Paul Sweeney
Scottish Labour · Scotland
“The single point of contact pilots that we have embarked on are making a significant difference in ensuring that people get the ability to discuss their treatment anxieties and their support. We have invested £2.5 million to expand the reach of that programme across Scotland.”
“As a member of the Delegated Powers and Law Reform Committee, I welcome the news on the proposed legislation, which is very welcome. Indeed, it is something that has been long hoped for.”
“It is more precise than conventional radiotherapy, and the team behind the trial in England has begun the process of establishing it in Scotland.”
“I thank Mesothelioma UK for continuing to raise awareness each year through action mesothelioma day. On 3 July, the Scottish Government will proudly show our support by lighting up in blue St Andrew’s house and Victoria Quay in Edinburgh to get behind the go blue for meso campaign.”
“There is an awful lot to be recognised in terms of holding people to account, which has been a feature of this campaign over time. The Scottish Government confirms its commitment to continue to stand alongside those who are affected by mesothelioma, to ensure that they receive the compassionate care and treatment that they require at ever…”
“The fact that there are such abandoned factories and that the people who enter them—whether for urban exploration or whatever else—do not understand the risks that they are exposing themselves to is a difficulty that we must overcome.”
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“Amendment 294 stipulates that ministers must publish statutory guidance—again, to be approved by Parliament—setting out the required level of qualification for inspectors who determine the presence and severity of damp and mould. That would ensure that inspections would be carried out by competent, qualified professionals, and it would protect tenants from inadequate or inconsistent assessments. We have heard over and over from tenants—I am sure that many MSPs will have heard this at their surgeries—about those who come to assess damp or mould in people’s homes. The tenants are told to spray it with disinfectant, open a window or cover it up with damp-proof paint as if, all of a sudden, that will fix what are real, substantive, structural issues related to dampness.”
“Amendment 295 would require ministers to publish statutory guidance—again, to be approved by Parliament—defining what constitutes a significant level of damp and mould that would trigger the legal requirement for landlords to act. The current wording provides that, as long as a property is substantially free from damp and mould, it meets the tolerable standard. However, one person’s view of something that is substantially free from damp and mould will vary wildly from another’s. The amendment would give tenants and landlords clarity on when action is required. I accept that there is current guidance on levels of damp and mould in homes, but amendment 295 would allow ministers to ensure that the law is robust and that tenants are not left in unsafe or unhealthy conditions due to that threshold being perceived to be vague.”
“I have stipulated that ministers must publish statutory guidance, approved by the Parliament through the affirmative procedure, on the timescale in which a landlord must respond to a resident’s complaint of damp or mould and on the timescale for effectively dealing with damp or mould when it is found. Clear, enforceable timescales are essential for protecting tenants’ health and wellbeing. Linking that to statutory guidance that is subject to parliamentary approval would ensure the accountability and transparency of that process. Voting in favour of the amendments would close any loopholes in the current wording and guarantee that action is not left to landlords’ discretion.”
“That will help some of my constituents who are trying to ensure that their homes are not putting the lives of their children in danger because of damp and mould. However, we can go further to ensure that people have confidence that issues of damp and mould will be identified correctly and acted on quickly. My amendments 294 to 297 are designed to strengthen the Government’s commitment by tightening up the conditional language and ensuring robust and enforceable standards for tackling damp and mould in Scotland’s homes. Like other amendments in the group, my amendments seek to tighten timescales for dealing with damp and mould when it is found in homes.”
“There are provisions for that in relation to listed buildings, although, unfortunately, those provisions have been exercised on only one occasion—in Dundee—in the 25-plus years for which the legislation has been in force. There are behavioural issues with local authorities, but it is worth testing the idea and trying to put it on the statute book. It would be a useful mechanism. Graham Simpson: That was quite an intervention. We probably do not need to hear from Mr Sweeney again, because he has explained it all. I will study the wording of the amendment—I think that it is too onerous, but if Mr Sweeney wants to add to what he has already said, I look forward to hearing it. I will end my comments there. Mark Griffin: I welcome the Scottish Government’s commitment to full implementation of Awaab’s law for both private and social landlords.”
“Perhaps I can provide some clarity on the point that Graham Simpson makes. That activity has already been undertaken in the city of Glasgow, and my idea is to provide a better system of allowing tenants to express their desire for their property to be considered for such a scheme. It would create a better demand signal or understanding about substandard properties that might be eligible for the compulsory purchase order activity that is already undertaken in Glasgow. Other local authorities do not have such a scheme. In Glasgow, the need for it is significant. It might be worth considering a scheme to offset the cost of making good dilapidations against the value of the property.”
