Chamber and committees

The Stirling and Clackmannanshire City Region Deal has created 82 jobs. Due to the nature of Deal investment, job creation can arise over several years post project completion. These job figures reflect the early delivery stage of the overall Growth Deal with only five projects fully complete to date.

The Scottish Government has committed to publishing a full set of cost benefit assessments for the forthcoming climate change plan. The upcoming CCP will cover the period from 2026-2040 and will give the best view of the policies required to support our pathway to net zero. The plan will also be subject to, and will publish alongside, a suite of impact assessments including equalities and island impact assessments that will provide particular focus on groups with specific considerations.

NHS Scotland will introduce a new vaccination programme which offers protection against gonorrhoea from August 2025. This targeted opportunistic programme is specifically aimed at Gay, Bisexual and other Men who have Sex with Men (GBMSM) who are at increased risk of gonorrhoea. Clinicians may also offer vaccination to a small number of individuals at equivalent risk outside of the primary GBMSM cohort who they identify as being at on-going risk.

Singapore’s economic performance has been strong and it is always useful to look at international comparisons and learn from others. The analysis which the Scottish Government published in June 2022 as part of the first Building a New Scotland paper shows that independent, small Northern European countries are better comparators for Scotland. The evidence in our paper suggests that decision-making at Westminster and a UK economy which does not suit Scotland’s distinct circumstances has led to outcomes that fail to match Scotland’s potential.

In 2022, The Scottish Government published it’s National Strategy for Economic Transformation (NSET). This sets out a ten year transformation with the objective of creating a fair, green and growing economy and establishing Scotland as a world-class entrepreneurial nation and ensuring that its businesses, industries, regions, communities and public services are more innovative and productive than they have ever been. In the three years since NSET was published, we have made significant progress in delivering the strategy with 39% of the original action complete including the publication of the Green Industrial Strategy.

The Green Industrial Strategy (GIS) sets out our strategic approach to green growth, offering a clear view of the economic sectors and industries in which we have greatest strength and most potential. Alongside this, Scotland’s National Innovation Strategy identifies the sectors that drive economic growth, and the underlying actions required to deliver that growth.

The Scottish Government does not hold information on the number of vacancies in local authority planning services. The resourcing and staffing of planning services is a matter for individual local authorities.

Recognising the financial and capacity pressures on the planning system, the National Planning Hub is offering support to authorities including capacity and access to expertise to help them determine applications for renewable energy and housing projects.

The Scottish Government has not issued guidance to Health Boards on the provision of blood testing facilities for people who may be self-medicating hormones for the purpose of seeking to address gender dysphoria.

The provision of specific healthcare facilities rests with individual Health Boards.

Yes, the Scottish Government does agree with this view and we continue to call upon UK Ministers to intervene at Grangemouth as it has done in other parts of the UK.

Transport Scotland does not hold the data on the average processing times for Blue Badges. However, Transport Scotland does recommend that local authorities should regularly update and highlight their estimated wait and/or processing times to applicants.

As this is an operational matter for Scottish Water, and the Scottish Government does not hold this information, I have asked them to respond. Their reply is as follows:

Annual leakage levels are published in Scottish Water’s annual report and accounts which are routinely laid before Parliament and available online at https://www.scottishwater.co.uk/Help-and-Resources/Document-Hub/Key-Publications/Annual-Reports. Data for England and Wales is published by Ofwat at https://www.ofwat.gov.uk/publication/leakage-dataset-june-2025/

The leakage figure reported by Scottish Water currently equates to circa 24.7% of water supplied. Leakage is a function of an ageing asset base, and rates are affected by the increase in extreme weather conditions.

If seeking to compare leakage in Scotland with other parts of the UK, it should be noted that Scottish Water’s network is different to many others due to the remote nature of many rural and island communities, as well as the topography and length of pipework used. Direct comparison is difficult due to the very localised nature of how leakage is calculated. When all the various factors are considered, Scotland’s leakage rate appears marginally higher than the average for the UK, however it is still comparable.

Overall, Scottish Water has made great progress and since 2007 has reduced leakage by some 58%.

The Dynamic Support Register (DSR) provides a mechanism for national data collection relating to people with learning disabilities and complex care needs. However, the DSR does not include data broken down by specific conditions or diagnoses, including autism.

Public Health Scotland (PHS) collect and publish the DSR data quarterly, with the most recent collection for the quarter ending 26 December 2024, published in March 2025. This publication reported that forty people with learning disabilities and complex care needs in Scotland had been in hospital for ten years or more. The DSR full March PHS report is available here: Insights into learning disabilities and complex needs: statistics for Scotland - 18 March 2025 - Insights into learning disabilities and complex needs: statistics for Scotland - Publications - Public Health Scotland. The next DSR data collection will be published by PHS in June 2025.

In 2024, we asked the Mental Welfare Commission for Scotland (the Commission) to review the care and treatment of people with learning disabilities and complex care needs who had been in hospital for over ten years. The Mental Welfare Commission Report is available here: Hospital is not home

We are continuing to engage with the Commission and system leaders to address these delays and ensure that people’s human rights are upheld.