Chamber and committees

Across Scotland Electroconvulsive Therapy has been subject to national audit standards. NHS Boards have all been informed of their status against key indicators as well as issues with compliance of national audit standards.

In April 2026, the Scottish Government was informed of NHS Tayside’s level of compliance with the indicators. Through the audit process NHS Boards must submit investigative reports and action plans that will improve compliance with national standards. NHS Tayside submitted the requested report and action plan which were assessed by the national steering group and are monitored monthly via agreed processes.

I refer the member to the answer to question S7W-03250 on 28 September 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.

The Scottish Government regularly engages with NHS Boards on matters relating to mental health services.

Across Scotland Electroconvulsive Therapy has been subject to national audit standards. NHS Boards have all been informed of their status against key indicators as well as issues with compliance of national audit standards. In April 2026 the Scottish Government was informed about NHS Ayrshire and Arran, Borders, Fife and Tayside’s level of compliance with the indicators. These NHS Boards have submitted the requested investigation reports and action plans which were assessed by the national steering group and are monitored via agreed processes.

Since the introduction of the Scottish Standards for Electroconvulsive Therapy, there has been continued engagement with NHS Boards via the national audit process. It is the responsibility of NHS Boards to comply with national clinical and audit standards.

The Scottish Government notes the Report. We recognise that it is very important that the prescription and administration of Electroconvulsive Therapy is subject to the highest possible standards.

Through the national audit process all NHS Boards have been informed of their status against key indicators as well as issues with compliance of national audit standards. NHS Boards are required to submit investigative reports and action plans to consider any relevant factors and actions that will improve compliance with national standards. Mandatory training has also taken place for all NHS Board data leads to support understanding and compliance.

The Scottish Government has not made an assessment of these reported proposals.

Maintaining competitive journey times, reliability and capacity is vital for rail connectivity between Scotland and London. We would be disappointed by any change that led to longer journey times for passengers travelling to and from Scotland.

Responsibility for HS2, including decisions arising from the programme's revised scope, the HS2 reset announced earlier this year, and the work of West Coast Partnership Development, lies with the UK Government.

The Scottish Government engages external multi-disciplinary support services to provide specialist technical, engineering, environmental and project delivery expertise that is essential to the planning, design, promotion, procurement and delivery of major transport infrastructure projects. This provides access to the specialist skills and resources required to support informed decision-making and successful project delivery.

These services have ensured the successful delivery of projects such as the Queensferry Crossing, Aberdeen Western Peripheral Route and M8 M73 M74 Motorway Improvements, enhancing connectivity across Scotland.

Multi-disciplinary support services are being provided on our current programme of transport infrastructure projects, including: A9 Dualling Programme, A96 Dualling Inverness to Nairn (including Nairn Bypass), A9/A96 Inshes to Smithton, A83 Rest and Be Thankful, A720 Sheriffhall, A90 Laurencekirk, A75 Springholm to Crocketford and M8 Woodside.

Information on all of these schemes can be found on the Transport Scotland website.

In addition, grant funding is provided to Caledonian Maritime Assets Limited (CMAL) and Network Rail to support the delivery of harbour, pier and rail infrastructure projects.

Transport Scotland publishes monthly and annual reports detailing expenditure, including consultancy costs, over £25,000. This can be found here: Expenditure | Transport Scotland

We continue to discuss the closure of the ECO4 scheme with the UK Government, our main focus is ensuring that poor quality work delivered to homes in Scotland as part of the ECO4 scheme is promptly remediated. We engage regularly with our stakeholders in the retrofit supply chain, as well as meeting with individual home energy installers and other businesses impacted by the UK Government decision to end the ECO4 scheme.

The Scottish Government's fuel poverty and energy efficiency schemes continue to deliver the same range of retrofit measures as the ECO4 scheme. However Scottish Government schemes already include some measures, such as battery storage, that are not available from ECO4 installers.

In most cases, households that were eligible for ECO4 finance will continue to be eligible for retrofit measures delivered through Area Based Schemes (ABS), Warmer Homes Scotland (WHS) or the Home Energy Scotland (HES) Grant and Loan scheme. We encourage households interested in making their homes warmer and less expensive to heat to get in touch with Home Energy Scotland for further advice about the assistance available from the Scottish Government.

Block grant consequentials accrue to the Scottish Government as a whole and it is for the Scottish Ministers to decide how best to allocate these based on their priorities. The £140 million in consequentials was taken into account as part of the 2026-27 Parliamentary budget setting process.

To help households install clean heat and energy efficiency measures, over £330 million funding has been allocated in 2026-27, part of £1.3 billion support over the spending review period. Our schemes have already supported thousands of households to save between £300 and £500 per year on their energy bills and we estimate 20,000 households will benefit from our schemes this year, with around 60% targeted at those most at risk of fuel poverty. We also continue to invest in heat networks and decarbonising public sector buildings.