“Therefore, although it is welcome that the practitioner vacancies have been filled, the longer-term need to preserve career pathways on the island is important. Another key point was that the CT scanner at Broadford does not exist. Having a scanner there is an obvious way to reduce ambulance transfers to Raigmore. Could that matter be looked at? Neil Gray: All the matters that Mr Sweeney has raised are being looked at. I understand that the situation with regard to the former Broadford site is being looked at and progressed. That is part of the Government investment to give rural and island communities across Scotland opportunities to take forward innovative ways to provide key worker housing and support, to ensure that we continue to have sustainable island and rural communities.”
“I thank the cabinet secretary for his statement. The Health, Social Care and Sport Committee had the opportunity to visit Skye in May 2024, which was an insightful visit, certainly for me as a rather parochial Glaswegian—it was my first visit to the island. The insights of the staff at Portree and at Broadford were instructive. On that visit, some helpful suggestions were made. One that stuck out for me was that the abandoned old Broadford hospital buildings that were boarded up could be readily converted into accommodation for visiting clinicians, or even more permanent accommodation for people who are looking to develop careers on the island. The housing pressure still seems to be a structural challenge there.”
“However, we really need its help with the longer-term pipeline.”
“Kate Forbes: In short, we will work with anybody to deliver improvements and changes. I have to say that there were a lot of helpful interventions at the very beginning of the process. I, too, commend Ian Murray for taking a number of my last-minute calls as I tried to make progress. Sadly, though, over the past few months, there has not been the progress that we would have liked to see. We have been promised information about a pipeline of orders in, we hope, the autumn. We will be into autumn fairly soon, but we have not yet seen that pipeline. By that point, it would have been too late, because the consultation period, which had already been extended a few times, ended on Monday. The furlough scheme is being funded entirely by the Scottish Government; the UK Government has not provided funding.”
“I commend my colleagues Ian Murray, the former Secretary of State for Scotland, and Euan Stainbank, the member of Parliament for Falkirk, for their efforts to save bus manufacturing, particularly by extending the new UK Procurement Act 2023 social value provisions to Scotland. Ultimately, Scottish bus manufacturing must have the most advanced vehicle production facility in the world if it is to be competitive, and the Government can offer direct subsidy to manufacturers such as Alexander Dennis to achieve that— notwithstanding the Subsidy Control Act 2022. Will the Government co-operate with the UK Government on benchmarking the site at Camelon, which is antiquated, ensure that it is upgraded and ensure that bus manufacturing facilities in Scotland are competitive?”
“To ask the Scottish Government what work is being undertaken to improve the rehabilitation of people who are subject to short prison sentences. (S6O- 04943)”
“The recent shipbuilding contract with Norway has certainly been a big win. It is to be hoped that the Government will get more involved in that project. I know that it has been reluctant to get involved thus far, but the project represents a huge prize for Scottish firms. There are opportunities for both small and medium-sized enterprises and the big primes to build on that contract with Norway—there is £10 billion of value to unlock.”
“If this country were to have the same level of exports as a proportion of GDP as other countries that rank in the top quartile, such as Denmark, Scotland would have an additional £35 billion of exports annually. If we can encourage our firms to be more ambitious in that regard, that will be a massive prize. There are practical ways to do that. When I was at Scottish Enterprise, I worked on placing native foreign-language master of business administration students with Scottish firms to do business development. Within a few months, they were winning millions of dollars-worth of orders overseas. Even simple practices such as working with universities and with our foreign-language and international students can significantly change business opportunities. There are a lot of quick wins to be had.”
“Of those that exported, 100 businesses accounted for 60 per cent of our exports, and 60 firms accounted for half of them. Therefore, there is a real shallowness in the entrepreneurialism of Scottish firms. We need to encourage greater activity and greater sales around the world. We can do that in practical ways, but ultimately it is about individual business behaviour. We need to look at how we can address that. Our performance relative to that of other countries signifies how much work we have to make up. We are still rattling around the 20 per cent mark while other countries are way ahead of us. As I mentioned, Scotland is ranked in the bottom quartile of exporters in the developed world.”
