Chamber and committees

The Veterans Mental Health and Wellbeing Framework was published in March 2026 and sets out the vision, values, and principles of high quality veterans’ mental health support. A procurement exercise to establish a service provider for the Veterans Mental Health and Wellbeing Pathway has now concluded. The new service provider will be announced imminently and the Pathway is expected to start to become operational on a phased basis from October 2026.

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.

A guiding principle is that the new national Pathway should continually evolve, supported by regular evaluation and feedback from key stakeholders.

The veteran community has been central to the development of the Veterans Mental Health and Wellbeing Pathway, with representation on the Pathway Advisory Group, and its associated sub-groups. This Advisory Group oversaw the development of the Veterans Mental Health and Wellbeing Framework, and included representation from the veteran community, the third sector, and statutory services which support veterans and their families. The Framework, published in March 2026, sets the strategic direction to ensure that veterans have equitable access to mental health services. The voices and experiences of the veteran community have informed the work from the outset.

We continue to work closely with veterans, as well as the wider service delivery landscape, ahead of the phased launch of the national Pathway from October 2026. This will to ensure that future mental health and wellbeing services for veterans remain informed by lived experience and are responsive to their needs.

Standards and funding criteria for heat networks do not prescribe specific technologies when designing a heat network. Each heat network project is unique and the design will take account of the variable factors to optimise the efficiency of the heat network.

As an Executive Agency of the Scottish Government, The Scottish Prison Service (SPS) and has responsibility for operation of prisons including staffing.

The review of the end-to-end recruitment and selection process for Prison Officer roles is an internal research and engagement exercise. Its purpose is to inform proposals for potential improvements to the recruitment process, ensuring it remains relevant and effective in attracting individuals with the values, skills and behaviours required to support SPS’s vision and objectives.

The review will be completed in consultation with the Trade Union Side and SPS staff within 12 months and used to inform the implementation of any agreed changes, in line with SPS’s commitment to continuous improvement and organisational development.

The Scottish Government is supporting the development of heat networks across Scotland, including projects that may cross local authority boundaries. Through Local Heat and Energy Efficiency Strategies (LHEES), local authorities are identifying opportunities for heat network development and are encouraged to collaborate where opportunities extend across administrative boundaries.

We are supportive of collaboration between local authorities and the wider public sector to identify and develop opportunities for heat networks at an appropriate scale. We continue to work with local authorities, delivery partners and developers to identify and address potential barriers relating to funding, governance and delivery arrangements. This includes supporting regional collaboration and ensuring that viable heat network projects can progress where this offers the most effective route to decarbonising heat.

Should further opportunities for cross-boundary projects emerge, the capital and pre-capital support available through Scotland's Heat Network Fund and the Heat Network Support Unit would be available to such projects, subject to a successful application.

I have placed a copy of the information requested in the Scottish Parliament Information Centre (bib number 66922).

The Scottish Emergency Heating Oil Scheme was launched within a matter of weeks in response to the spiralling prices caused by the Iran conflict and wider instability, such as Russia’s war in Ukraine, undermining energy security across Europe as well as other factors such as the increases to the cost of living due to the UK leaving the EU.

The scheme was put in place to ensure the most vulnerable households are supported during the cost of living crisis, which includes households on means-tested benefits but also those in financial hardship and at risk of self-rationing fuel who have unavoidable additional heating needs, with the first payment made within 24 hours of the scheme launching on 1 April 2026.

The scheme was originally scheduled to end on 30 September 2026 but will now be extended into winter, which was announced on 25 September 2026.

This extension will ensure that vulnerable households are supported through winter as prices remain volatile.

Alongside the extension of the scheme, I would encourage households that use heating oil or LPG to contact Home Energy Scotland for free and impartial advice on reducing energy bills, improving energy efficiency and exploring clean heating options. Advisers can help households identify the support available to them and navigate funding schemes for home energy improvements.

On 11 September 2026, we launched a new funding strand under Scotland’s Heat Network Fund to provide support for optimisation studies to assess current heat network efficiency and identify potential improvements.

The Scottish Government has no current plans to introduce grant funding for private landlords to install clean heating systems.

Registered private landlords can access the Scottish Government funded Private Rented Sector Landlord Loan for eligible energy efficiency and clean heating improvements. The scheme offers funding of up to £38,500 per property. Landlords with five or fewer properties can borrow up to £100,000 at zero per cent interest, while landlords with more than five properties can borrow up to £250,000 at an interest rate of 3.5 per cent APR.

Officials are considering future support for the private rented sector following the conclusion of the consultation on proposals for minimum energy efficiency standards.

Matters relating to the environment are fully devolved in Scotland. Our approach to species recovery and related matters are set out in our Strategic Framework for Biodiversity.

Our Nature Restoration Fund has now committed over £90 million to support projects, including both ecosystem and species recovery, since 2021. Habitat and species restoration are one of the Fund’s priority themes. We extended the NRF for a new round of projects starting in 2026-27 in light of the success of the programme.

Consequentials accrue to the Scottish Government as a whole and Scottish Ministers will decide how best to allocate these based on their priorities.