Chamber and committees

The Scottish Government’s position is that vapes and other nicotine products are part of a range of possible cessation tools available to existing smokers to help stop tobacco use. They are not without risk and should never be used by children or adult non-smokers.

As part of our commitment to New Deal for Business, Scottish Government met with the Regulatory Review Group (RRG) on the Tobacco and Vapes Bill earlier this year to ensure that any impact of proposals on business is fully understood and that policy implementation is effective and proportionate while still delivering the beneficial outcomes for population health sought.

When the Bill passes, we will continue to work with the RRG and tobacco and nicotine retailers to support business to prepare for and understand what is required to implement the new measures. The refreshed Tobacco and Vapes retail register which was launched in January 2025 will be our key tool for engagement with retailers as well as a tool to support enforcement.

Our Tobacco and Vaping Framework renewed our commitment to cessation services as part of decisive action to reduce smoking rates to ensure we meet our 2034 Tobacco-Free Scotland target.

The Scottish Government are continuing to implement the recommendations from the Public Health Scotland (PHS) Review of Smoking Cessation Services in Scotland and to consider how these important services can continue to develop in the future. This includes the Public Health Action Team on Smoking Cessation, a collaboration between PHS, Scottish Government and NHS Boards, which is supporting the continuous improvement of local smoking cessation services.

The NHS stop smoking service Quit Your Way Scotland offers free expert advice and direct users to local services where they can access a range of support, medications and products.

The Tobacco and Vapes Bill is expected to complete its passage within the current UK Parliamentary session (2024-2025). The Bill provides that the changes to the age of sale for tobacco products will come into force on 1 January 2027 and that date would not be impacted by any delay to the Bill passing. When other parts of the Bill come into force depends on when the Bill is passed, and it will not be possible to make any regulations in advance of the Bill coming into force. However, Scottish Government is working with officials across the 4-nations to prepare for implementation and, in the event of any delay, the impact is expected to be minimal. Once the Bill has passed, Parliament will be updated on a confirmed timescale for implementation.

I refer the member to the answer to question S6W-39497 on 15 August 2025. 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.

These are operational decisions for ScotRail Trains Ltd. In discharging its operational responsibilities, SRT is required to comply with Scottish Government Fair Work policies.

The Scottish Government Planning Application Statistics (PAS) asks planning authorities to indicate the number of planning applications they have decided for major housing developments (50 or more dwellings or a site area that is or exceeds two hectares) and local housing developments (less than 50 dwellings or a site area of less than two hectares). The PAS does not include the number of new homes approved in each reporting period.

The number of decisions made on local planning applications for housing for the period 2021-22 - 2023-24 is:

• 2021-22 - 4608
• 2022-23 - 4194
• 2023-24 - 3653

The number of decisions made on major planning applications for housing for the period 2021-22 - 2023-24 is:

• 2021-22 - 123
• 2022-23 - 97
• 2023-24 - 77

Total numbers of approvals can vary from year to year in line with numbers of applications submitted in any given period. The overall rate of approvals of applications in 2023-24 was 92.3%.

The CMA’s Housebuilding Market Study included figures for the number of housing units given planning approval from 2014-15 – 2021-22, informed by the Home Builders Federation’s (HBF) quarterly “New Housing Pipeline” report. This report is published on the HBF’s website, and the most recent edition records a figure for the number of housing units given planning consent for all of Scotland in the years 2022 - 2024 as:

• 2022: 26,301
• 2023: 23,867
• 2024: 24,054

The Housing Statistics for Scotland Quarterly Update: New Housebuilding and Affordable Housing Supply records the number of new dwellings started in Scotland for the years 2022 - 2024 as:

• 2022: 22,088
• 2023: 16,849
• 2024: 15,759

The Housing Statistics for Scotland Quarterly Update: New Housebuilding and Affordable Housing Supply records the number of new dwellings completed in Scotland for the years 2022 - 2024 as:

• 2022: 23,486
• 2023: 21,318
• 2024: 19,988

I refer the member to the answer to question S6W-39145 on 29 July 2025. 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.

Now that they have discounted zonal pricing, we will continue to urge the UK Government to immediately set out what a reformed national market will mean for bill-payers, developers and investors. It is essential that the UK Government takes urgent action to address the high energy bills faced by the people of Scotland – in an energy rich country like Scotland, people should not be struggling to pay their bills. We are also committed to working closely with the UK Government, Ofgem, energy suppliers and organisations to advocate for the delivery of a social tariff across Great Britain.

The Scottish Government continues to monitor and consider a range of evidence in relation to the energy sector. We have commissioned and published independent analysis on Scotland’s Energy System and Just Transition, which includes consideration of offshore energy supply chains during the transition.

The regulation of the offshore oil and gas sector, including in relation to decommissioning, are matters currently reserved to the UK Government.