Chamber and committees

This question relates to operational matters that are the responsibility of the Scottish Court and Tribunals Service (SCTS) corporate body. The question has been passed to the Chief Executive of the SCTS who will reply in writing within 20 days.

The Scottish Government does not hold information on the number of babies delivered in neonatal wards in Scotland since 1999, either nationally or broken down by ward and year, nor is there any national dataset that records this information.

The SFRS Board provides governance and oversight of the workplace and management culture of SFRS. SFRS has provided assurance that there are no fundamental issues with culture within the organisation. In addition, His Majesty’s Fire Service Inspectorate is conducting a thematic review into workplace culture at SFRS. Part one of this review was laid before Parliament on 18 June 2025 and the second part is expected to be published later this year.

The A90/A937 Laurencekirk Junction Improvement Scheme is currently included in the Development Pipeline as set out in Annex B of the Infrastructure Delivery Pipeline 2026. Annex C of the Infrastructure Delivery Pipeline 2026 sets out that projects in Annex B, which includes Laurencekirk, will be added to the Delivery Pipeline once the statutory authorisation process has been completed and the project Outline Business Case and funding are agreed.

The Scottish Government intends to launch the Veterans Mental Health and Wellbeing Pathway on a phased basis from October 2026. This approach is intended to minimise disruption to services and service users, and to support the effective implementation of the pathway across Scotland. Existing provision in the NHS Board areas which currently offer Veterans First Point (V1P) services will continue until the end of this financial year (2026-27).

To support delivery of the Pathway, a full governance structure is being established to provide appropriate oversight, coordination and stakeholder engagement across national and local partners during the implementation phase. These arrangements will help ensure that any impacts arising from planned NHS reform are identified and managed appropriately, enabling progress towards delivery of the Pathway's key aims and outcomes.

This comprehensive governance – with the voice of veterans at its heart – will ensure that the Pathway is implemented in a sustainable manner, with full regard to the needs of veterans and service providers.

The total number of Scottish participants aged 11 to 17 in the ASH SmokeFree GB Youth survey was:

(a) 677 in 2024

(b) 755 in 2025

(c) 767 in 2026

The survey collects data on social grade and the Office for National Statistics Indices of Multiple Deprivation (ONS IMD), which are not directly comparable with the Scottish Index of Multiple Deprivation (SIMD). The samples are skewed towards higher social grades and less deprived areas and are therefore unlikely to be representative of young people across all levels of deprivation.

This limitation has been taken into account in commissioning the Scottish booster sample in the survey, the primary purpose of which is to support monitoring of progress against key indicators 4(i) and 4(ii) of the Tobacco and Vaping Framework (i.e. smoking and vaping behaviours in children and young people). For this purpose, the sample sizes allow analysis of age- and gender-related differences in prevalence and patterns of use. The data are weighted to be representative of the 11–17-year-old population in Scotland by age and gender.

Although the 2021-22 Health and Wellbeing Census included substantially more respondents than the ASH survey, the results were not weighted to population totals and were not nationally representative. While respondents broadly reflected the deprivation profile of pupils within the participating local authorities, the Census findings related only to those local authorities that took part (16 out of 32). Respondent numbers alone should not be used as a measure of representativeness.

The Scottish Government continues to keep its evidence needs under review, balancing analytical value, cost and timeliness. Efforts are also made to minimise the burden of data collection on young people and schools through a combination of national surveys and locally driven data collection.

Information on the methodology and results for the ASH survey can be found at: https://www.gov.scot/publications/vaping-smoking-scottish-adolescents/pages/1/;https://www.gov.scot/publications/vaping-smoking-scottish-adolescents-results-ash-smokefree-gb-youth-survey-2025/; https://www.gov.scot/publications/vaping-smoking-scottish-adolescents-results-ash-smokefree-gb-youth-survey-2026/pages/2/. Information on the methodology and results of the Health and Wellbeing Census is available at: https://www.gov.scot/publications/health-and-wellbeing-census-scotland-2021-22/pages/substance-use/.

The Private Rented Sector Landlord provides flexibility for landlords to choose a repayment period of up to eight years and loans are interest free for landlords with five or fewer properties in their portfolio. This means choosing to pay back over a longer period does not result in a higher total repayment.

Transport Scotland engages regularly with ScotRail and our rail industry partners on timetable development and connectivity. Timetable planning considers a range of factors, including passenger demand, operational performance and connections with other modes of transport.

Responsibility for local bus services and ferry sailing schedules rests with the relevant operators. However, the Scottish Government supports efforts to improve integration between different modes of transport in order to enhance journey opportunities for passengers.

Optimisation Study applications under Scotland’s Heat Network Fund will be assessed against five criteria as outlined in the Fund website: Scotland’s Heat Network Fund: optimisation study grant funding - how to apply - gov.scot.

The outcome of the regional Project Gigabit in Scotland (PGiS) procurement which covers Orkney and Shetland is expected to be announced by the end of 2026.