S6W-43616

Asked by: Dowey, Sharon (Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party - South Scotland)

Question

To ask the Scottish Government how much has been allocated to community audiology in its draft Budget 2026-27, and how this funding will be used to deliver more care in the community.

Answered by Minto, Jenni - Minister for Public Health and Women's Health

The draft 2026-27 Scottish Budget includes additional funding for community audiology of £1 million, underlining our commitment to support community audiology policy development and the Service Renewal Framework vision to shift the balance of care to the community.

The 2026-27 Budget will also support continued funding of the “Near You” service run by the Royal National Institute for Deaf people (RNID). The service is operating in five Scottish health board areas and provides hearing checks and after-care support to hearing aid users, including maintenance, battery replacement, sign-posting and peer support.

S6W-43612

Asked by: Golden, Maurice (Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party - North East Scotland)

Question

To ask the Scottish Government how many onshore energy generation project applications are currently live and awaiting determination by the Energy Consents Unit, broken down by capacity of (a) under 50MW and (b) 50MW and over.

Answered by McKee, Ivan - Minister for Public Finance

Consent from Scottish Ministers is required under the Electricity Act 1989 for electricity generating stations over 50MW. Developments below this threshold are determined under the Town and Country Planning (Scotland) Act 1997 and are handled by the relevant planning authority.

There are currently 32 onshore energy generation project applications that are at the decision stage and are being processed by the Energy Consents Unit for determination by the Scottish Ministers.

S6W-43628

Asked by: Carlaw, Jackson (Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party - Eastwood)

Question

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will consider pro-actively approaching high street retailers, such as Boots and Superdrug, to help reduce waiting lists in audiology and to allow more NHS patients to receive quicker access to hearing aid services.

Answered by Minto, Jenni - Minister for Public Health and Women's Health

The Scottish Government remains committed to its vision for an integrated and community-based hearing service in Scotland. We continue to engage with the audiology sector, Third Sector, those with lived experience and other stakeholders including high street retailers to ensure that we have the appropriate services in place to support the people of Scotland.

S6W-43566

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

Question

To ask the Scottish Government what discussions it has had with the Home Office regarding its plans for Cameron barracks in Inverness, including clarifications on the expected duration of use, operational arrangements and impacts on local services, and whether it will provide details of any representations it has made.

Answered by Somerville, Shirley-Anne - Cabinet Secretary for Social Justice

I met Alex Norris, UK Minister for Border Security and Asylum, on 4 November and 15 December 2025 to seek clarity on Home Office plans to use Cameron Barracks as asylum accommodation.

The Scottish Government has pressed for clear and timely communication with delivery partners, including a timeline for arrivals, public information for the local community, and assurances that any additional costs incurred by NHS Highland and The Highland Council will be met by the UK Government.

An Operational Working Group has been established by the Home Office, involving the Scottish Government, NHS Highland, The Highland Council, and Police Scotland.

Despite repeated requests, the Home Office has not provided a timeline for arrivals, nor confirmed that a final decision on the use of the site has been taken.

S6W-43528

Asked by: Villalba, Mercedes (Scottish Labour - North East Scotland)

Question

To ask the Scottish Government what its response is to recommendations in the Just Transition Fund for the North East and Moray: final evaluation report, in relation to (a) extension of application timeframes, (b) earlier notice of funding rounds to applicants, (c) transparency of decision-making processes and (d) strength of monitoring of applicant project progress for applications to the Just Transition Fund. 

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

We have secured £15.9m capital and £1m resource for the JTF in the 2026-27 budget. We will announce plans for managing this spend imminently, including the publication of full criteria and guidance for applicants.

The commissioned independent research Just Transition Fund for the North East and Moray: final evaluation report, evaluated the impact of the first two years of the Just Transition Fund. We used the opportunity of the FY 2025-26 funding round to develop our processes. We engage with each project team regularly and ask for progress updates including monitoring against project specific milestones and indicators.

We remain committed to making improvements in how the Fund is managed, to help ensure that it supports the net-zero transition, helps to diversify the regional economy away from carbon-intensive sectors, creates jobs and prosperity, and delivers measurable benefits for workers, businesses, and communities.

