Details of applications in each local authority area currently under review for consideration by the Energy Consents Unit are as follows:

The Scottish Government will publish all relevant impact assessments, including an Island Communities Impact Assessment (ICIA), prior to the implementation of Air Departure Tax.

There have been several independent evidence reviews on potential health impacts from municipal waste incineration:

• Health Protection Scotland (2009) review on incineration and reported human health effects concluding that “providing that any existing or new incinerators operate in accordance with current regulations governing emissions, the scope for any adverse human health impacts associated with their emissions should remain minimal”.
• Public Health Scotland (2022) rapid evidence review focused on municipal solid waste incineration, commissioned to support the Government’s Independent Review of the Role of Incineration in the Waste Hierarchy. The findings of this rapid review reinforced the conclusions drawn in the 2009 HPS report above, concluding that it is “still reasonable to conclude that any risk to human health associated with emissions from newer incinerators, operated within the current regulations, is very likely to be less than was the case previously…”.
• UK-level synthesis by UKHSA (2025), concluding that “modern, well-run and well-regulated municipal waste incinerators are not a significant risk to public health, as contributions to local pollutant concentrations are small”.

As part of the permitting regime, SEPA requires a Human Health Impact Assessment with every PPC incineration permit application, and it publishes application documents for public and statutory consultation. SEPA also consults the relevant NHS Health Board to ensure potential public health impacts are considered.

SEPA sets and enforces stringent permit conditions, including continuous emissions monitoring, periodic stack testing, and ambient air quality assessments. SEPA tightened emissions limits for Scottish plants in line with the 2019 Waste Incineration BAT Conclusions, with compliance required by 3 December 2023.

Energy from waste emissions were expected to rise in the short-term as a result of preparations for the ban on landfilling biodegradable municipal waste in Scotland which comes into force on 31 December 2025. As part of these preparations, a portion of currently landfilled waste is diverted to incineration, resulting in an increase in incineration emissions.

However, this is expected to be accompanied by a larger longer-term decrease in emissions from the waste sector as a whole due to lower landfill emissions, driven by the ban.

The independent review on the role of incineration in Scotland’s waste hierarchy (published 2022) found that incineration's current place within the waste hierarchy is correct, meaning that overall, it is preferable to other forms of residual waste treatment, such as landfill but made clear recommendations around limiting future capacity and decarbonisation of energy from waste.

The Scottish Government does not allocate specific amounts of funding for individual activities such as community safety advocates. Decisions on how the £412.2 million allocated to the Scottish Fire and Rescue Service for 2025-26 is spent is a matter for the SFRS Board and Chief Officer.

We are investing more than £135.5 million this year to cut waits, and we expect to see the full impact of our targeted funding in the coming months. As detailed in my response to question S6W-37797 on 30 May 2025, NHS Ayrshire & Arran was initially allocated over £5.7 million funding. This was later supplemented with an additional allocation of almost £600,000 as well as a further allocation of over £1.3 million for dermatology services, bringing total funding up to £7.6 million.

Across Scotland, this targeted funding is expected to deliver more than 213,000 additional procedures and appointments this year, including thousands of additional new outpatient appointments in NHS Ayrshire and Arran.

Our plan is clearly working; the latest data shows 61.7% of new outpatient appointments were seen within 12 weeks last quarter, and over 42% of those still waiting have waited less than 12 weeks.

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 is working with the UK Government to progress the implementation of Air Departure Tax. Discussions are continuing as required to ensure that this is done in a way that protects Highlands and Islands connectivity and complies with the UK Government’s subsidy control regime.

The Scottish Government will publish all relevant impact assessments, including a Business and Regulatory Impact Assessment (BRIA), prior to the implementation of Air Departure Tax.

VAT Assignment was most recently discussed with the Chief Secretary to the Treasury at a meeting of the Joint Exchequer Committee on 17 October 2025.

The Scottish Government has noted the comments from the House of Commons Scottish Affairs Committee and the Scottish Parliament Finance and Public Administration Committee on the risks and challenges regarding the implementation of VAT Assignment and the governments will have further discussions on this matter.

If a party to a case believes that another party has not obeyed a contact order, they can go back to court and either ask the court to change the order or to hold the party who wilfully did not obey the order in contempt of court.

The Children (Scotland) Act 2020 (the 2020 Act) reforms the Children (Scotland) Act 1995 (the 1995 Act, key legislation in relation to contact, residence and Parental Responsibilities and Rights) and makes a number of changes to family law. A key aim is to ensure that the child’s best interests are at the centre of any contact or residence case.

Section 22 of the 2020 Act places a duty on the court to investigate the reasons behind a failure to obey a contact order (or another order relating to parental responsibilities or parental rights made by the court under section 11 of the 1995 Act). As part of this investigation the court must – taking account of the child’s age and maturity – have regard to any views the child wishes to express. This may involve appointing a Child Welfare Reporter. Contempt of court remains the final sanction for wilful non-compliance with an order. This reflects the serious nature of the issue and the effect that non-compliance can have on a child. Section 22 is yet to be brought into force.