“Indeed, large firms dominate exporting, in that they account for around 54 per cent of our export activity. Richard Lochhead: I regularly meet businesses, and in particular small businesses, that have simply stopped exporting to Europe since Brexit. Does the member agree that it is pretty ridiculous to try to divorce Brexit from Scotland’s export track record? Paul Sweeney: I agree that Brexit was a disaster—it has been the single biggest geopolitical mistake that this country has made, certainly in my lifetime. However, we are where we are, and we have to move forward together as best we can to minimise the frictions that the situation presents. I hope that we can do so together, because it has affected our ability to trade. In 2019, of the 346,000 businesses in Scotland, only 11,000 exported.”
“We must look at our domestic ownership and investment in assets. We have seen a recent decline in Scottish international goods exports. Last year, there was a 2 per cent drop to £18.4 billion. We have also seen a shallow exposure of Scottish firms to exporting activity, which has not changed substantially in the 10 years since I was at Scottish Enterprise. There are around 2,300 foreign-owned companies in Scotland that disproportionately take up the share of export activity, because they are already multinational in nature. That in itself is not a problem, but it signifies a lack of indigenous smaller firms in Scotland that are exporting. Consequently, the Scottish economy overrelies on foreign-owned companies to generate export growth.”
“Some 13 per cent of businesses in Scotland that were surveyed expect those tariffs to impact their business negatively. It has been mentioned in the debate that the tariffs are costing our country £4 million a week, so it is important that both the UK and Scottish Governments exercise whatever influence they have to secure a better deal. It is to be hoped that, in time, the Americans will see the folly of introducing such tariffs. It is a shame that our single biggest export—our national drink, Scotch whisky—is so affected by the situation, but it is also important to note that the industry itself is dominated by foreign ownership, with many of the profits from Scotch whisky leaving Scottish shores. Indeed, in 2021, a study found that nearly 70 per cent of malt whisky distilleries are owned by companies outside Scotland.”
“They have never worked, and it is deeply disappointing that the United States has taken that course. However, it was welcome news to see the First Minister join the Scotch Whisky Association on its trade mission to Washington DC to press for a more favourable deal for Scottish whisky distilleries, which have been dealt a significant blow since the President announced the tariffs on imports to the United States. According to the most recent survey of Scottish businesses, around 11 per cent have reported being impacted by the rise in American import tariffs earlier this year, which figure rises to 27 per cent for manufacturers. Therefore, we are seeing particular exposure in our manufacturing sector, in which businesses have cited impacts including increased additional costs, supply chain disruptions and reduced demand.”
“The most notable of those is the increasingly complex and volatile geopolitics that we are encountering in the shift away from a unipolar world order to one that is more fragmented, with greater competition between great power blocs and a beggar-thy-neighbour approach to protectionism in trade. We cannot be industrially naive—we have to be alive to emerging situations and deal with them accordingly. We must bolster our domestic supply chains, and we have to be more interventionist in that regard. Mr Leonard mentioned the need to be more geared towards industrial planning, and I share that sentiment. The current situation is counterproductive, of course. We know that tariffs are ultimately a tax on consumption and that they reduce economic prosperity.”
“I remember that, when I worked at Scottish Enterprise, looking at assessments of Scotland’s position relative to trade in other parts of the world, in 2015 we were around 33rd out of the 36 countries who were then members of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development. Unfortunately, that position has not really changed. We can talk about absolute numbers but, relatively speaking, Scotland still has a lot of work to do. The process cannot be reduced to exchanging political arguments. Parliament needs a common framework and a common mission for developing our country’s prosperity. Members are engaging in the debate in a spirit of co-operation on how we deal with that, because, ultimately, there are external factors that we have to confront.”
“It is a pleasure to contribute to today’s debate by closing for Labour. I express my best wishes to Kate Forbes for her future endeavours. It has been a pleasure to work with her in the past few years of this parliamentary session. It is a small world. I discovered that we apparently grew up on the same street—Sinclair Gardens in Bishopbriggs— and it is good to know that it has exported a disproportionate share of parliamentarians over the years. This has been an interesting debate that has reflected a common mission for everyone in the Parliament, which is to grow our national prosperity. That is a consistent endeavour.”
“Does Stephen Kerr not find it rather odd that, despite the national shipbuilding strategy having been around since about 2019, there has been very little engagement from the Scottish Government on delivering it, despite the bulk of the UK’s shipbuilding industry being in Scotland? Stephen Kerr: This is another one of the Scottish Government’s derangement syndromes. It is not prepared to face up to the realities of our country’s economic make-up and to the strength of our defence sector, because it is ideologically opposed to so much that the defence sector represents.”
