Chamber and committees

The Scottish Government does not agree that a wholesale bond issuance is inconsistent with the principles of the Community Wealth Building (Scotland) Act 2026.

The Scottish Government Bonds Programme was developed following a recommendation from the independent Investor Panel that Scotland should consider issuing debt in capital markets to strengthen investor engagement, raise Scotland's profile with investors and establish a market track record. The Outline Business Case concluded that a multi-year wholesale bond programme could represent value for money and identified potential economic benefits associated with increased investor engagement and investment in Scotland.

The information requested on audiology waiting times is not held centrally by the Scottish Government. Information on waiting times within individual NHS Health Board areas is held by, and is therefore a matter for, the respective NHS Health Boards.

The Scottish Government remains committed to improving audiology services across Scotland and we continue to work closely with partners to determine how best to move the provision of audiology care into community settings. On 27 August 2026, I wrote to the Health, Care and Sport Committee to provide an update on my meeting with NHS Heads of Service, community audiology providers and other key stakeholders as part of this government’s 100 days prospectus. This meeting centred on a draft proposal for development of a Target Operating Model for audiology, and my letter sets out more detail on the Scottish Government’s immediate priorities for audiology services. It can be read in full here: 20260827 Minister for Community Care to Convener | Scottish Parliament Website

The information requested on the number of NHS Boards that currently provide audiology services through community providers is not held centrally by the Scottish Government. Audiology services are operated by NHS Health Boards, which hold information on their own service delivery arrangements.

For 2026-27, the Scottish Government has allocated an additional £1 million in funding for community audiology policy, increasing total funding to £1.2 million. This additional funding underlines our commitment to support community audiology policy development and the Service Renewal Framework vision to shift the balance of care to the community. This funding will also continue to fund the “Near You” service run by the Royal National Institute for Deaf People (RNID). The service is operating in five Scottish health board areas and provides hearing checks and after-care support to hearing aid users, including maintenance, battery replacement, sign-posting and peer support, and we have signalled our intention to go further in our manifesto.

2021-22 – Forty-two

As this is an operational matter for Scottish Water I have asked them to respond. Their reply is as follows:

"Environmental Standards Scotland has previously welcomed that Scottish Water and the Scottish Environment Protection Agency (SEPA) are working to develop an approach to identify overflows where action is needed to prevent dry weather spills from happening.

In the first instance, Scottish Water responds to and carries out any operational interventions to check for blockages, misconnections or other potential faults where any overflow events appear to be happening in dry weather. Scottish Water has also proposed a definition for dry day overflow events and is working in the background to investigate overflows using data from Event Duration Monitors installed as part of commitments made in its ‘Improving Urban Waters Route map’. Where overflow events are confirmed to be occurring in dry weather because of insufficient capacity in the sewerage system, a process is being developed whereby these will be identified as Unsatisfactory Intermittent Discharges (UIDs) and will be agreed with SEPA as a priority for improvement."

Workforce planning is undertaken collaboratively with NHS boards and relevant stakeholders, and officials continue to assess workforce capacity, recruitment and training requirements to ensure services can meet demand.

While no formal assessment has been made of the number of hearing care professionals required to reduce waiting lists, the Scottish Government remains committed to supporting the healthcare science workforce and has set out strategic direction for the profession, focused on education, workforce development, and the quality and safety of services. This is further supported by work being taken forward by Public Services Delivery Scotland, focused on mapping the skills and competencies required across healthcare science specialisms to inform future workforce planning.

The Scottish Government recognises the importance of ensuring audiology services have sufficient workforce capacity required to meet service demand, both now and into the future. We continue to work closely with NHS boards and other partners to improve audiology services across Scotland and determine how best to move the provision of audiology care into community settings, aligned to strategic ambitions. On 27 August 2026, I wrote to the Health, Care and Sport Committee to provide an update on my meeting with NHS Heads of Service, community audiology providers and other key stakeholders as part of this government’s 100 days prospectus. This meeting centred on a draft proposal for development of a Target Operating Model for audiology, and my letter sets out more detail on the Scottish Government’s immediate priorities for audiology services. It can be read in full here: 20260827 Minister for Community Care to Convener | Scottish Parliament Website

The consultation on proposed fisheries management measures for inshore Marine Protected Areas and Priority Marine Features will launch in the coming weeks.

Extensive engagement with all stakeholders has been undertaken throughout this process. We have worked closely with the fishing industry to refine the proposals and to understand the potential socio-economic impacts. This engagement will continue throughout the consultation period with 26 in person events across Scotland and 15 online sessions.

I refer the member to the answers to questions S7W-02383 and S7W-02384 on 1 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

The Scottish Government has taken significant action to support the Build to Rent sector.

During the previous Parliament the Scottish Government brought forward regulations which exempt mid-market rent and build-to-rent properties from any rent control restrictions, introduced using powers in the Housing (Scotland) Act 2025. Laying these regulations demonstrates our commitment to providing policy certainty which the sector made clear was required.

The Scottish Government is in regular contact with both Real Estate: Scotland and providers to monitor how the sector is responding. Ministers will continue to work closely with industry to ensure the conditions are in place to support continued investment in more quality homes.

The Scottish Government Bonds Programme was developed following a recommendation from the independent Investor Panel that Scotland should consider issuing debt in capital markets to diversify funding sources, strengthen investor engagement, raise Scotland's profile with investors and establish a market track record.