S6W-43531

Asked by: Mochan, Carol (Scottish Labour - South Scotland)

Question

To ask the Scottish Government what its response is to recent reports that the number of women travelling from Scotland to England to access later-stage abortion care has increased.

Answered by Minto, Jenni - Minister for Public Health and Women's Health

The Scottish Government completely understands concerns around women travelling to England to access abortion services and has been working urgently to establish an abortion service to the legal limit in Scotland. A task and finish group produced a Target Operating Model to inform the process, and work to implement the service is now being led by National Services Scotland.

The current stage of the process is focused on identifying and putting in place requirements for service delivery. This will involve recruitment of relevant staffing, including nursing and theatre workforce; the development of training pathways; establishment of governance arrangements and clinical protocols; and identification of the most appropriate host Board(s). It will also consider funding and service planning.

The Scottish Government will continue to offer any support we can to ensure a full service is delivered as quickly as possible. The Scottish Government is pleased to have provided funding to additional clinicians, helping them to access training to deliver these services.

S6W-43523

Asked by: Griffin, Mark (Scottish Labour - Central Scotland)

Question

To ask the Scottish Government what cost per unit it has assumed for new-build homes in its outline plan to deliver 36,000 homes as part of the draft Budget 2026-27, broken down by tenure type.

Answered by McAllan, Màiri - Cabinet Secretary for Housing

The Draft Scottish Budget 2026-27 confirmed that, having supported the delivery of 141,000 affordable homes since 2007, we will invest £926 million next year, to maintain progress towards our target of delivering 110,000 by 2032 - with at least 70% for social rent and 10% in rural and island areas. The Scottish Spending Review 2026 also set out our plans to invest up to £4.9 billion over the next four years – including a record £4.1 billion of public sector funding – to support delivery of 36,000 affordable homes and help meet our wider all-tenure housing ambitions.

Our plan to deliver 36,000 homes over the next four years did not specifically assume a cost per unit for a new build home. The Affordable Housing Supply Programme (AHSP) comprise homes for social rent, for mid-market rent and for low cost home ownership. These homes take various forms including; new build homes, rehabilitation projects, conversions and off-the-shelf purchases of both new and second hand homes.

S6W-43548

Asked by: Boyack, Sarah (Scottish Labour - Lothian)

Question

To ask the Scottish Government how it is prioritising the implementation of specialist deaf services to prevent crisis and increased costs for those who are deaf throughout Scotland.

Answered by Minto, Jenni - Minister for Public Health and Women's Health

The Scottish Government recognises the importance of continued access to specialist services to support Scotland’s deaf community. I am due to meet with members of the Cross Party Group on Deafness next month to learn directly from stakeholders and those with lived experience on access to audiology and wider services.

In addition to meeting with stakeholders, Scottish Government has published a number of plans which underline its commitment to providing support to those who are deaf in Scotland, including the British Sign Language (BSL) National Plan (2023-29) which has ten priority areas to address barriers to transport, justice and democratic participation which BSL users have highlighted.

S6W-43524

Asked by: Stewart, Kevin (Scottish National Party - Aberdeen Central)

Question

To ask the Scottish Government whether Police Scotland and the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service are currently examining any files relating to Jeffrey Epstein to determine whether any criminality took place in Scotland.

Answered by None

Police Scotland have confirmed that there are no active criminal investigations in Scotland relating to any files released by the United States of America authorities relating to Jeffrey Epstein. Neither Police Scotland or the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service are dealing with any reports of criminality in Scotland arising from those files to date.

S6W-43632

Asked by: Wells, Annie (Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party - Glasgow)

Question

To ask the Scottish Government what assessment it has made of the (a) availability and (b) adequacy of (i) specialist support, (ii) clinical pathways and (iii) peer support services for people with functional neurological disorder (FND) in (A) Scotland, (B) rural areas and (C) the Highlands, and what steps it is taking to improve (1) awareness of, and training on, FND within NHS Scotland and (2) the patient experience for people diagnosed with FND.

Answered by Minto, Jenni - Minister for Public Health and Women's Health

The provision of healthcare services is the responsibility of local NHS Health Boards, taking into account national guidance, local service needs and priorities for investment.

The Scottish Government has not specifically assessed the provision of clinical or peer support services for people with FND in Scotland.