“We are keen to have conversations about the future of those plants and the technologies that the member is talking about—electric arc furnaces and so on. However, members cannot have it both ways: they cannot complain about the fact that we have put public money in there and then complain that we are not putting enough public money in there. That said, we will continue to work to secure a share of UK Government investment in the steel industry across the country. The first priority is to get the Dalzell plant back up and running, but once that has been done and we secure orders from other customers, we will be keen to talk to all parties—as we are doing with the UK Government—about the potential future of the plants.”
“I welcome the announcement, after a year’s impasse, of the impending restart of production at Dalzell because of the contract, via Navantia, for the fleet solid support ships. It is great news, but we need to build on it. The minister referred to the £2.5 billion fund for steel investments that was set aside by the UK Government in the National Wealth Fund. I would like the Scottish Government to take a more proactive approach. We know from recommendations from the community and others— The Deputy Presiding Officer: Can we have a question, please, Mr Sweeney? Paul Sweeney: —that there is a need for an electric arc furnace and a direct reduction ironworks. Can the minister assure the chamber that the Government is working to try to proactively develop those assets and is not just standing by? Ivan McKee: Yes.”
“To ask the First Minister what additional support the Scottish Government is giving to the public dental service, in light of reports that there has been a 10 per cent rise in spending over the last two years due to increased demand. (S6F-04287)”
“On a point of order, Presiding Officer. I would have voted no. The Presiding Officer: Thank you, Mr Sweeney. We will ensure that your vote is recorded.”
“I would be willing to support the cabinet secretary in the effort to build that collaborative approach to improve our bus services across Scotland, drive up modal shift and drive demand into Scottish manufacturing, which is a virtuous cycle. Let us seize this opportunity and make the most of it. 17:20”
“Alongside that, the Government is building capacity within the Department for Transport to provide tangible on-the-ground support to those local transport authorities that wish to pursue franchising. That is exactly what we need in Scotland to accelerate the process with Strathclyde Partnership for Transport and other transport authorities. However, unfortunately, the Scottish Government has not been anywhere near vigorous or urgent enough in its actions. I would like the cabinet secretary to respond to that and say how we can further support local transport authorities in Scotland to bring forward bus franchising at pace.”
“It is clear that the Scottish Government needs to be cognisant of that and work further with the UK Government to extend to Scotland reforms that are being made to public procurement provisions in the rest of the UK, embedding social value at the heart of the public procurement process, so that Scottish manufacturers are supported to do so. It is important to recognise the wider provisions in the Bus Services (No 2) Bill that will allow English bus franchising to further accelerate ahead of the pace in Scotland, which is already far behind. For example, the UK Government has already clarified and streamlined the guidance to make it easier, quicker and cheaper for local authorities to intervene on bus route development, and this new bus services bill will go further to reduce the barriers to franchising, including costs.”
“Of the 523 electric buses that have been funded through the Scottish Government’s subsidy scheme so far, more than two thirds—340 buses—have been manufactured overseas, with 287 made in China by Yutong Bus. Only 162 buses have been manufactured in Scotland by Alexander Dennis and EVM UK. From written questions that I have lodged, it is particularly concerning to learn that the Government does not collect data on where buses are manufactured, so its ability to calculate social value is limited. Social value weighting in public procurement in Scotland is not fit for purpose, and it needs to be bolstered to support critical manufacturers in Scotland, such as Alexander Dennis, instead of subsidising foreign competitors that have a clear industrial strategy to dominate the electric vehicle market and put Scottish industry out of business.”
“The legislative consent motion is a welcome sign of co- operation between the Scottish and UK Governments. The Cabinet Secretary for Transport clearly set out the rationale for the expedited procedure. Ultimately, it is crucial that we decarbonise our bus fleet and that we work collaboratively to do so. Therefore, it is important that we give certainty to the industry by agreeing to the same timetable and allowing further cross- Government co-operation. In the context of the threat to the future of the only major bus manufacturer in Scotland, Alexander Dennis, it is important that we expedite fleet renewals, which is a key component in supporting a demand signal to industry. It is also important to note that the recent ScotZEB scheme has not been efficient in converting the demand signal into contracts for Scottish manufacturers.”
