Chamber and committees

Social housing waiting lists are not managed by the Scottish Government. Social housing is housing owned and managed by public authorities (mainly councils) and housing associations (registered social landlords or RSLs). Social housing landlords should review their housing lists regularly to ensure that they have accurate and up-to-date information about their applicants, this helps applicants receive the correct priority for housing efficiently.

The 13,500 figure is not a recent proposal and the UK Government has not provided an updated plan.

The 13,500 figure referred to is not a recent proposal. While UK Government Ministers have indicated that they continue to pursue a policy of widening dispersal across the UK they have not provided an updated plan to set out any current targets.

The Scottish Government is clear that Scotland is committed to playing our part in supporting people seeking asylum. That includes participating in asylum dispersal by taking a proportionate population share, and this needs to be managed effectively by the UK Government through engagement with local authorities and devolved public services. The UK Government also needs to provide necessary funding to ensure that people and communities can be supported at all stages of the asylum process.

Yes. Ministerial travel arrangements are made as appropriate to the occasion and circumstances, taking account of operational requirements, security considerations, value for money and the need to deliver an intensive programme of ministerial engagements.

The visit involved a demanding schedule across multiple locations connected to Scotland's participation in the FIFA World Cup and a programme of trade, investment, diplomatic and stakeholder engagements.

The trip enabled the First Minister to promote Scotland's economic interests, including investment opportunities in clean energy and advanced technology, support Scotch whisky industry priorities, launch Scotland's first state-by-state US Export Plan and strengthen key political, educational and cultural relationships.

I wrote to the Parliament’s Rural Affairs Committee on 3 September 2026 to notify them of my intention to bring forward a Scottish statutory instrument which, subject to Parliament’s consideration, will amend the number of Land Commissioners at the Scottish Land Commission from five to four. We expect the instrument to be laid in early October.

The letter, which sets out the rationale for my decision, can be found on Parliament’s website at the following address https://www.parliament.scot/chamber-and-committees/committees/current-and-previous-committees/session-7/rural-affairs-committee/correspondence/2026/land-reform-scotland-act-2016-of-3-september

The Scottish Government regularly engages with the teaching profession, young people, parents and carers and other stakeholders on priorities relating to education in Scotland through strategic engagement and governance programmes, with their views listened to and acted upon.

The 2025 Medium Term Financial Strategy forecast a potential resource fiscal gap of £2.6 billion by 2029-30 and a potential capital spending gap of £2.1 billion by 2029-30.

Alongside this, the Fiscal Sustainability Delivery Plan set out the actions and efficiencies required across government over the five years to 2029-30 to resolve this, including £2.6 billion of efficiencies and other savings.

In January, Portfolio Efficiency and Reform Plans to 2028-29 set out more detailed plans to deliver £1.5 billion of efficiencies against resource spending forecasts. On Capital, the Infrastructure Delivery Pipeline set out an affordable and deliverable pipeline of capital investment to 2029-30, underpinned by the decisions and capital spending plans set out in the January Spending Review.

The works referred to by the Member, which take place from Saturday 10 October until the morning of Wednesday 28 October 2026 , are necessary to deliver rail electrification to Fife passengers, and will represent a significant improvement to the rail network as a result of investment from the Scottish Government.

Although these works will cause disruption to commuters, they are necessary to deliver long-term benefits for passengers, freight operators, local communities and the wider economy. Network Rail has worked closely with rail industry partners to minimise disruption and the impacts on passengers. While it is for Network Rail to balance project costs, operational impacts, and the safety of railway workers when planning and delivering works on the railway, Transport Scotland expects all project partners to carefully manage impacts, maintain open communication with affected stakeholders, and implement mitigation measures, where practicable.

Separately from this, through the Scottish Government’s Control Period 7 (2024-29) High Level Output Specification, the Scottish Ministers are seeking to improve the resilience of Scotland’s rail network by requiring Network Rail to deliver a high-performing, reliable and climate-resilient railway.

This includes maintaining network capacity, improving operational performance, minimising unnecessary closures, and ensuring key passenger and freight services can continue to operate effectively during any unplanned disruption.

The Scottish Government is committed to supporting the provision of social and affordable housing through our commitment to deliver 110,000 affordable homes by 2032 of which at least 70% will be available for social rent and 10% will be in our rural and island communities. This will be underpinned by investment of up to £4.9 billion, including a record £4.1 billion of public sector funding, to support delivery of 36,000 affordable homes and our wider all-tenure ambition over this Parliament.

As part of this we are have provided local authority partners with resource planning assumptions for the period 2026-27 to 2029-30 totalling a record £2.94 billion through the Affordable Housing Supply Programme.

This multi-year funding certainty will support local authorities and registered social landlords to plan future investment and delivery, helping to increase the supply of social and affordable homes for the benefit of communities across Scotland.

Since 2007 the Scottish Government has supported the delivery of 146,000 affordable homes – over 104,000 of which were for social rent, including more than 31,000 council homes.

Decisions on how resources are deployed, including the operation of contact, command and control services, are matters for the Chief Constable, reflecting the operational independence of policing. Police Scotland has been very clear that 101 is a non-emergency number and callers are advised of other means by which they can contact the service while on hold.