Chamber and committees

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.

The Scottish Government considers Hospital at Home to be an important part of the solution to reducing pressure on hospitals and improving flow across the health and care system. Evidence published by Healthcare Improvement Scotland demonstrates that Hospital at Home provides a safe and effective alternative to hospital admission for many patients. Its latest annual reporting shows more than 17,000 people aged 65 and over avoided a hospital stay through access to Hospital at Home services across Scotland.

However, as set out in the recently published Health and Care Improving Flow Plan, improving hospital performance requires a whole-system approach. Hospital at Home is one element of a wider package of measures including same-day care, improved discharge processes, frailty services, urgent care redesign and strengthened community-based support.

Together, these measures, supported by Public Health Scotland's evidence showing continued growth in Hospital at Home services, are expected to improve patient flow, reduce pressure on acute services, and contribute to improve Emergency Department performance.

Evaluation of Hospital at Home services is ongoing. The findings from Phase 1 were published in June and are available on the Scottish Government website. Phase 2 will focus on further analysis of Hospital at Home services, including their impact on key NHS Scotland performance indicators and wider system outcomes.

Hospital at Home is an important part of our wider approach to improving patient flow and reducing pressure on acute hospital services, including Emergency Departments.

Emergency Department waiting times are influenced by a range of factors across the health and social care system, which is why we are taking a whole system approach to improvement work.

The evidence does show that Hospital at Home is supporting more people to receive acute-level care in their own homes, helping to avoid hospital admissions where this is clinically appropriate. In 2025-26, more than 17,000 people aged 65 and over received care through Hospital at Home, avoiding a hospital stay, while Public Health Scotland data shows continued growth in activity across Hospital at Home services.

Evaluation of Hospital at Home services is ongoing. The findings from Phase 1 were published in June and are available on the Scottish Government website. Phase 2 will focus on further analysis of Hospital at Home services, including their impact on key NHS Scotland performance indicators and wider system outcomes.

The Scottish Government is committed to supporting the provision of social and affordable housing through our commitment to deliver 110,000 affordable homes by 2032 of which at least 70% will be available for social rent and 10% will be in our rural and island communities. This will be underpinned by investment of up to £4.9 billion, including a record £4.1 billion of public sector funding, to support delivery of 36,000 affordable homes and our wider all-tenure ambition over this Parliament.

As part of this we are have provided local authority partners with resource planning assumptions for the period 2026-27 to 2029-30 totalling a record £2.94 billion through the Affordable Housing Supply Programme.

This multi-year funding certainty will support local authorities and registered social landlords to plan future investment and delivery, helping to increase the supply of social and affordable homes for the benefit of communities across Scotland.

Since 2007 the Scottish Government has supported the delivery of 146,000 affordable homes – over 104,000 of which were for social rent, including more than 31,000 council homes.

As part of its New Mobilising System project, the Scottish Fire and Rescue Service will be rolling out its Computer Aided Dispatch (CAD) system to the Edinburgh Operations Control on 30 September, followed by Dundee Operations Control on 27 October and Johnstone Operations Control on 24 November.

The Scottish Government is not aware of any widespread failings in workplace or management culture at the Scottish Fire and Rescue Service. Any accusations of specific failings would be primarily a matter for the SFRS Board but, depending on circumstances, the Scottish Government would take appropriate action to ensure any failings are dealt with thoroughly and speedily.

The Scottish Government recognises the seasonal dangers and damage associated with disposal barbeques.

I welcome the steps the UK Government took to temporarily restrict the sale of disposable barbeques across the England, Scotland and Wales given the risks they can pose to the environment, local communities and agricultural land, particularly during periods of warm and dry weather when the risk of wildfire is heightened.

I believe there needs to be consideration of this issue on a more permanent basis when there is a high risk of wildfires and a more permanent approach would provide greater protection for communities and the environment. This is therefore an issue I will look to raise with the UK Government in early course.

In Scotland, local authorities have powers to ban the use of disposable barbeques within relevant spaces. Whilst it is for Scottish Ministers to approve byelaws proposed by local authorities, it is a matter for each council to decide how to manage its day-to-day business, including whether there is a need to introduce byelaws within their local areas to implement a ban on the use of barbeques at times of high risk.

This includes new wildfire prevention byelaws that came into effect in the Cairngorms National Park. This means that fires and barbecues are banned in public places within the National Park between 1 April and 30 September every year unless there is a lawful authority to do so.

The provision of Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) for firefighters is an operational matter for the Scottish Fire and Rescue Service (SFRS). SFRS is responsible for ensuring that appropriate PPE is available to support firefighters in carrying out their duties safely, including when responding to wildfire incidents.

The provision of PPE, training and decontamination are all operational matters for SFRS. All firefighters in Scotland are equipped with PPE and trained for the emergency situations they face. Following the greater awareness of the possible dangers of fire contamination on firefighter health, SFRS has fundamentally changed its processes and procedures the minimise the exposure. This includes post incident decontamination, including wildfires.

Decisions on how resources are deployed, including the operation of contact, command and control services, are matters for the Chief Constable, reflecting the operational independence of policing. Police Scotland has been very clear that 101 is a non-emergency number and callers are advised of other means by which they can contact the service while on hold.