Chamber and committees

The Scottish Government has not had any discussions with investors regarding development of a Drone Port at Glasgow Prestwick Airport.

The outcome of the regional Project Gigabit in Scotland (PGiS) procurement which covers Orkney and Shetland is expected to be announced by the end of 2026.

The quality of equipment is an operational matter for the Scottish Fire and Rescue Service (SFRS). SFRS has provided reassurance that it has the equipment required to support firefighters in carrying out their duties safely and effectively. Specialist wildfire equipment continues to be deployed as part of SFRS’s Wildfire Strategy, whilst structural firefighting vehicles, equipment and PPE can also be safely deployed to a wide range of operational incidents, including wildfires.

SFRS continues to invest in operational capability through programmes including the replacement of self-contained breathing apparatus, the expansion of integrated firefighter communications capability and the development of lightweight PPE suitable for wildfire and other operational activities. Investment decisions continue to be informed by operational risk, firefighter safety and relative priorities between estate, fleet and equipment.

The provision of training is an operational matter for SFRS. HMFSI conducted a thematic review of the SFRS training function and this was laid before Parliament in June 2026. SFRS accepted all of the recommendations and continues to make improvements and additional investment in its training function. A recent example of this is the investment of £3 million in a new Compartment Fire Behaviour Training (CFBT) facility and a Contaminants Control Unit (CCU) at Perth Training Centre. The objectives of the Service Delivery Review included freeing up resources to allow more firefighters to be deployed in the training function.

The Scottish Government is supporting the development of heat networks across Scotland, including projects that may cross local authority boundaries. Through Local Heat and Energy Efficiency Strategies (LHEES), local authorities are identifying opportunities for heat network development and are encouraged to collaborate where opportunities extend across administrative boundaries.

We are supportive of collaboration between local authorities and the wider public sector to identify and develop opportunities for heat networks at an appropriate scale. We continue to work with local authorities, delivery partners and developers to identify and address potential barriers relating to funding, governance and delivery arrangements. This includes supporting regional collaboration and ensuring that viable heat network projects can progress where this offers the most effective route to decarbonising heat.

Should further opportunities for cross-boundary projects emerge, the capital and pre-capital support available through Scotland's Heat Network Fund and the Heat Network Support Unit would be available to such projects, subject to a successful application.

The Scottish Government does not support the construction of new nuclear fission power stations under current technologies. We have therefore made no assessment of the potential employment effects of new nuclear development at Torness.

Optimisation Study applications under Scotland’s Heat Network Fund will be assessed against five criteria as outlined in the Fund website: Scotland’s Heat Network Fund: optimisation study grant funding - how to apply - gov.scot.

I have placed a copy of the information requested in the Scottish Parliament Information Centre (bib number 66922).

The total number of Scottish participants aged 11 to 17 in the ASH SmokeFree GB Youth survey was:

(a) 677 in 2024

(b) 755 in 2025

(c) 767 in 2026

The survey collects data on social grade and the Office for National Statistics Indices of Multiple Deprivation (ONS IMD), which are not directly comparable with the Scottish Index of Multiple Deprivation (SIMD). The samples are skewed towards higher social grades and less deprived areas and are therefore unlikely to be representative of young people across all levels of deprivation.

This limitation has been taken into account in commissioning the Scottish booster sample in the survey, the primary purpose of which is to support monitoring of progress against key indicators 4(i) and 4(ii) of the Tobacco and Vaping Framework (i.e. smoking and vaping behaviours in children and young people). For this purpose, the sample sizes allow analysis of age- and gender-related differences in prevalence and patterns of use. The data are weighted to be representative of the 11–17-year-old population in Scotland by age and gender.

Although the 2021-22 Health and Wellbeing Census included substantially more respondents than the ASH survey, the results were not weighted to population totals and were not nationally representative. While respondents broadly reflected the deprivation profile of pupils within the participating local authorities, the Census findings related only to those local authorities that took part (16 out of 32). Respondent numbers alone should not be used as a measure of representativeness.

The Scottish Government continues to keep its evidence needs under review, balancing analytical value, cost and timeliness. Efforts are also made to minimise the burden of data collection on young people and schools through a combination of national surveys and locally driven data collection.

Information on the methodology and results for the ASH survey can be found at: https://www.gov.scot/publications/vaping-smoking-scottish-adolescents/pages/1/;https://www.gov.scot/publications/vaping-smoking-scottish-adolescents-results-ash-smokefree-gb-youth-survey-2025/; https://www.gov.scot/publications/vaping-smoking-scottish-adolescents-results-ash-smokefree-gb-youth-survey-2026/pages/2/. Information on the methodology and results of the Health and Wellbeing Census is available at: https://www.gov.scot/publications/health-and-wellbeing-census-scotland-2021-22/pages/substance-use/.

Alcohol sales and deliveries are already subject to a range of controls under the Licensing (Scotland) Act 2005. This includes requirements for age verification, restrictions on late-night deliveries between midnight and 6am, and obligations on those delivering alcohol to maintain appropriate records. For full details, I refer the member to the answer to question S7W-01927 on 4 August 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 is responsible for the overall legislative framework, while Licensing Boards have responsibility for local licensing decisions and can take account of local needs and circumstances.

We are taking decisive action to strengthen alcohol treatment, recovery and prevention services across Scotland. Backed by sustained investment of over £160 million in 2026-27 for alcohol and drug support, we are ensuring that people affected by alcohol harm can access the right support, at the right time, in the right place. We are aware of the growing use of online delivery platforms for the purchase of alcohol, and, as part of deliberations on our future Alcohol Harm Prevention framework will consider the potential risks to people who are dependent on alcohol.