Chamber and committees

The Scottish Government's ambition is that, subject to clinical eligibility, patients will be able to receive thrombectomy procedure at a hub hospital, regardless of their geographical location at the time they suffer a stroke.

Business owners and tenants who consider their property’s rateable value to be inaccurate should have access to timely recourse, and a two-stage appeals system was introduced in 2023 to incentivise early information-sharing and quicker resolution between parties.

Since Russia’s illegal invasion of Ukraine, the Scottish Government has taken a clear stance in support of the people of Ukraine and has encouraged organisations to review their links with Russia. In March 2022, the then Cabinet Secretary for Finance and Economy called on businesses in Scotland to review their links to Russia and sever them wherever possible. This was an additional discretionary measure taken by the Scottish Government, over and above the legally binding UK sanctions regime.

However, the Scottish Government cannot compel businesses to sever links where activity is lawful and does not breach UK sanctions. The regulation of companies, inward investment screening, anti-money laundering measures and the sanctions regime are largely reserved matters for the UK Government.

While we do not comment on allegations relating to specific properties or companies, any evidence of sanctions breaches, money laundering or other criminality should be referred to the appropriate authorities for investigation. We continue to work with partners to support measures to strengthen transparency, tackle economic crime and ensure that Scotland is not a destination for illicit finance.

I note the interest across the chamber in childcare provision for twins and multiples. To ensure members receive prompt answers on this important matter, I direct the member to the answer I provided to Laura Moodie MSP to S7W-02568 on 15 September 2026, in addition to the information below on current policy for eligible two-year-olds. 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.

A range of research shows that attending high quality early learning and childcare (ELC) improves outcomes for all children, and children facing the most disadvantage, benefit the most. That is why we currently provide targeted access to funded ELC to children facing the most disadvantage at age two. Our aim is that by providing eligible two-year-old children with early access to high quality ELC, they are more likely to achieve similar outcomes to their peers who start funded ELC at age three. This current policy focuses on the impact of access to funded ELC on the child, rather than as a support to parents.

As set out in my answer to S7W-02568, our Programme for Government set out that we are seeking to transform Scotland’s childcare offer to better support families with the cost of childcare, for children from 9 months to the end of primary school. We intend to publish and consult on a blueprint for the future of childcare, building on learning from the last ten years of childcare design and delivery. This will be published next year. I encourage anyone with an interest, including families with multiple births, to participate in this consultation.

The Scottish Government has and continues to take a proactive approach to understand the prevalence and address concerns about reported spiking in Scotland.

We have recently consulted on further protections for women in the criminal law, including in relation to spiking, and the analysis of responses to that consultation is currently underway, and will inform our next steps. We always seek to learn from effective interventions in any jurisdiction, although it is important to understand how any approach in a different jurisdiction may or may not operate effectively in Scotland, alongside current routes to report in both health and criminal justice services.

A similar pilot, Project Alliance, has been sponsored by the UK Home Office. The evaluation of that pilot will provide useful intelligence as we develop our response to spiking.

The Safer Scotland webpage provides guidance on reporting and support available to victims of spiking. We would always encourage anyone who suspects they have been spiked or witnesses an incident to report this to Police Scotland, and security in any venue they witness the behaviour.

The Scottish Government has no plans to reintroduce previous local connection rules for homeless households.

Social landlords are responsible for the allocation of their housing, and each landlord’s approach is set out within their published Allocations Policy. Allocations policies give priority to homeless people and those threatened with homelessness who have unmet housing needs; people living in unsatisfactory housing conditions with unmet housing needs; and tenants occupying homes that are under-occupied. A decision to allocate housing is based on a fair, transparent and objective assessment of an applicant’s housing need.

There are currently no specific Scottish Government policies or programmes focused solely on improving the digital skills of unpaid carers.

However, Lead Scotland, through its Scottish Government funded national Cyber Project, and its role within the CyberScotland Partnership, supports disabled people, unpaid carers and others facing barriers to develop the skills and confidence needed to use digital services safely. This includes accessible cyber security and online safety resources, tutor-supported learning and targeted digital skills support. Lead Scotland also works directly with unpaid carers in areas including Fife and Perth and Kinross, supporting people to use digital services safely and confidently, including online health and social care services.

More widely, since 2024, the Scottish Government has committed more than £870,000 in grant funding to support over 50 local digital inclusion projects across Scotland. These projects have been delivered by local organisations, reflecting the needs of the communities they serve, and have included support to help people build the skills and confidence needed to use digital services safely and effectively.

We are also developing a Digital Inclusion Delivery Plan, to be published later this year, which will set out clear actions to address the barriers to digital participation, including access, skills and confidence

The Scottish Government’s ambition is for a Scotland without the need for food banks. No one should have to compromise on food or other essentials and people should have sufficient money to access these with dignity and choice.

To support this, across this Parliament we will go further to protect and expand our cost-of-living package, recognising the pressures on household budgets. Putting more money into people’s pockets – through maximising the support they are entitled to or cutting everyday costs – is one of the most direct ways we can tackle poverty, protect people from the cost crisis and ensure they have the resources they need to thrive. That aim is built on a solid foundation, with Scotland having the most generous cost-of-living package anywhere in the UK including reducing council tax costs for over 100,000 households with children, funding free bus travel for over 2.4 million people and helping households save an estimated £450 a year on energy bills.

Specifically in 2026-27 we will allocate around £3.5 billion to policies that tackle poverty and the cost of living, including maintaining our investment in the Scottish Welfare Fund at £41 million, which provides vital support to those in crisis. We are also investing more than £18 million for the provision of free income maximisation support, welfare and debt advice.

Through “Cash-First: Towards Ending the Need for Food Banks in Scotland”, we took forward nine actions over three years, 2023-2026, to improve the response to crisis, using a cash-first approach so that fewer people need to turn to food parcels. Our nine point plan included a Cash-First Programme (the Programme) to improve urgent access to emergency income when someone has no money for food, which was supported by Scottish Government funding of over £1.5 million.

An interim independent evaluation of the Programme was published on 9 July 2025, highlighting the individual work of the eight cash-first Partnerships and the impact of the Programme. The final evaluation report will be published in early Autumn 2026 and the learning will be considered and shared widely to inform future policy development by both central and local government.

The Scottish Government recognise the impact of digital exclusion on low income families, including families with a disabled child.

As part of our wider work to tackle child poverty, the Scottish Government has committed more than £870,000 in grant funding, since 2024, to support over 50 locally-delivered digital inclusion projects across Scotland. We also continue to work with Ofcom and delivery partners to raise awareness of affordable connectivity options, including social tariffs.

Our Sustainable Public Services Delivery Plan sets out how services will be designed around the needs of people and communities to be accessible and inclusive. Through our latest Tackling Child Poverty Delivery Plan, Bringing Hope, Building Futures, we have also set out how we will enable whole family support which is responsive to the needs of families and connects them to the services and support they need to thrive.

The Scottish Government has no current plans to introduce a specific statutory duty on services to identify and respond to digital exclusion. However, we are developing a Digital Inclusion Delivery Plan to be published later this year. This will set out clear actions to address the wider barriers that prevent people from participating digitally and how we will work with partners, including local government, to achieve this.

As noted in the response to S6W-35658 on 2 April 2025, the Scottish Youth Parliament (SYP) have their annual accounts published on the Companies House website. These provide a breakdown of money received from the Scottish Government (currently available up to 31 March 2025). In the financial year 2025-2026, SYP received a total of £446,895 in Scottish Government funding.

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.