“Ultimately, the answer comes down to growing the housing stock: it needs to grow at a much faster pace than it is presently. Otherwise, there will continue to be social unrest, which is not good for our politics in general. We need to meet the needs of the people through housing supply. 16:50”
“That would enable the pound to be recycled more readily into housing stock supply in the city. We could look constructively at such ideas, but the Scottish Government must recognise that, ultimately, this is an issue of housing supply: the supply is not meeting demand. We need a growing population, particularly in Glasgow, and we need to address that issue urgently at all levels. Given that 44 per cent of homelessness applications are due to come from people who are refugees, it is clear that the situation needs to be managed efficiently and addressed. There is added pressure from people coming into Glasgow from other parts of the UK; maybe we need to look at temporary application of local connection rules in order to staunch that flow of people.”
“There has been a failure of policy in translating housing capacity to meet the demand of a growing population, for which the Scottish Government needs to step up and take responsibility. It is no good simply saying that the UK Government must somehow finance refugee accommodation. The responsibility transfers once refugee status has been granted. I am open-minded about the idea of revisiting the Mears contract, which the minister suggested. I believe that there is a break clause that is due to come into effect next year. I would be happy to work with colleagues to explore an approach to the UK Government with a view to changing the nature of that contract. Perhaps there could be a municipal contract or the provision could be delivered through another means, such as local housing associations in the city.”
“Unless we grow the working-age population of this country and increase the number of people who are able to contribute to the workforce, we are in for a serious fall in living standards or a significant increase in taxation to deal with that issue. For the sake of our own wellbeing, we need to grow the country’s overall working-age population and to settle people. Glasgow is a city that is well able to do that. It was built for 1.1 million people, but at the moment it has only around 600,000 people living in it. That is why more than 95 per cent—around 4,100—of the asylum seekers in Scotland are resident in the city. That is not a large number when we consider that there are more than 2,000 long-term empty homes in the city at the present time.”
“We should be doing as much as possible to get the backlog down, and I support the Labour Government’s efforts to do so as quickly as possible. All levels of government must support people’s transition from the asylum system so that they can settle as refugees with the right to work, use their talents and contribute to communities. That is a good problem for Scotland to have because, as a country, we need more people. By the middle of the century, the number of working-age people is set to increase only by the equivalent of the population of Stirling while the number of retired people is set to increase by the equivalent of the combined population of Aberdeen and Paisley. It is not difficult to do the maths.”
“The issue is the rate at which people in the asylum system are being granted refugee status—because of the backlog that built up under the Conservative Government—and then settled on the basis of existing housing capacity, which is under pressure. As my colleague Mr Griffin highlighted, the Conservatives’ hypocrisy is appalling. They should be eating humble pie for the vandalism that they have caused to the asylum system over the past few years. I say as someone who represents 95 per cent of the people who are seeking asylum in Scotland that that rings true. The penury under which people in the asylum system have been forced to live is shameful. People have had to survive on as little as £9 a week. For many people, that is simply unsustainable. Those are the most destitute people in our community.”
“[Inaudible.]— of the debate. The Deputy Presiding Officer: I am sorry, Mr Sweeney. We are having difficulty with your visuals. Perhaps you could begin again. Paul Sweeney: I apologise for my connection issues. I hope that you can hear me now. I have been listening intently to the debate, and I agree with those members who have said that the Conservative motion is not only ignorant in nature but deeply divisive and unnecessarily damaging. Even its title fails to address the fundamental crux of the problem. People who are seeking asylum are not the primary issue when it comes to the housing pressure that exists in Scotland today.”
“To ask the Scottish Government what its response is to reports that paid-for visits at private health clinics in the first quarter of the year were at the highest level recorded in a single quarter. (S6O-04910)”
“The Scottish Government believes that a fully devolved and integrated railway that is publicly controlled, operated in the service of the public and truly accountable to the public will deliver better and more efficient services for our people, our communities and our visitors. In the absence of full devolution, I have made it clear to the UK Government that Scotland must benefit from rail reform to the same extent as England and Wales. I have welcomed assurances on that from the UK Minister for Rail, Lord Hendy, but I have yet to see whether and how that will be secured in law.”
“That is a huge increase of 33 per cent over two years, and a healthy increase of 4 per cent between 2023-24 and 2024-25. On average, ScotRail remains one of the highest-scoring operators for overall passenger satisfaction. It employs 900 more people than it did prior to public ownership and, for the fifth year in a row, it has been awarded top employer status. I congratulate all ScotRail staff on their hard work and dedication. Under public ownership, Caledonian sleeper performance has improved. Right-time arrivals are at almost 88 per cent, which is well above the average for the rest of the UK. Sleeper passenger numbers continue to grow year on year—it is one of the strongest post-pandemic recoveries of all Great Britain operators. The UK Government is preparing to legislate on rail reform.”
