Chamber and committees

Data relating to incidents of antisocial behaviour and assaults on trains is held by the British Transport Police (BTP), who regularly share these statistics with Scottish Government officials.

BTP publishes some of the statistics and they can be found on its website: Stats and data | British Transport Police

The numbers of ophthalmology specialty training posts that were advertised and filled are set out in the following table.

Further to my engagement with the sector, I announced on 10 July that the Scottish Government would provide £2 million of direct support to independent Scottish pig producers who have been hit hardest by the market pressures. The Scottish pig Producers Support Scheme opened to applications on 15 July. The support will cover losses between what farmers were paid, and 85% of the Standard Pig Price, between March and August 2026. This vital funding, which is only available in Scotland, will help protect local jobs, sustain Scotland’s pork supply chain, safeguard the Prime Scottish Pork brand, and protect the production of high-quality, high welfare, locally produced food.

I have also written to the UK Government calling for urgent action to support the pig industry, including following our example and increasing resources and investment to improve biosecurity at our borders to prevent diseases such as African Swine Fever entering the country, which have exacerbated the price issues facing the sector.

We will continue to work with the sector through these challenging times.

Backlog maintenance within the NHS estate is assessed and reported at the level of individual maintenance items rather than buildings. Consequently, individual buildings are not assigned an overall risk rating, as they may contain multiple backlog maintenance items with different risk ratings.

Consideration of changes to the Lord Advocate’s roles engages significant issues relating to prosecutorial independence, ministerial accountability, the rule of law and the effective operation of government. Given the legal and constitutional implications it is appropriate that our approach is considered carefully and thoroughly, and Ministers are giving it active consideration.

The Scottish Government has not realised a direct financial return from NHS NPD projects, as these projects were procured to deliver infrastructure and services rather than generate investment returns. Any project-specific surplus sharing, refinancing gains or other contractual receipts are managed in accordance with the relevant project agreements and do not result in a direct financial return to the Scottish Government.

While CalMac continue to monitor the performance of new and older vessels, a direct comparison is not available at this time. This is due to MV Glen Sannox operating on different routes/timetables compared to existing vessels while actions are progressed to enable the redevelopment of Ardrossan Harbour.

Condition and Functional Suitability assessments are undertaken and recorded for individual buildings within the NHS estate. However, the Scottish Government does not routinely hold information on the number of buildings assessed as category C or D for either Condition or Functional Suitability.

Based on the latest available NHS estate data, 34% of the estate by floor area was assessed as being in Condition C or D, while 26% of the estate by floor area was assessed as having Functional Suitability rated C or D.

The Scottish Government sets the regulatory framework and provides Grant in Aid Funding to SEPA to undertake monitoring of bathing waters.

SEPA undertakes routine monitoring of designated bathing waters, including those in Dundee and Angus, during the bathing season (1 June 2026 to 15 September 2026). Where a potential pollution incident is identified, either through reporting or routine monitoring, SEPA undertakes investigations. SEPA has provided an overview of bathing waters, including its monitoring and investigation process here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tcy2_8MjhWg

The Scottish Medicines Consortium (SMC) has received a full submission from the marketing authorisation holder, Sanofi, for teplizumab (Tzield®), to delay the onset of Stage 3 type 1 diabetes in adult and paediatric patients 8 years of age and older with Stage 2 type 1 diabetes.

The SMC’s advice in relation to the routine use of teplizumab in the NHS in Scotland is expected to be published in 2027. The medicine product page on the SMC’s website will be updated with the advice, when published.