S7W-01832

Asked by: Briggs, Miles (Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party - Edinburgh and Lothians East)

Question

To ask the Scottish Government what assessment it has made of whether any delays in the adoption of medical technologies, including multigene assays for breast cancer patients, risk undermining Scotland’s ability to attract life sciences investment and maintain its reputation for clinical innovation.

Answered by Constance, Angela - Cabinet Secretary for Health and Care

The Scottish Government recognises the fragmented nature of the approval and routes to implementation for medical innovations across devices, diagnostics and new technological interventions.

Whilst the Scottish Government does not hold specific data on the time to adoption of all medical technologies, it is actively working to streamline processes within the health and care system to enable faster access to innovative products and solutions in line with our ambitions set out in our Health and Social Care Service Renewal Framework.

Growing Scotland’s life sciences sector and enhancing research, development and innovation are core Scottish Government commitments backed by the Life Sciences Strategy for Scotland and the Health and Social Care Service Renewal Framework. This is underpinned through a national innovation ecosystem designed to develop, test, adopt and scale the innovations most likely to improve the lives of people in Scotland.

Commercial multigene assays for breast cancer patients have been adopted in Scotland in line with the independent recommendations of the Scottish Health Technologies Group (SHTG). SHTG have criteria and processes in place to judge whether new evidence is sufficient to revise its existing recommendations.

S7W-01887

Asked by:

Question

To ask the Scottish Government what plans it has to prevent the waste of personal protective equipment in future emergency health situations, in light of the COVID-19 inquiry, which reported that approximately £10 billion was wasted on such equipment over the course of the pandemic.

Answered by Constance, Angela - Cabinet Secretary for Health and Care

As the Covid 19 UK Inquiry Module 5 report sets out, the figure of £9.9 billion relates to PPE written off by the UK Government alone. The report also notes that the Scottish Government wrote off £8.35 million of PPE and other items in the period from 2020-2023.

The Scottish Government, in collaboration with Public Services Delivery Scotland (PSDS), has a range of measures to reduce wastage of PPE in any future health emergency. The national stockpile consists of a wide range of PPE items, aligned to the requirements of NHS Scotland and rotated into NHS usage to help prevent and reduce wastage.

During a future health emergency, we will work in partnership with PSDS and other stakeholders to ensure stock is procured and deployed based on assessed need, clinical guidance, and demand intelligence; while providing only items of PPE which meet the relevant product standards.

We are also working on a project which aims to support Health Boards to move to using more re-usable PPE products where appropriate.

S7W-01860

Asked by: Baker, Claire (Scottish Labour - Mid Scotland and Fife)

Question

To ask the Scottish Government what consideration it has given to requiring data centres to run closed loop water systems or to require the reuse of treated wastewater.

Answered by Martin, Gillian - Cabinet Secretary for Climate Action and Rural Affairs

It is important that data centres are as sustainable as possible. This means minimising water use through closed-loop systems and considering whether there are alternative sources of water, such as treated wastewater. Where drinking water is used, the needs of existing populations must take priority, as our priority is the protection of human health.

Any decisions about data centres would be subject to the statutory planning process and the use of water resources would form part of that consideration. Most existing data centres in Scotland already operate as closed-loop systems and it is Scottish Ministers’ expectation that sustainable solutions are identified for any new data centre proposals. Scottish Water’s assessment is that data centres currently account for around 0.006% of public water demand in Scotland and, as part of wider considerations, they have suggested that there may be options available for using effluent from their wastewater treatment process as part of a closed loop system to reduce the impact on water resources.

S7W-01859

Asked by: Baker, Claire (Scottish Labour - Mid Scotland and Fife)

Question

To ask the Scottish Government what assessment it has made of any potential cumulative impact of hyperscale data centres on water supply in Scotland.

Answered by Martin, Gillian - Cabinet Secretary for Climate Action and Rural Affairs

Any proposals for new data centres would be subject to the statutory planning process, which would consider a range of factors including water resources, environmental impacts and wider infrastructure capacity. It is Scottish Ministers' expectation that new developments are designed and located in a way that supports long-term sustainability and water resilience.

Scotland's existing data centres account for a very small proportion of public water demand, and early engagement with developers is important to ensure proposals are aligned with local infrastructure and environmental considerations. There are opportunities for some future developments to make use of treated wastewater, helping to support economic growth while protecting drinking water supplies and the environment.

S7W-01825

Asked by:

Question

To ask the Scottish Government, for the treatment of prostate cancer, what plans NHS Scotland has to provide focal therapy, which targets and destroys only the cancerous area rather than the whole gland.

