Chamber and committees

Data are available on the number of businesses operating in Scotland, that are registered for VAT and/or PAYE, broken down by business legal status. These estimates, sourced from the Businesses in Scotland 2024 publication, are shown in the following table.

Table 1: Number of registered businesses (including public sector) operating in Scotland, by business legal status, 2024

Universities are autonomous institutions, responsible for their own governance. However the Scottish Government expects all organisations in Scotland to comply with the law around protected beliefs and freedom of expression.

We recognise that wild salmon populations are now at crisis point in Scotland. Although the pattern of decline is repeated across the salmon’s North Atlantic range, caused at least in part by the effect of climate change on survival during its marine phase, there remains much that we can do in our rivers and coastal waters to build resilience and transform the fortunes of this iconic fish for the better.

I refer the member to the answer to the question S6W-36988 on 30 April 2025. 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

Scottish Government is committed to the trustworthy, ethical and inclusive use of artificial intelligence (AI) in health and social care, where it can help to transform lives, increase healthy life expectancy and reduce health inequalities across Scotland.

There are promising examples of AI being developed to improve the accuracy and speed of diagnosis and in enhancing decision support tools.

The Accelerated National Innovation Adoption (ANIA) pathway is a programme funded by the Chief Scientist Office within Scottish Government. It has been established to provide a national approach to the identification and adoption of research and proven scientific and technological innovations. Governed by the Innovation Design Authority (IDA), it aims to support improved partnership working, system leadership and joint decisions on the progression of AI innovations across any health condition, including cancer.

Cancer remains a national priority, within the Scottish Government and across NHS Scotland. That is why we recently published our 10 year Cancer Strategy for Scotland 2023-2033 along with an initial three year Cancer Action Plan for Scotland 2023 – 2026 in June 2023.

The strategic aim and vision is to improve cancer survival and provide excellent, equitably accessible care across Scotland.

Scottish Government continues to positively engage with the UK Government, including on the development of the new UK Government National Cancer Control Plan 2025.

Information on patient suicide in NHS mental health facilities is not held centrally.

Any suicide is a tragedy and should not happen when someone is in the care of the state. We are determined to do all we can to improve patient safety, and to reduce suicide deaths in NHS mental health facilities. Our ambitious suicide prevention strategy and action plan which we are delivering with COSLA, has a clear focus on preventing suicides in higher risk settings, including clinical services. We are working with NHS Boards to implement improvements.

The quality and safety of mental health estates is an important issue for the Scottish Government. Health Boards are expected to place significant emphasis on the safety of environments mental health services are delivered from.

The Scottish Government and NHS Assure have developed and piloted a tool to gather information on the built environment, including reviewing completion of ligature assessments. Wider roll out will begin in spring 2025.

The question does not reference the actual public satisfaction survey. The most recent survey, the British Social Attitudes survey report is for the whole of the UK. It does not have a particular locus for dental services in Scotland.

The Member is instead referred to Official statistics from Public Health Scotland at: NHS dental data monitoring report - Quarter Ending December 2024 - NHS dental data monitoring report - Publications - Public Health Scotland

The most recent findings show that in February, over 4.1 million courses of treatment were delivered to Scotland patients in 2024 under the new payment system, and over 900,000 patients were seen by an NHS dentist in the last quarter of 2024. This shows that the significant and continuing investment made in NHS dentistry is supporting high volumes of patient access to NHS care and delivering on our aims to sustain NHS dental services.

We also remain the only country in the UK to offer free dental examinations for everyone in Scotland, ensuring that cost is not a barrier to accessing care.

I refer the member to the answer provided in S6W-36463 on 29 April 2025 with reference to this question.

NHS Forth Valley is responsible for assessing patient safety risks in its mental health facilities, including those posed by ligature anchor points, and for taking appropriate local action. Local governance arrangements within each Health Board should include clear oversight, regular reporting, and continuous improvement in line with national guidance and patient safety standards.

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

Offshore oil and gas licensing, consenting and the associated fiscal regime are all matters that are currently reserved to the UK Government.

The Scottish Government is taking the appropriate time to carefully consider the UK Government’s current consultations on Building the North Sea’s Energy Future and a future Oil and Gas fiscal mechanism, and their potential outcomes.

Alongside this consideration, Scottish Government Ministers and officials continue to engage with UK Government counterparts and UK regulators (including the North Sea Transition Authority) on a range of issues relevant to the energy transition.

We are clear in our own support for a just transition for Scotland’s oil and gas sector, that recognises the maturity of the North Sea basin and is in line with our climate change commitments. At the heart of our approach is ensuring a just transition for Scotland’s valued and highly skilled oil and gas workforces to a net-zero future.