Chamber and committees

Representatives from INEOS Grangemouth have confirmed that Small Modular Reactors do not form part of of the INEOS Grangemouth net zero roadmap for Grangemouth. The Scottish Government’s Consent Unit has not received any requests from either INEOS or Rolls Royce to consider the development of a Small Modular Reactor at Grangemouth.

There has been regular communication between the Scottish Government and the Scottish Prison Service on HMP Highland, including time-scales for completion, since 2011, in line with updates to the Infrastructure Investment Plan.

• In December 2011 the Scottish Government was updated that completion dates for HMP Highland were uncertain.
• In October 2015 the Scottish Government was updated that estimated operational date was 2019.
• In September 2016 the Scottish Government was updated that estimated operational date was 2020.
• In July 2018 the Scottish Government was updated that estimated operational date was 2021.
• In April 2019 the Scottish Government was updated that estimated operational date was 2023.
• In September 2020 the Scottish Government was updated that estimated operational date was 2024.
• In September 2022 the Scottish Government was updated that estimated operational date was 2025.
• In February 2024 the Scottish Government was updated that the most likely time-scale for construction completion was 2026.

I have asked Teresa Medhurst, Chief Executive of the Scottish Prison Service (SPS), to respond. Her response is as follows:

I refer the member to the answer to the question S6W-35129 on 4 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-34901 on 3 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.

Bursaries for independent schools are a matter for the proprietors of each institution. Scottish Government does not collect this information.

There are currently three Energy from Waste (EfW) sites currently in construction and commissioning and SEPA keeps the Scottish Government updated about their development.

With respect to community consent, these facilities require planning consent from the relevant local authority and a permit from SEPA. Both the planning process and SEPA permitting process include formal consultation processes.

For EfW permits, SEPA consults the public twice: firstly at an early stage of the application and again on SEPA’s draft determination and draft decision document. This process has been followed for all EfW permits to date. Some EfW facilities also have regular liaison meetings with their local community and SEPA attends when invited.

Permits plus compliance and monitoring data are published by SEPA on its public register and EfW operators are also required, via the permit, to publish their monitoring data on their own website. There is also a 24 hour pollution hotline which members of the public can use to inform SEPA of any issues associated with an EfW facility.

The Scottish Government encourages anyone to contact their GP or diabetes clinical team to discuss the use of Ozempic or any other medication as part of their treatment for type 2 diabetes. They will be best placed to recommend any medicines or treatments based on their own individual circumstances.

The Chief Pharmaceutical Officer is taking the issue of illegal online medicines seriously. She has met with the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA), Healthcare Improvement Scotland (HIS), Police Scotland and the General Pharmaceutical Council (GPhC) to discuss this.

The GPhC published updated guidance on 4 February 2025 regarding buying medicines safely online and Healthcare Improvement Scotland is considering how to improve the general awareness of these medicines, as well as establishing clear expectations for their safe and appropriate use within the independent healthcare sector.

The Chief Pharmaceutical Officer is also considering communications for healthcare professionals in Scotland on how to report known or suspected illicit prescribing of Ozempic.

This Government’s commitment to net zero by 2045 is absolutely unwavering. We await the advice of the Climate Change Committee on new Carbon Budget levels, expected on 21 May 2025. Once we have received this advice, we will bring forward the Scottish Carbon Emission Targets via secondary legislation, with the aim of publishing a draft Climate Change Plan to achieve those targets in the autumn, which will set a deliverable course towards net zero. The analysis undertaken by the Ricardo study, which was published on the Scottish Government Website in 2024, was only based on the information at that time on delivery of policies in the Climate Change Plan update which covers the period up to 2032. Further policies are currently under development for the next Climate Change Plan which will cover the period up to 2040 and the draft for consultation will include information on costs and benefits of the policies.

The data for the number of people being prescribed Ozempic by year in Scotland can be found in the following table.

To note: the table contains prescribing data for Ozempic only and does not include data for those being prescribed other branded semaglutide medicines.

Scottish Enterprise, our national economic development agency, works with businesses in Scotland to create high-value jobs, enable innovation, boost productivity and attract investment. Scottish Enterprise would be happy to engage with Clowes Developments to discuss the support available to them going forward.

However, any decision about future development on the site is a matter for Glasgow City Council in the first instance.