Neil Gray on 24 June 2026

To ask the Scottish Government what discussions it has had with social landlords regarding the risks posed by cuckooing, where a person's home is taken over by others for criminal activity, to tenants.

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.

Question reference: S7W-01003

Asked by: Claire Baker, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Friday, 12 June 2026
Current Status: Answered by Neil Gray on 24 June 2026

To ask the Scottish Government whether it has carried out, or plans to carry out, an assessment of available data on the prevalence of cuckooing, where a person's home is taken over by others for criminal activity.