Chamber and committees

Social housing waiting lists are not managed by the Scottish Government. Social housing is housing owned and managed by public authorities (mainly councils) and housing associations (registered social landlords or RSLs). Social housing landlords should review their housing lists regularly to ensure that they have accurate and up-to-date information about their applicants, this helps applicants receive the correct priority for housing efficiently.

Low-income families and parent-carers can benefit from a range of support provided by Social Security Scotland. This support, some of which is only available in Scotland, includes Child Disability Payment, the Scottish Child Payment, Best Start Grants and Best Start Foods, as well as Carer Support.

The Scottish Government conducts evaluations of social security policy, with each form of assistance assessed against policy aims, or, in the case of the disability benefits, the impact of policy changes. Published evaluations on the low-income and disability benefits can be found at https://www.gov.scot/collections/social-security-policy-research-and-evaluation-publications/, with an evaluation of Carer Support Payment due to publish this autumn.

Despite support put in place by the Scottish Government, including cumulatively around £1.5bn mitigating UK Government policies such as the bedroom tax and benefit cap, our impact in tackling the cost of living is constrained by social security mostly remaining reserved to the UK Government.

The Scottish Government has no active policy of pursuing economies of scale through social care reform and therefore has not undertaken an assessment of the impact on small and medium-sized, community-rooted care at home providers.

The Scottish Government recognises the important contribution that small and medium-sized providers make to delivering high-quality care and support in communities across Scotland. A diverse and sustainable provider landscape is important in supporting choice, continuity of care and strong local connections.

I can confirm that the CARES budget for 2026-27 has been increased to £15 million. This means more groups will be able to develop their own renewable energy projects such as onshore wind and solar, and cut the energy bills for their buildings by installing heat pumps and solar panels.

The Scottish Government does not hold this information. Workforce management and deployment are operational matters for the Chief Constable, with oversight by the Scottish Police Authority.

I refer the member to the answer to question S7W-03221 on 23 September 2026. All answers to written Parliamentary Questions are available on the Parliament's website, the search facility for which can be found at https://www.parliament.scot/chamber-and-committees/written-questions-and-answers.

As the Care Inspectorate is an independent non-departmental public body, it operates at arm’s length from Government. The Care Inspectorate therefore issues its own guidance independently from the Scottish Government to maintain its role as an impartial and objective regulator.

The Scottish Government engages external multi-disciplinary support services to provide specialist technical, engineering, environmental and project delivery expertise that is essential to the planning, design, promotion, procurement and delivery of major transport infrastructure projects. This provides access to the specialist skills and resources required to support informed decision-making and successful project delivery.

These services have ensured the successful delivery of projects such as the Queensferry Crossing, Aberdeen Western Peripheral Route and M8 M73 M74 Motorway Improvements, enhancing connectivity across Scotland.

Multi-disciplinary support services are being provided on our current programme of transport infrastructure projects, including: A9 Dualling Programme, A96 Dualling Inverness to Nairn (including Nairn Bypass), A9/A96 Inshes to Smithton, A83 Rest and Be Thankful, A720 Sheriffhall, A90 Laurencekirk, A75 Springholm to Crocketford and M8 Woodside.

Information on all of these schemes can be found on the Transport Scotland website.

In addition, grant funding is provided to Caledonian Maritime Assets Limited (CMAL) and Network Rail to support the delivery of harbour, pier and rail infrastructure projects.

Transport Scotland publishes monthly and annual reports detailing expenditure, including consultancy costs, over £25,000. This can be found here: Expenditure | Transport Scotland

The information requested requires further collation and verification. I will write to the member as soon as this work is complete, and a copy of that correspondence will be placed in the Scottish Parliament Information Centre (Bib. number 66908).

Scotland’s AI Strategy recognises AI’s potential to transform work across sectors and the importance of Fair Work principles in ensuring employers and workers benefit. We need a clearer picture of AI’s impact across Scotland’s sectors and workplaces, to support future skills planning and target government interventions effectively. That is why our AI Strategy commits to establishing a Future Jobs Panel; a group of experts from academia, the workforce and businesses, who will assess the evidence on AI’s impact in the workplace and advise on monitoring these impacts over time. The Panel will focus primarily on Scotland, while drawing on relevant UK-wide evidence, and its findings will inform our wider engagement with the UK Government where appropriate.