Chamber and committees

The Scottish Government wants all healthcare provided to people in Scotland to be safe, appropriate, and carried out by those with the right qualifications.

The Scottish Government are engaging with Healthcare Improvement Scotland regarding the next phase of regulation of independent healthcare. Any proposals for widening the scope of regulation of independent healthcare will be based on intelligence of potential risks and patient safety concerns.

I refer the member to the answer to question S6W-42335 on 16 December 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.

We are committed to ensuring that all people living in Scotland with inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) including Crohn’s Disease and Ulcerative Colitis are able to access the best possible care and support, and benefit from healthcare services that are safe, effective and put people at the centre of their care.

The Scottish Government recognises the importance of raising awareness of inflammatory bowel disease (IBD). Information and guidance on IBD including Crohn’s disease and Ulcerative Colitis is already widely available to the public via the NHS Inform website: Scottish health information you can trust | NHS inform

The Scottish Government welcomed the recent Crohn's and Colitis Awareness Week 2025, “How it feels,” and values the work of charities like Crohn’s and Colitis UK helping raising awareness of the condition.

I have asked Teresa Medhurst, Chief Executive of the Scottish Prison Service (SPS), to respond. Her response is as follows:

A range of checks are carried out before the release of a prisoner is authorised including but not limited to, an identity check of the person, confirmation of liberation date and a check for any known outstanding warrants.

A liberation in error occurs when an individual is released from a Scottish Prison Service establishment without lawful authority. This situation typically arises due to an administrative or procedural mistake, such as incorrect interpretation of documentation, miscalculation of sentence dates or incorrect data sharing from other partners.

The following table provides the numbers of total liberations, liberations in error and those still not returned to custody since 2021-2022, up to and including 5 Dec 2025:

The Scottish Government is committed to doing all we can, with our limited economic powers, to mitigate the impact of ExxonMobil’s decision to close the Fife Ethylene Plant. The Minister for Public Finance attended a meeting with Fife Council, UK Government, local employers, and trade union representatives on 24 November. I also convened a summit on 25 November which included Fife Council, key industry stakeholders, union representatives, colleges and MSPs to establish what targeted action can be taken to secure a prosperous future for the site and its workforce.

Going forward, the Scottish Government will continue to work collaboratively with all stakeholders with the aim of securing a long-term and sustainable future for Mossmorran. Fife Council have confirmed that they will lead the proposed taskforce; and the Scottish Government has committed to fully participating in this.

The Scottish Government has been clear: the UK Government must take further action to mitigate the impact of ExxonMobil’s regrettable decision to close the Fife Ethylene Plant. The First Minister has written to the Prime Minister expressing his dissatisfaction with the complete lack of action from the UK Government, and reiterated the need to act now when they met on 5 December.

I refer the member to the answer to S6W-42347 on 16 December 2025 for information on Scottish Water’s approach to installing Combined Sewer Overflow (CSO) monitors.

CSOs must be licensed by the independent regulator, the Scottish Environment Protection Agency, and any unsatisfactory discharges will be identified so that Scottish Water can invest to reduce the environmental impact.

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.

I refer the member to the answer to question S6W-42335 on 16 December 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.

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

"The near real-time overflow map was launched on the Scottish water website on 16 December 2024 to fulfil commitments in the ‘Improving Urban Waters Route map’ to improve data available to the public about overflows and overflow events. The map updates automatically every 60 minutes, providing near real-time information about overflows with Event Duration Monitors (EDMs) and can be searched using a postcode, water body or local authority area. There are more than 1,400 overflows represented on the map. The map does not currently show unmonitored overflows, but development is currently underway to include these at a later date.

In terms of assessments, Scottish Water tracks usage on Google Analytics, which is showing that, in its first year, the Overflow Map has been visited more than 40,600 times and has almost 32,000 active users over this period, with usage consistent throughout the year. Since the launch of the map, Scottish Water has also engaged further with stakeholders and identified features for enhancement. As a result, a public Application Programme Interface (API) was made available for the 2025 Bathing Water season that allows stakeholders, organisations and the public to access the data for their own applications and several groups already use this data to populate their own services. Additional features have also recently been introduced, including:

• Adding rainfall data over a 48-hour period which helps show if an overflow is working as it should and shows a direct correlation between rainfall levels and overflow activity
• Showing Bathing Water locations to allow users to search for official SEPA designated Bathing Waters
• Improved icons to better explain when and why an overflow status may say ‘no data available’
• Enhanced FAQs to explain key facts about storm overflows and the information available in the near real-time map

Scottish Water also includes a feedback form on the Overflow Map page on its website, which allows users to give input on their user experience and make suggestions for future improvements.

Scottish Water believes this new service provides greater transparency on overflow event performance and it is widely believed that the current overflow map service is industry leading."

Asylum is reserved to the UK Government, this includes the provision and allocation of asylum accommodation and support to those who would otherwise be destitute while waiting for a decision on their asylum application.

The Scottish Government does not hold information on the number of people seeking asylum placed in each local authority area. The UK Government publishes some data relating to the number of people seeking asylum which may be helpful. This is available on the UK Government website: Immigration system statistics data tables - GOV.UK.

Most refugees who arrive under refugee resettlement schemes arrive directly to local authorities, where accommodation has been identified in advance alongside consideration of local service capacity. UK Government statistics indicate that 361 refugees have been resettled to Scotland under UK refugee resettlement programmes from October 2022 to end September 2025; quarterly statistics are published on the UK Government website in table Res_D01: Immigration system statistics data tables - GOV.UK.

The Homelessness etc. (Scotland) Act 2003 outlines that the time spent in Home Office asylum accommodation does not establish a local connection for newly recognised refugees, as the household has not had any choice about where they lived while accommodated by the Home Office. The legislative changes made on 29 November 2022 did not change local connection rules for newly recognised refugee households. Rather, the changes prevent one Scottish local authority from referring a homeless household to another Scottish local authority where they have a local connection. This change was made to give people in housing crisis the freedom to settle where they choose in the same way as other households in Scotland, with access to the support they need.

I refer the member to the answer to question S6W-42331 on 16 December 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.