Chamber and committees

NHS Grampian has advised that no detainees were transferred between Inverness and Kittybrewster custody suites in the last 12 months specifically to access methadone or other opioid substitution therapy. While such transfers may be considered where clinically necessary, this has not been required during this period.

NHS Grampian has further advised that information on transfers to accident and emergency departments is not routinely collated centrally and could only be obtained through a manual review of individual clinical records.

Decisions to transfer detainees to secondary care are made on the basis of clinical need where this cannot be safely managed within the custody setting.

I refer the member to the answer to question S7W-01058 on 13 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.

Scotland is uniquely positioned to support delivery of the AI Hardware Plan, with globally competitive strengths in photonics, semiconductors, novel architectures, low-power and edge AI systems. These are areas specifically identified in the Scottish government’s AI Strategy (2026).

Scotland is home to a £4.4bn critical technologies supercluster, with over 160 companies, 11,500 jobs and >80% export revenue. The Scottish Government is directly supporting the industry ambition to grow to £10bn and 17,500 jobs by 2035.

The Scottish Government provides long-term core funding to Technology Scotland as the Cluster Management Organisation and industry body for these sectors, and to the Fraunhofer Centre for Applied Photonics, arguably the UK’s strongest translational assets in this field. Other assets include Glasgow’s James Watt Nanofabrication Centre, the National Advanced Semiconductor Packaging and Integration Centre, and Edinburgh Parallel Computing Centre.

The Cabinet Secretary for Economy, Tourism and Transport has written to the UK Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology to urge the UK government to ensure Scotland’s strengths are recognised and that opportunities are not solely flowing to elsewhere in the UK.

Our Long Term Conditions Advisory Group 1 focused on cardiometabolic and renal conditions, including cardiovascular disease, stroke, diabetes and chronic kidney disease. We are carefully considering the recommendations made by all six of the advisory groups, established under the previous government, to inform our way forward for long term conditions. Our Programme for Government for 2026-27 will be put to the Parliament in due course.

As I set out in my previous response, the UK Government did not provide a detailed policy design or a full assessment of the potential impacts of zonal pricing on consumers, communities and businesses in Scotland.

We engaged with a broad range of stakeholders and noted that the available evidence on the impact of introducing zonal pricing was mixed. Some organisations highlighted the potential for zonal pricing to reduce electricity costs in parts of Scotland – but this would not materialise for another 10 years. Renewable energy developers and wider industry stakeholders raised significant concerns about the potential impact on investor confidence and associated risk premium which could erode any benefit.

Given these competing considerations, and the absence of a clear, evidence-based policy framework from the UK Government, the Scottish Government has not adopted a formal position either in support of or against the introduction of zonal pricing. Rather the Scottish Government calls on the UK Government to take immediate action to reduce the high cost of energy bills today – for example through introducing a social tariff.

The responses provided to previous questions reflect this position and are in line with the commitment in the Scottish Ministerial Code to be as open as possible with Parliament, setting out both the limits of the available evidence and the basis on which the Scottish Government has engaged on this issue.

The Women’s Health Plan sets out the Scottish Government’s ambition for Women’s Health which is that ‘women and girls enjoy the best possible health, throughout their lives’.

Phase Two of the Women’s Health Plan, published in January 2026, commits to transforming gynaecology services and taking action to reduce diagnosis times for all menstrual health conditions, including endometriosis.

As part of the work to transform gynaecology services, a National Gynaecology Plan will be developed and implemented. This plan will initially focus on addressing waiting times challenges, moving towards sustainable change, redesign and improvement for gynaecology services across Scotland. The plan will explain how women will increasingly receive high quality and effective care closer to home. As we redesign these services, we will work to reduce inequalities in access and outcomes, particularly for women in rural and island areas.

Youth work falls within the scope of The Requirements for Community Learning and Development (Scotland) Regulations 2013. This regulation, in effect, requires local authorities to identify need and plan provision of Community Learning and Development (CLD) in their areas.

As the regulatory requirements for CLD are placed with education authorities, the Scottish Government does not collate information on youth workers.

The independent review of Community Learning and Development (Learning: For All. For Life.) report was published in July 2024 and recommended that the CLD Standards Council should lead on work to develop a CLD Workforce Plan.

The CLD Standards Council have established a working group with representation across the CLD sector to progress the recommendation and have also undertaken a National CLD Workforce Survey which will provide more detailed information on the youth work workforce.

We are carefully considering the recommendations made by the Long Term Conditions advisory groups, established under the previous government, to inform our way forward for long term conditions. Our Programme for Government for 2026-27 will be put to the Parliament in due course.

Youth work falls within the scope of The Requirements for Community Learning and Development (Scotland) Regulations 2013. This regulation, in effect, requires local authorities to identify need and plan provision of Community Learning and Development in their areas.

As the regulatory requirements for Community Learning and Development are placed with education authorities, the Scottish Government does not collate this information.

I refer the member to the answer to question S7W-01058 on 13 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.