Chamber and committees

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.

The retention of staff is a matter for SFRS as the employer. There are challenges with both the recruitment and retention of on-call firefighters. A new more flexible structure for on-call periods was introduced in 2025 and SFRS is seeking to address the wider issue of on-call firefighter availability through its on-call improvement programme.

The Scottish Government policy is one of robustly supporting the livestock sector and there are no plans to reduce livestock numbers in Scotland. Livestock farmers will continue to be part of the solution and are working with the sector on reducing emissions through improved animal health, productivity, breeding, feed efficiency and innovation.

Food is a global commodity and as such, were Scotland to cease to produce meat and dairy products, production would simply take place elsewhere, effectively resulting in offshoring emissions.

The Climate Change Plan sets out Scottish Government’s policies and proposals for agriculture to contribute to meeting our carbon budgets in a way that works for rural Scotland and plays to our strengths. Unlike elsewhere in the UK we have maintained direct support to our farmers and crofters, providing more than £600 million in payments every year, including supporting beef numbers with £40 million through the Scottish Suckler Beef Support Scheme and a further £21 million to help farmers invest in more climate friendly activity to make their business more efficient.

The Scottish Government is committed to improving life expectancy and tackling health inequalities across the whole population.

The latest published National Records of Scotland data on life expectancy at birth in Scotland (by council area) for the 5 year period covering 2020-2024, shows that life expectancy at birth for males was 77.9 years in City of Edinburgh, 78.7 in East Lothian and 77.6 in Midlothian, compared to 76.7 in Scotland as a whole.

Last year, the Scottish Government and COSLA published the Population Health Framework, which sets out a cross-government, cross-sector approach to improving

life expectancy while reducing the gap in life expectancy between the 20% most deprived areas and the national average, by 2035. The Framework sets out the actions the Scottish Government and its partners are taking forward within the first two years by: supporting healthy environments; good early years and education; good work and income; and equitable health and care.

In addition, Scottish Government’s Programme for Government places a strong emphasis on the need to shift towards prevention and early intervention. This includes action to address alcohol and drug-related harm and to encourage healthier lifestyles among men, helping to reduce the risk of heart disease, stroke, lung cancer and poor mental wellbeing.

Embedding prevention across public services is fundamental to improving population health outcomes for individuals and securing the long-term sustainability of Scotland’s health and care system.