Chamber and committees

Council Tax is a local tax, set and administered by individual local authorities. Future local government finance settlements, including any decisions on council tax, will be set out in the usual way as part of the annual Scottish Budget.

The Scottish Government continues to support a national Council Tax Reduction scheme to protect those most in need. Over 450,000 households receive some level of Council Tax Reduction, saving recipients on average over £850 a year.

Prioritising the mental wellbeing of health and care professionals, including nurses, midwives and other frontline NHS staff, is vital to help them to navigate complex challenges and continue to provide person-centred, high-quality support. The Scottish Government are supporting staff throughout the NHS through funding of over £2.5m annually to support staff wellbeing.

This funding provides our workforce with access to psychological interventions and therapies, self-service resources through the National Wellbeing Hub and the National Wellbeing Helpline delivered by NHS 24. Registered staff also have access to confidential mental health services through the Workforce Specialist Service (WSS).

Further, the national ‘Supporting Work Life Balance’ workforce policies provide staff with a range of flexible working options to help them to balance their lifestyle, to improve their mental wellbeing, whilst maintaining and promoting the best possible service to our patients and service users.

The Scottish Government actively works with stakeholders to support and enhance workforce wellbeing. In September, National Wellbeing Week, delivered by our National Wellbeing Champions Network with Scottish Government support, provided healthcare staff with valuable tools, practical insights and positive mental health benefits.

There is no policy or approach that excludes Chinese companies from bidding for work on Scottish Government led or funded projects. CMAL, as the Procuring Authority, considers bids for vessel contracts in accordance with the requirements of the Public Contracts (Scotland) Regulations 2015.

We expect CMAL, as the Procuring Authority, to carry out appropriate due diligence, including financial and other checks on all of the companies they invite to tender

Maintenance of overbridges is generally the responsibly of the owner, which in this case is Network Rail.

Glasgow City Council is responsible for the approval of traffic management measures on the bridge as the roads authority.

The Member my wish to contact Network Rail and Glasgow City Council directly for any information relevant to the issues raised.

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.

The Scottish Government has carried out long-term emissions projections for electricity generation, which include energy-from-waste emissions, which will be published as part of the Climate Change Plan Analytical Annex in due course. There are currently no long-term projections for emissions from energy-from-waste on a per site basis.

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.

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 Hydrogen Innovation Scheme, part of the Scottish Government’s Emerging Energy Technology Fund, was launched for project funding applications in June 2022 and closed in August 2022 for Stream 1 projects and in September 2022 for Stream 2 projects.

The 2022 independent review on the role of incineration in Scotland’s waste hierarchy states that in the short-term, incineration will have a role to play in managing our waste as we transition to a circular economy.

As we continue to increase our reuse and recycling rates, we will produce even less waste, however we will still need an appropriate way to manage our unavoidable and unrecyclable waste.

That’s why the Scottish Government’s Fourth National Planning Framework (NPF4) makes clear that development proposals for energy-from-waste facilities will not be supported, except under limited circumstances.

We have also been working with local authorities, through Zero Waste Scotland, to reduce the length of energy from waste contracts, and remove the requirement for guaranteed tonnages – giving local authorities the flexibility to respond to changes that will support Scotland’s move to a circular economy.