Chamber and committees

Scottish Fiscal Commission forecasts for income tax include judgements for behavioural responses which are based on evidence from academic literature on how taxpayers have responded to previous changes to income tax policy in Scotland, the UK, and internationally. The SFC applies behavioural responses to policies over the course of their full forecast. More detailed information is available at the following link: How we forecast behavioural responses to income tax policy | Scottish Fiscal Commission.

The Scottish Government regularly discusses a wide range of fire safety topics with the Scottish Fire and Rescue Service (SFRS) including battery energy storage systems (BESS). A dedicated working group within SFRS continues to monitor the number of BESS applications and their development, alongside the Service’s role in the planning, consultation, and progression of these sites.

The current procedure for applications for exhumation has been in place for many years. It involves the engagement of a solicitor who will apply to the sheriff court for a warrant to disinter. The process can be lengthy, complex and incur significant cost.

The Scottish Government is developing regulations on exhumation which will remove applications from the sheriff court, making the process more straightforward and less expensive for applicants.

The UK Pesticides National Action Plan (NAP) was published on 21 March 2025.

The NAP is a UK-wide document which sets out the shared ambition of the Scottish Government, Defra, the Welsh Government and the Northern Ireland Executive. It aims to minimise the risks and impacts of pesticides to human health and the environment, while ensuring that our land managers in the agriculture, horticulture and amenity sector have effective tools to manage pests and pesticide resistance.

Supporting uptake of Integrated Pest Management (IPM) is central to the actions set out in the NAP. This includes targeting use of conventional chemical pesticides to when environmentally and economically justified. It also includes equipping pesticide users with the knowledge and support needed to adopt a range of sustainable crop protection practices, including innovative precision application technologies, to continue to reduce the use of conventional chemical pesticides whilst retaining the ability to address the crop protection challenges arising from climate change. The NAP also commits to improving and supporting compliance with regulations to ensure that pesticides are used safely.

Measuring progress is a key commitment of the NAP and as such sets the first domestic reduction target for pesticides in the UK, with an aim of reducing a suite of representative pesticide load indicators by 10% by 2030. The target is designed to measure progress against reducing environmental pressure from pesticides, rather than representing a simple usage reduction target. This reduces the potential for unintended consequences, which could risk the removal of important tools for farmers, growers and other land managers. The NAP sets a target for the arable sector, using data from the existing pesticide usage surveys, but also acknowledges that we want to improve our understanding of the nature of pesticide use in the amenity and amateur sectors in future.

We welcome publication of this plan, which commits us to measuring our progress over the next five years, and we look forward to working with stakeholders during the implementation of these actions.

The plan can be viewed at the following link: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/uk-pesticides-national-action-plan-2025.

Our ambition is that ‘women and girls enjoy the best possible health, throughout their lives’. We want to improve health outcomes for all women and girls in Scotland and working to improve access to health services which meet the needs of women is central to this.

The Scottish Government’s National Carers Strategy sets out a cross-government approach to tackling issues that affect carers, including through health and social care policies. A range of services are in place to support unpaid carers to better access healthcare. Some have a carer-specific focus, while others are more general. The Scottish Government will continue to raise awareness of these services among unpaid carers and will ensure that our health services consider the needs of carers.

As we develop the next phase of the Women’s Health Plan, we are listening to women’s voices and lived experience to seek to meet the needs of women across Scotland, including unpaid female carers.

I refer the member to the answer to question S6W-35647 on 21 March 2025. 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 S6W-35647 on 21 March 2025. 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.

Scottish Government officials remain actively engaged with Public Health Scotland (PHS), who are responsible for the implementation of the Fracture Liaison Service audit. Progress against the business case requirements to develop and then implement the new audit is reviewed on a regular basis.

I also refer the member to the answer to the question S6W-35534 21 March 2025. 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

The overall condition of housing in Scotland has been steadily improving over the years, driven by existing standards. The Scottish Government is committed to tackling disrepair and driving a culture in which good maintenance is given a high priority.

The increase in the tolerable standard failure rate between 2018 and 2023 is due to the introduction of the fire and smoke alarm, and carbon monoxide alarm criteria. The Scottish House Conditions Survey results for 2023 show that 562,000 dwellings failed the smoke and fire alarm criteria while 407,000 failed the carbon monoxide alarm criteria, although some of these dwellings will overlap.

When previously analysed in 2022 it was found that without the fire and smoke alarm, and carbon monoxide alarm criteria the tolerable standard failure rate was similar to 2018 with an estimated 55,000 households or 2% of all dwellings below tolerable standard.

Public Health Scotland (PHS) are responsible for the delivery of the Fracture Liaison Services (FLS) audit which was commissioned by Scottish Government in July 2024. PHS has informed Scottish Government that there was a delay in recruitment required for audit development, however this has now been completed. PHS are now working at pace in line with the business case requirements to establish this new audit.