Chamber and committees

As advised in the chamber by MSP Tom Arthur, Minister for Business and Fair Work, on 10 September, I met with Councillor Aitken, Leader of Glasgow City Council, on 8 July. During that meeting, she highlighted the strong partnerships Glasgow and other local authorities have developed with bus operators through the Glasgow Bus Partnership, as well as plans to introduce bus priority measures on key corridors across the city.

Through our Bus Infrastructure Fund, we have provided funding to support the development of bus priority measures on Pollokshaws Road, including corridor design work and AI-enabled traffic signal improvements. The supporting business case identifies opportunities to improve connectivity, increase access to jobs and services, reduce congestion, and deliver benefits for local communities and businesses.

The Land and Buildings Transaction Tax (LBTT) Additional Dwelling Supplement (ADS) is intended to support opportunities for home ownership by disincentivising multiple residential property ownership through the application of an additional flat rate supplement.

The Scottish Government routinely monitors property market activity, including residential transactions subject to the LBTT ADS. The supply of homes for private rent is affected by a broad range of factors, including interest rates, financing costs, construction activity, local housing demand and wider market conditions. The Scottish Government's priority remains increasing the overall supply of homes and improving housing outcomes across Scotland.

The Scottish Government routinely monitors property market activity, including residential transactions subject to Land and Buildings Transaction Tax (LBTT), and considers a wide range of evidence when developing tax policy.

The decision to move home is influenced by a range of factors, including housing availability, household circumstances, mortgage costs and wider economic conditions.

Questions regarding day-to-day operational matters of Historic Environment Scotland, including queries relating to any research regarding vacant listed buildings, are best answered directly by Historic Environment Scotland.

I have asked Historic Environment Scotland to respond directly to the member in writing.

The Scottish Government has no plans to introduce a two-year suspension of the Land and Buildings Transaction Tax Additional Dwelling Supplement for purchases of residential properties intended for long-term private rental.

To date there has been no specific consideration given to the feasibility of making rapid adulterant screening test strips available alongside naloxone at community fire stations or other civic safe access points.

We are aware of both the potential benefits and limitations of rapid testing strips as harm reduction tools, including their role in supporting engagement and risk reduction, alongside recognised limitations relating to accuracy and false negative results. We are working with partners including Public Health Scotland and Healthcare Improvement Scotland to consider the evidence and inform appropriate Scottish guidance.

We remain committed to an evidence-based approach to harm reduction and to responding rapidly to changing drug trends, including through expanded naloxone provision and the development of drug-checking services.

Hospital at Home is an important part of our wider programme to reduce pressure on acute hospitals and improve patient flow across the health and care system. However, we recognise that hospital occupancy and delayed discharge remain significant challenges, reflecting pressures across the whole system.

The Scottish Government has been clear that no one should remain in hospital when they no longer need to be there. Evidence from Healthcare Improvement Scotland shows that Hospital at Home helps prevent delays associated with patients remaining in hospital which is linked to poorer outcomes, including increased risk of hospital-acquired infection, reduced mobility and poorer wellbeing. By providing acute hospital-level care in a person's home, Hospital at Home can support timely discharge and reduce the need for prolonged hospital stays.

The recently published National Flow Plan 2026-2031 sets out a comprehensive programme of action to address these issues. Reducing delayed discharge is one of the Plan's key priorities, with a strengthened focus on Discharge Without Delay, Home First and Discharge to Assess approaches. These models support people to leave hospital as soon as they are clinically ready, with discharge planning beginning on day one of admission and health and social care services working together to ensure patients recover in the most appropriate setting.

Alongside this, we are expanding Hospital at Home, virtual care, online and telephone consultations, remote monitoring and care-at-home services. These alternatives to inpatient care will help ensure more people can receive the right care, in the right place, at the right time, reducing demand for hospital beds where clinically appropriate.

We will be taking a national approach to ending smart phones in the school environment and there’s currently a consultation where rural views can be shared.

We remain committed to exploring any evidence-based harm reduction measure which will help us to reduce drug-related harms and save lives. If a local area identified an automated vending machine as a measure which would benefit their area, Scottish Government officials would be happy to work with them on the feasibility and logistics of implementing it.

Services across Scotland have already developed flexible and targeted approaches to supplying Injecting Equipment Provision (IEP) equipment by introducing more mobile and more fluid approaches (such as IEP vans) that actively go out to areas where they know people will use them.

The Scottish Government has not provided funding specifically for the evaluation, purchase or distribution of rapid testing strips. However, organisations receiving National Mission funding may have used a proportion of that funding to support such activities as part of wider harm reduction or service delivery programmes.

The Scottish Government has committed more than £1.7 million to deliver Scotland’s drug checking pilot, including the establishment of a National Testing and Research Laboratory at the University of Dundee and local drug checking services planned in Aberdeen, Dundee, Edinburgh and Glasgow. In line with our evidence-based approach, the drug checking pilot will be evaluated, and we expect to provide further detail on our evaluation approach over the coming months.