Chamber and committees

I refer the member to the answer to question S7W-01691 on 10 August 2026. 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.

I refer the member to the answer to question S7W-01336 on 17 of July 2026. 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.

Responsibility for regulation and enforcement of health and safety requirements rests with the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) while the Scottish Funding Council retain oversight of the college sector on key issues of accountability and compliance. The Scottish Government engages regularly with the Scottish Funding Council (SFC) on their oversight. The SFC expects colleges to comply with their legal obligations and seeks assurance on this through its ongoing monitoring, and engagement with institutions.

As a result of the measures established by the SFC, the Scottish Government remains assured that appropriate governance and compliance arrangements are in place across the sector.

It is for an applicant to accurately describe the proposed development, including whether it is for a mix of uses, such as renewable energy generation and agriculture, or for renewable energy alone. This will determine how the planning application is considered through the planning process.

524 houses have been built on sites supported through the Vacant and Derelict Land Investment Programme (VDLIP) since the fund’s introduction in 2021-22. Of these 48 were delivered on sites that had previously been derelict for more than 25 years.

This is an operational matter for NHS Tayside.

The Scottish Government wants all those accessing health services to be treated as close to home as clinically appropriate. Where travel is necessary, the Scottish Government expects NHS Boards to work collaboratively with transport providers to make suitable arrangements to ensure that the necessary treatment can be provided in a patient-centred way.

This matter is under active consideration by the Scottish Government, and Parliament will be kept informed of the outcomes of those considerations – including the potential for planning guidance – in due course.

Planning applications for data centres are a matter for the relevant local authority in the first instance. Planning applications and supporting documentation are available to view on the relevant local authority web pages.

The Gatsby Benchmarks are a careers guidance framework used in England.

Careers support is devolved and the Gatsby Benchmarks do not form part of Scotland’s approach. While individual schools may choose to use the framework if they consider it useful, the Scottish Government does not collect or hold information on its use. Information on the number of schools using the Gatsby Benchmarks, or on any benchmark scores achieved, is therefore not held centrally.

When submitting their proposal for the walk-in service, NHS Greater Glasgow & Clyde estimated that the Cardonald walk-in service would have capacity for 483 appointments per week. This is a new service, rolled out cautiously and carefully for patient safety. Lower patient numbers in the early stages are not unexpected and should not, on their own, be seen as a measure of success or failure.

Our approach to expansion will involve working closely with local authorities, private and third sector providers, representative bodies and national skills bodies to ensure that workforce requirements are understood and addressed. This will include ensuring that the workforce has the knowledge, skills and support required to meet the needs of children with additional support needs and deliver high-quality, inclusive childcare provision.