Chamber and committees

Four of the six measures provided for in the Act have been implemented. These are:

• A prohibition on providing or making available fireworks or pyrotechnic articles to children;
• A statutory aggravation for courts sentencing offenders where fireworks were used to attack emergency workers;
• New discretionary powers for local authorities to designate firework control zones; and
• New offences of possession of pyrotechnics in public places and at designated events.

Two remaining measures have not yet been commenced. These are:

• A firework licensing system: whereby anyone who wishes to buy, use or possess fireworks will be required to apply for a licence. As part of the licence application process, applicants will be required to complete a mandatory training course on the safe, lawful and appropriate use of fireworks.
• Restrictions on the days fireworks can be supplied to or used by the public.

Implementation of these measures has been paused in light of the significant challenging financial context and operational and resource implications associated with their introduction. The position remains under review as the Scottish Government continues to consider in the context of how existing measures are impacting the nature and pattern of disorder.

It is not within the power of the Scottish Parliament to legislate for a complete ban on the sale of fireworks as this is reserved to the UK Government and Westminster Parliament.

The Scottish Government is committed to reducing avoidable food waste across the supply chain and in households, to help work towards UN Sustainable Development Goal 12.3 to halve food waste by 2030.

Our recent Circular Economy Strategy for Scotland, available on the Scottish Government website at: https://www.gov.scot/publications/circular-economy-strategy-scotland/, identifies the food system as a priority sector. Actions being taken to reduce food waste include the Government working with stakeholders on effective options to implement mandatory reporting of food waste and surplus by businesses. Requiring business to report on their food waste and surplus is intended to improve understanding on where and why food waste arises and what action can be taken to prevent it.

In addition, Zero Waste Scotland is developing an intervention plan to support long-term household food waste reduction. This includes identifying, testing and refining a range of interventions to help reduce avoidable food waste in households.

We have also commissioned research through ClimateXChange on circular economy opportunities in agriculture, including reducing on-farm food loss, and will explore how these findings can inform future action.

These actions will support Scotland's efforts to reduce avoidable food waste and make progress towards the 2030 UN target.

The UK’s telecommunications regulator, Ofcom, regularly publishes information in relation to full fibre and gigabit-capable broadband coverage in Scotland as part of their Connected Nations updates. The most recent update was published on 13 May 2026, showing coverage figures for January 2026.

Latest figures show that, as of January 2026, a total of 35,261 homes across Kilmarnock and Irvine Valley can access a full fibre connection, which equates to 87% of all eligible homes across the constituency.

More detailed information can be found through Ofcom’s interactive dashboard at https://www.ofcom.org.uk/phones-and-broadband/coverage-and-speeds/connected-nations-update-spring-2026#interactive-report

The Scottish Government does not hold information on the delivery timelines for commercially funded broadband infrastructure projects. However, gigabit-capable full fibre deployment is being delivered in Scotland through Project Gigabit, including within the Kilmarnock and Irvine Valley constituency. Project Gigabit delivery is currently expected to be completed by 2030.

The Community Wealth Building (Scotland) Act 2026, passed by the Scottish Parliament on 10 February, requires public bodies to work together and actively implement the approach more systematically across Scotland by producing local Community Wealth Building Action Plans, and reporting progress. While Co-operative Development Scotland is not a specified public body in the Act, Scottish Enterprise, of which CDS is a part, must work with local authorities and other public bodies within local ‘community wealth building partnerships’ across Scotland to produce local action plans within three years of commencement of the Act. The local partnerships also have a duty to implement the community wealth building plans and report on progress.

Recommendations regarding the use of tumour profiling tests such as Oncotype DX are developed independently of the Scottish Government. The Scottish Health Technologies Group (SHTG) published their recommendation in October 2023, which has been implemented in full. SHTG have criteria and processes in place to judge whether new evidence is sufficient to revise its existing recommendations.

The safety and welfare of survivors is absolutely paramount, and we are committed to ensuring survivors and their families get the support they need.

The Scottish Government does not hold an estimate of how many clinical breast cancer patients have undergone chemotherapy from which they derived no clinical benefit.

We are committed to ensuring that people with cancer receive the treatment most appropriate to their individual circumstances. The Scottish Government has commissioned the NHS Scotland Cancer Collaborative (NSCC) to develop National Clinical Management Pathways (CMPs). CMPs outline the patient with cancer journey from diagnosis onwards and support consistent decision-making across Scotland on optimal treatment options at the various points in a patient’s pathway. They help clinicians and patients to work in partnership to consider the likely benefits and risks of treatment options and allow people to make an informed choice about their care, as well as reducing waste, potential harm and regret about treatment decisions, in line with the principles of Realistic Medicine.

The process for the development and review of CMPs has been previously described in S6W-42977 on 20 January 2026.

The Scottish Government is committed to delivering equitable access to genomic testing and precision medicines and continue to work with NHS Scotland partners to explore opportunities to expand our genomic testing provision in Scotland, in line with our strategy and resources.

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.

As set out in our recent consultation, Water services: investing in and paying from 2027, the Objectives for Scottish Water for 2027-33 require it to provide public-facing access to data on overflows from all intermittent discharges in its network, taken from monitors and supplemented by hydraulic modelling, by 2033.

Scottish Water has co-created a monitoring prioritisation methodology with the Scottish Environment Protection Agency (SEPA) which can be found at https://www.scottishwater.co.uk/-/media/scottishwater/document-hub/key-publications/improving-urban-waters/edmmethodology.pdf.

Scottish Water currently has over 2,000 overflow monitors in place (some 50% of overflows). It publishes near real-time spill data online and has provided monitors on all its sewer overflows within 2km of a designated bathing water. During the bathing season SEPA makes daily bathing water quality predictions at selected bathing waters across Scotland. These are available online and from electronic information signs at certain bathing waters. There is also advice on How to Swim Safely in Scotland’s Outdoor Waters on NHS inform.

Operational policing decisions and workload considerations are for the Chief Constable who is accountable to the Scottish Police Authority - not to Scottish Ministers.

The Scottish Government recognises the vital role the Scottish Fire and Rescue Service (SFRS) plays in keeping communities safe. The 2026-27 budget provides an additional £23.8 million from the previous year, taking total funding to £436 million, demonstrating our continued support for SFRS to deliver the high standard of services required to keep Scotland safe.

The operational response and procedures relating to any fire is a matter for SFRS however, they have provided reassurances that all necessary training is provided to staff, to ensure they appropriately manage any incident, including those at waste recycling centres.

SFRS has set up a New and Emerging Risks Group that will consider, amongst other matters, lithium-ion batteries. The lithium-ion sub-group is made up of multiple internal and external partners (including Scottish Government officials) to identify any issues or concerns rising from this technology.