Answered by Constance, Angela - Cabinet Secretary for Health and Care

It is for NHS Boards to make decisions with regards to the introduction or roll out of service changes or new treatments.

The Scottish Government understands that the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence does not recommend focal therapy for routine use for prostate cancer treatment.

S7W-01896

Asked by: Burgess, Ariane (Scottish Green Party - Highlands and Islands)

Question

To ask the Scottish Government what its timescale is for fulfilling its duties under section 61 of the Crofting and Scottish Land Court Act 2026.

Answered by None

Officials across the Justice and Environment and Forestry Directorates are currently working with stakeholders before taking the required action needed to commence section 61 of the Crofting and Scottish Land Court Act. This work will be completed in due course.

S7W-01700

Asked by:

Question

To ask the Scottish Government what action it will take to expand access to children’s mental health services, in light of recent Public Health Scotland data indicating that the number of children waiting to receive treatment has increased by 2.5% since March 2025.

Answered by Todd, Maree - Minister for Mental Wellbeing, Public Health, Sport, Alcohol and Drugs

The Scottish Government has been working closely with Health Boards to ensure a wide range of actions are in place to reduce waiting lists for Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services (CAMHS). This includes increasing funding over recent years to expand service capacity and provide over 320 additional staff, and enabling the system to manage over 10,000 additional cases. We are also continuing to support NHS Boards to redesign their services to improve efficiency and access.

Thanks to the hard work and dedication of CAMHS teams across Scotland, national performance against the 18-week CAMHS standard has been sustained for over a year, with 91% of children and young people starting treatment within 18 weeks of referral and one in two children and young people referred to CAMHS start treatment within 6 weeks. Most Health Boards have now eliminated waits of over a year, and the total number of children and young people waiting more than 52 weeks is at its lowest level since June 2015 and now account for only 0.5% of all children and young people waiting.

We do, however, recognise there is more to do. Some young people and families are still waiting too long. We continue to work closely with all Boards, providing enhanced support where performance needs to improve, ensuring Boards have robust improvement plans in place to deliver results.

The Scottish Government is also investing in early intervention and community-based supports, such as school counselling and third-sector services, to support children and young people and their families to address mental health issues earlier in order to reduce demand for specialist CAMHS.

S7W-01908

Asked by: McNeill, Pauline (Scottish Labour - Glasgow)

Question

To ask the Scottish Government when it will introduce the necessary regulations to implement the age restrictions on the online sale of knives, as set out in the Crime and Policing Act 2026.

Answered by Gray, Neil - Cabinet Secretary for Justice

A remote sale is any sale where the seller or a person acting on the seller's behalf is not in the presence of the buyer at the point of sale. Section 33 of the Crime and Policing Act 2026 (2026 Act) makes changes to the current requirements falling on remote sellers of bladed products found within the Criminal Justice Act 1988. Section 35 of the 2026 Act makes changes to the current requirements arising for the delivery of bladed products purchased remotely found within the Offensive Weapons Act 2019.

Royal Assent for the 2026 Act was received in late April 2026 and the relevant changes in sections 33 and 35, most of which also apply across the UK, will be commenced in due course further to engagement with UK Government and justice agencies.

S7W-01951

Asked by: Greer, Ross (Scottish Green Party - West Scotland)

Question

To ask the Scottish Government whether it has carried out a feasibility study or any other work on the potential introduction of a demolition levy and, if so, what the outcome was.

Answered by Gilruth, Jenny - Deputy First Minister and Cabinet Secretary for Finance and Local Government

The Scottish Government has not undertaken a feasibility study for a Demolition Levy. The Scottish Government currently has no plans to introduce a Demolition Levy and while the Scottish Government share concerns around carbon emissions from demolition and the preservation of the built environment, the Scottish Government believes the most straight forward response would be for the UK Government to address any VAT imbalances which disincentivise reuse, retrofitting and refurbishment.

S7W-01958

Asked by:

Question

To ask the Scottish Government what consideration it has given to granting prescribed status to Independent Humanist Ceremonies under the Marriage (Scotland) Act 1977 and the Civil Partnership Act 2004.

Answered by None

Under the Marriage (Scotland)Act 1977 and the Civil Partnership Act 2004, there are a number of different systems for religious or belief celebrants to be approved to solemnise marriage or register civil partnership. At the moment, Independent Humanist Ceremonies(IHC) nominate persons to the Registrar General to be registered as celebrants under section 9 of the 1977 Act.