Chamber and committees

The UK Government launched a Crisis and Resilience Fund (CRF) from 1 April 2026, replacing English Discretionary Housing Payments and the Household Support Fund. The CRF also now incorporates elements similar to Scotland’s Scottish Welfare Fund. The CRF is discretionary in nature and designed to meet a broad set of short-term pressures.

The approach to Discretionary Housing Payments in Scotland differs in both purpose and delivery. Our policy is to fully mitigate the bedroom tax and provide targeted support so that low income households are protected as far as possible from the impacts of other UK welfare reforms, including the benefit cap and the freeze to Local Housing Allowance (LHA) rates.

Given these different policy objectives and delivery mechanisms these schemes are not directly comparable.

However, Scotland’s investment represents a significant commitment to protecting low income households, with spending per head notably higher than that in the rest of the UK.

This year alone the Scottish Government is investing £115 million in Discretionary Housing Payments, supporting up to 92,000 households and nearly 20,000 children impacted by the bedroom tax; up to 3,000 families impacted by the benefit cap; and up to 15,000 families affected by the freeze to LHA rates. In addition, £41 million is being invested in the Scottish Welfare Fund to provide vital crisis support and help people establish independent living.

I refer the member to the answer to question S7W-00342 on 5 June 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.

As this is an operational matter for Scottish Water, I have asked them to respond. Their reply is as follows:

Scottish Water teams have reviewed telemetry data, pump station monitoring and operational records and have identified no operational incidents. I am told that discharge events were recorded from one of the four Portobello (Central) combined sewer overflows (CSOs), Portobello Joppa SPS CSO, and were part of normal operations related to rainfall.

CSOs are an integral part of a sewage network and are designed to discharge highly diluted wastewater during periods of heavy rainfall to avoid overloading the sewer system, which could result in flooding of homes and businesses. Such discharges do not necessarily result in pollution incidents, and any suspected environmental pollution incidents should be reported to the Scottish Environment Protection Agency.

I refer the member to the answer to question S7W-00342 on 5 June 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 wants all patients, regardless of location to receive the right care, at the right time, in the right place. The Centre for Sustainable Delivery supports clinical improvements across Scotland, including for cataracts and orthopaedics through Specialty Delivery Groups.

The NTCs are currently delivering one cataract every 30 minutes as endorsed by the Royal College of Ophthalmologists. This is patient centred, particularly where patients are travelling longer distances for treatment.

Out of area transport is covered by Health Boards’ own standard travel policies.

NHS Grampian & NHS Tayside have a joint intention to develop high volume, single procedure lists at Stracathro, however these are not in place currently.

Queen Margaret Hospital has a strong, well-established reputation, both nationally & internationally, for their Ophthalmology & Urology services. The responsibility for the Queen Margaret Hospital is with NHS Fife, who continue to look at opportunities to further enhance their current services.

The Stracathro Regional Treatment Centre & the Queen Margaret Hospital provide crucial cold site (ie protected) elective capacity, and we are committed to working with Boards to continue to maximise the efficiency and use of the sites.

The Scottish Government is working at pace to pilot the delivery of alcohol care teams in Scotland.

We have already identified a potential location for the pilot and will look to announce this as soon as a formal agreement is reached.

The Scottish Government is committed to improving the experience of those living with long term conditions in Scotland. That is why we have committed to continue working with people with lived experience, the third sector and clinicians to develop our way forward for long term conditions.

This will build on the work undertaken by the Long Term Conditions Advisory Groups established under the previous government. We are now carefully considering the recommendations shared by various Advisory Groups, made up of key stakeholders from NHS Scotland and the third sector, to inform the best way forward. Our Programme for Government for 2026-27 will be put to the Parliament in due course.

I refer the member to the answer to question S7W-00342 on 5 June 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 Office for National Statistics (ONS) publish estimates of the number of children living in workless households by region from the ONS Annual Population Survey (APS) household datasets. A workless household is defined as a household containing at least one person aged 16 to 64 in which all persons aged 16 and over are either unemployed or economically inactive.

The latest available estimates are for January to December 2024.

The estimated number of children living in workless households in Scotland was 112,200 in 2024, 12.7% of children living in all households in Scotland.

Source: Annual Population Survey Household dataset, ONS

Office for National Statistics (ONS), published 29 October 2025, ONS website, statistical bulletin, Children living in long-term workless households in the UK: 2024

This work is well underway, however it is complex and officials are working with Environmental Standards Scotland to take forward a full scope of work that is practical in advance of a full understanding of the emerging recast EU Urban Wastewater Directive As previously noted in the answers to S6W-40574 on 30 September 2025, S6W-38373 on 17 June 2025 and S6W-42837 on 16 January 2026, I will provide an update to Parliament once this work has reached an appropriate stage.

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.