Chamber and committees

The Scottish Government does not collect information on the immigration status of those applying to local authorities in Scotland for homelessness support.

The eligibility status for main applicants is collected, although this is not the same as immigration status.

The following table shows how many people associated with homelessness applications in Glasgow were in a temporary accommodation placement at any point between January and March 2025, broken down by eligibility status of main applicant.

Status of major projects at outline business case stage or later – including NTC Forth Valley – is published on a 6-monthly basis in the Scottish Government’s major capital projects progress update. This is published on the Scottish Government’s website: Infrastructure Investment Plan: progress reports - gov.scot

As set out in the latest update (August 2025), the new ward continues to be delayed and an opening date is not yet confirmed for that ward. Work to agree a route to completion is ongoing. However, existing theatres (previously unused) have already been commissioned and in a phased opening, the National Treatment Centre began treating patients in October 2024.

There is an ongoing dispute with the contractor over final works required to bring the facility into appropriate condition for operational service. The final costs remain a point of negotiation and have not been finalised.

Execution of warrants is a matter for Police Scotland, who remain focused on the investigation of crime and keeping our communities safe. The service has been clear that they prioritise all arrest warrants according to threat, risk and harm, deploying national specialist resources and intelligence techniques to locate and apprehend those who pose the greatest risk to communities.

The Scottish Government is investing a record £1.64 billion for policing this year, and our continued investment enabled Police Scotland to take on more recruits in the last financial year than at any time since 2013, including an intake this month. Scotland continues to have more police officers per capita than England and Wales and recorded crime has fallen by more than half since 1991.

The figures recently reported in the media stem from a Freedom of Information request made to Police Scotland and relate to a single day snapshot of the situation as of 3 September 2025.

The Scottish Government has not undertaken a risk assessment or evaluation of the liabilities of pharmacist independent prescribers who do not have read/write access to patient records. However, other organisations make clear the clinical and professional expectations required to support all prescribers, including pharmacist independent prescribers, to work safely and effectively.

All qualified pharmacist independent prescribers must adhere to robust policies, competency frameworks and requirements, as set out by Health Boards, the General Pharmaceutical Council (GPhC), the pharmacy regulator, and the Royal Pharmaceutical Society (RPS), the professional leadership body. For every prescribing consultation, pharmacist independent prescribers must use their professional judgement and take into account the person’s best interests to decide whether they have the information they need to prescribe safely.

We expect NHS Health Boards to identify aspects of their stroke services which do not meet the Scottish Standards and to work to improve their standards of care locally.

We know that meeting the Standards is challenging. That is why the Scottish Stroke Improvement Programme team, reflecting on the Scottish Stroke Improvement Programme 2025 annual national report, continue to work with individual boards and plays an important role in supporting service colleagues to drive forward improvements in stroke care throughout Scotland.

Every Health Board now has an accountable senior individual responsible for standards of stroke care. I chaired a roundtable meeting with these accountable individuals on 6 November to review progress.

The Scottish Government continues to expect NHS Health Boards to work towards achieving the Scottish Stroke Care Standards.

All the standards, and the cohort of patients who will be included in the standards, have been carefully reviewed by the Scottish Stroke Care Audit Steering Group, which represents clinical, management and third sector stakeholders from around Scotland.

The Scottish Government will continue to work with Health Boards and stakeholders to ensure that data is being collected robustly and that patients who could realistically be expected to reach the target are included in the audit. The 100% standard reflects best guideline-based care and should be the goal for all appropriate patients in Scotland.

Information on the Scottish National Audit Programme audit governance process can be found at: Escalation of issues - Our audit governance - Overview of the Scottish National Audit Programme (SNAP) - Scottish National Audit Programme (SNAP) - Health strategy and outcomes - Resources and tools - Public Health Scotland

The SPPA is required to issue annual benefit statements to scheme members by 31 August of each year. Where statements have not been issued by that date, it is not solely due to delays on the part of SPPA. In some cases it is not possible due to insufficient data, and statements were subsequently issued when that data became available. In the years 2023 to 2025, there was an additional requirement to issue remediable service statements to scheme members eligible for the McCloud remedy. The following tables set the available information out, and reflect numbers reported to the Pensions Regulator in each year.

Table 1: Scheme members that did not receive an annual benefit statement in 2021 and 2022, by scheme.

Due to the nature of flooding, for which the scale of impacts can vary significantly, the number of flooding incidents are not systematically recorded. The responsibility for development, delivery, operation and maintenance of flood protection schemes rests with individual local authorities, who are best placed to respond to local resilience needs. Scottish Government does not hold the information requested.

The Scottish Government has held, and continues to hold, regular meetings with Public Health Scotland regarding the changes to Waiting Times Statistics. These meetings take place on a monthly basis, complemented by fortnightly updates to monitor and review progress on the implementation of the Waiting Times Guidance.

The Waiting Times Guidance was published in November 2023, and preparations for implementation began in early 2024. NHS Boards engage on a monthly basis with Public Health Scotland’s Waiting Times Coordinator to provide updates on progress across all aspects of the guidance.

In addition, Health Boards and Public Health Scotland, participate in the Waiting Times Information Group, which meets every two months to discuss changes to the statistics and share best practice. These meetings have included presentations from system suppliers to support implementation. The next meeting of this group is scheduled to take place later this month.