Last week in the Scottish Parliament I lodged a question for General Questions on Proxy Purchasing, which is the purchasing of alcohol by someone over the age of 18 on behalf of someone underage.

I asked the question after meeting with local organisation Clued Up in my office in Kirkcaldy, who highlighted their concerns that proxy purchasing is still a problem in Fife.

I asked the Justice Secretary how many convictions there had been in Fife since 2009 for proxy purchasing with Kenny MacAskill answering that there had been 22 in total in the Fife Police Area out of a total of 301 across Scotland.

I have concerns  that the conviction rate seen across Fife does not reflect the true extent of the problem and proxy purchasing remains a major factor in underage drinking.

Bottle marking has been piloted in Fife and is now being tried in Dundee and I would ask the Cabinet Secretary to look again at including that as part of a package to combat the problem.

I have been highlighting the concerns around proxy purchasing since I was first elected and the Scottish Government must accept that it is a problem and a challenge for all parties to address.