Chamber and committees

Glasgow Health and Social Care Partnership (HSCP) has confirmed there is currently no proposal to extend the operating hours of The Thistle service. Any extension would require approval from the Glasgow Integration Joint Board, as it would involve additional budgetary provision ,clear evidence of demand, and detailed planning for staffing and service delivery.

In November 2025 Glasgow Health and Social Care Partnership approved the development of a business case for an inhalation/smoking space within The Thistle. Glasgow HSCP are now developing that business case, and have been engaging with the Scottish Government, Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service and Police Scotland.

NatureScot provides comprehensive standing advice on badgers in relation to development and planning, which is directly relevant to the responsibilities of local authorities. This guidance is publicly available at: https://www.nature.scot/doc/standing-advice-planning-consultations-badgers. It brings together a range of referenced sources and includes links to more detailed best-practice material, such as collaborative work undertaken around 20 years ago between Scottish Natural Heritage, the Highland Council, and several local developers in the Inverness area. Although produced some time ago, the information and core principles, particularly the importance of a holistic approach to balancing development and badger conservation, remain highly relevant today.

While there is no statutory requirement for developers to protect wider badger habitat, the law does provide strict protection for badgers and their setts. NatureScot’s advice therefore emphasises that planning authorities should also consider associated feeding areas and foraging grounds when assessing proposals. Incorporating these key habitats into development plans helps to avoid situations where legally protected setts become isolated and disconnected from essential food resources. Although such outcomes may technically comply with the law, they are ecologically undesirable, and the guidance encourages local authorities to work proactively to prevent them.

We recognise that concern about climate change can affect mental wellbeing.

Mental health support is available to anyone experiencing anxiety about any issue, by phone, online and in-person. Talking to others can help and in addition to support available through GPs, the Mental Health Hub via 111 and Breathing Space via 0800 83 85 87 also provide free mental health support.

Resources to support anxiety are also provided on our mental wellbeing websites - Mind to Mind for adults, Parent Club for parents and Aye Feel for children and young people, which includes steps that can be taken by anyone experiencing climate anxiety.

We are continuing to develop our understanding of the link and emerging evidence between climate change and mental health and what this means for the people of Scotland.

Practical advice on how people can protect themselves, their community or business from the impacts of climate change as well as action they can take in their home and local communities is available on Home - Adaptation Scotland..

Phase 3 of the Scottish Zero Emission Bus Challenge Fund (ScotZEB3) is delivered as a capital grant scheme and does not apply a single standalone social value percentage weighting.

ScotZEB3 operates as a capital grant subsidy scheme and, as such, the Procurement Act 2023 does not apply.

Awards under ScotZEB3 must comply with the UK subsidy control regime, including the Subsidy Control Act 2022. The scheme is required to operate in a manner that is non-discriminatory and consistent with the subsidy control principles

Applications are assessed solely against the published eligibility and scoring criteria set out in the scheme guidance: https://energysavingtrust.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/ScotZEB3-Guidance-document-1.pdf.

Successful applicants are responsible for running their own competitive processes with suppliers.

Vehicle safety and standards are reserved matters and fall under the responsibility of the UK Government and the Driver and Vehicles Standards Agency (DVSA). The Scottish Government is not responsible for, nor directly involved in, the investigation or regulation of such matters.

The Scottish Government has not received any formal notification from the UK Government or the National Cyber Security Centre regarding an investigation into these issues. Should relevant information or findings be made available by the UK authorities, the Scottish Government would consider these as appropriate.

Phase three of the Scottish Zero Emission Bus Challenge Fund (ScotZEB3) is delivered as a grant award in accordance with public sector grant-making rules and does not constitute a procurement exercise under Public Contracts (Scotland) Regulations. Successful applicants are responsible for undertaking their own competitive processes with suppliers in line with applicable legislation. As a result, the design of the ScotZEB3 scheme has not been informed by any assessment into these matters.

We continue to see sustained progress on waiting times for CAMHS. The 18-week CAMHS standard has been met throughout the last year, with 91.5% of children and young people starting treatment within 18 weeks of referral, reflecting the commitment and hard work of the CAMHS workforce.

But we know there is more to do. Some young people and families are still waiting too long. We continue to work closely with all Boards, providing enhanced support where performance needs to improve, ensuring Boards have robust improvement plans in place to deliver results.

Our CAMHS Service specification, published in 2020, highlights that all children and young people should receive support that is appropriate to their individual needs. For many children and young people, such support is likely to be community based, and should be easily and quickly accessible.

That is why we continue to invest in community based mental health supports and services, including providing baselined funding of £15m per year in 2025-26. These services focus on prevention, early intervention, and promoting positive mental health, and offers an alternative to CAMHS where appropriate.

We are making good progress on the National Performance Framework (NPF) reform project.

The most recent update to Parliament was 28 November 2025, in response to the Social Justice and Social Security committee’s request for evidence to stage 1 of the Wellbeing and Sustainable Development Bill. [Wellbeing and Sustainable Development (Scotland) Bill].

We are currently concluding phase two which will make proposals for change and improvement. In phase three we intend to work with partners and stakeholders, up to the pre-election period, to develop these proposals further and we will write to Parliament with further details soon.

We aim to launch the reformed framework in the new parliamentary session following the 2026 Scottish election.

In March 2025, NHS Orkney became the first Health Board to complete the installation of renewable heating in all of its buildings.

The top 20 emitting NHS sites produced more than 60% of NHS Scotland’s total building energy emissions in 2024-25. NHS efforts are focussed on these highest emitting sites which have the potential to act as catalysts for the development of district heat networks.

Health boards are developing site specific decarbonisation plans for the most energy intensive acute hospital campuses. This includes the Queen Elizabeth University Hospital in Glasgow, the Edinburgh Bioquarter and the Foresterhill site in Aberdeen. These three sites alone account for 22% of NHS heat and power emissions.

A Prior Information Notice (PIN) was published for the provision of a low/zero carbon Heat Purchase Agreement for the Queen Elizabeth University Hospital and surrounding NHS facilities on 18 December 2025 and is available on the Public Contracts Scotland website.

Decarbonising the heating of NHS hospitals is likely to result in an increase in electricity demand (due to the use of heat pumps). Reducing electricity usage is a key enabling action to prepare for renewable heating as it reduces the need for local electricity grid enforcement and limits overall energy bills, making renewable heating more affordable. NHS electricity consumption decreased by 6.2% between 2020/21 and 2024/25 (452,413,000 kWh to 424,163,000 kWh).

A dynamic purchasing system for Corporate Power Purchase Agreements (PPAs) was launched by NHS National Procurement on 1 August 2025. PINs covering private wire PPAs have also been issued by NHS National Procurement to assess the market’s ability to supply renewable electricity directly to major NHS sites through private connections. Securing PPAs will result in increased supplies of renewable electricity and reduce the costs of electrified heat which can be a barrier to moving to renewable heating.

Further information is available in the NHS Scotland - climate emergency and sustainability: annual report 2025 - gov.scot.