“Will the cabinet secretary take an intervention? Fiona Hyslop: I want to move on just now. It has now been three years since the Scottish Government took the decision to end the Abellio ScotRail franchise, and it has been two years since the Serco Caledonian Sleeper franchise ended. Both operators are now in public ownership and under the direction of Scottish Rail Holdings. We have seen continued improvements as a result of public ownership. ScotRail has added more than 200 additional services each weekday in the past year, offering 7 per cent more seats. ScotRail has a proven track record in boosting patronage, with journeys in the financial year 2024-25 at 84.7 million, up from 63.7 million in 2022-23 and 81.1 million in 2023-24.”
“Let me be absolutely clear that selling class B drugs such as spice is already illegal, selling vapes to children is already illegal and using online social media platforms to target children and young people to sell drugs is illegal. Anyone who has information regarding people who are involved in the supply of illegal vapes should contact Police Scotland on 101 or Crimestoppers. Homeless Accommodation (Local Authority Spending) 2.”
“Product safety is at the heart of the issue. The vapes are being marketed not as containing spice but as containing THC. The study by the University of Bath, which covered about 2,000 vapes across 114 schools in seven regions in England, found that contamination with spice ranged from 13 per cent to 25 per cent in the case of London and Lancashire. Will the minister consider undertaking a similar discrete study to understand the prevalence of spice contamination in vapes in schools in Scotland and to ensure that we can take preventative measures accordingly? Maree Todd: We are aware from the RADAR system that spice is being detected in vape products here in Scotland, too. I will certainly consider the idea of an academic study; I read the study from Bath university with interest.”
“Unfortunately, the same batch of drugs resulted in deaths when used in other parts of the country. There is other work that we are doing—we should remember the world-leading naloxone programme. We have front-line— The Deputy Presiding Officer: Briefly, please. Maree Todd: —emergency responders who carry naloxone left, right and centre. The drug- checking and drug-testing facilities are a crucial part of our response to the particular threat that the member has raised, particularly to ensure that we give personalised harm reduction advice to individuals who are using drugs— The Deputy Presiding Officer: Thank you, minister. Maree Todd: —including recreational users, too. The Deputy Presiding Officer: Thank you, minister. I am going to need greater brevity. I call Audrey Nicoll, to be followed by”
“As I have said, the majority of people who buy drugs in Scotland today do not know what they are getting, and the majority are getting something other than they think they are getting when they buy drugs. That poses an immense challenge, and we are taking a range of responses to it. As I mentioned, we have invested in Public Health Scotland’s RADAR alert system, which is really fast at getting information to the front line about the particular challenges and what might be useful in an emergency situation for people to be aware of. RADAR works closely with facilities such as the Thistle—the supervised drug consumption unit. Back in March, there was a cluster of near-fatal overdoses in the Thistle, and it was very quickly able to disseminate the information learned from those near-misses right across the country.”
“Will the minister set out more precisely what she will do to counter the emerging crisis of synthetic opioids in the drug supply chain? Maree Todd: I thank the member for offering his condolences to Peter Krykant’s friends and family. He was an absolute powerhouse in this area. I am sorry that I never met him, and I was very sad to hear of his death earlier this year. On the question of nitazenes, the member is correct that they present a substantial threat. Scotland is not the only country that faces that threat—those potent synthetic opioids are a threat the world over. One of the challenges in Scotland, as in many countries, is that drugs are illegal, so there is an unregulated market.”
“I place on record my condolences to the family and friends of Peter Krykant, who passed away in June. He was a pioneer in starting the first overdose prevention pilot in this country. [Applause.] I am deeply concerned that, although the minister acknowledges the increased prevalence of new highly potent synthetic substances such as nitazenes, the only action that is proposed in her statement is further discussion between the Scottish Government partners around communications and advice on measures such as take-home naloxone. The drug deaths statistics released on Tuesday noted that the number of deaths from synthetic opioids had tripled, and the chief executive of the Scottish Drugs Forum, Kirsten Horsburgh, has warned that the worst is yet to come. This is an alarming situation that needs urgent and comprehensive action now.”
“Will the cabinet secretary update the Parliament on progress on extending concessionary travel to people seeking asylum? Fiona Hyslop: Work and funding are progressing on that, and my colleague Jim Fairlie—who will be taking the lead because of his responsibility for bus services—will inform Parliament at the appropriate time. The Deputy Presiding Officer: That concludes portfolio questions on climate action and energy, and transport. There will be a short pause before we move to the next item of business. Drug-related Deaths”