Chamber and committees

Public Health Scotland (PHS) leads on the data monitoring of emergency department opt-out blood borne virus testing programme, including ensuring that appropriate data flows and reporting systems are in place. We are working with PHS and the Boards to ensure that IT systems are suitable for delivering opt-out testing.

We support the use of solar PV panels, alongside a range of technologies including batteries and heat pumps, to decarbonise existing homes. To allow us to target finite budgets where they have the greatest impact, we fund these technologies through our fuel poverty schemes, Warmer Homes Scotland and Area Based Schemes. As support to tackle fuel poverty is tailored to the circumstances of individual households and localities, the package of measures installed in any property will be the best fit for that household.

The Scottish Government has received assurance from the Chief Executives’ Offices of both NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde and NHS Lothian that implementing emergency department opt-out blood borne virus testing is a high priority within their Boards. Teams in both NHS Boards have committed to ensuring the safe and effective roll-out of this important intervention in their areas by the end of June 2026.

The Scottish Government remains firmly committed to the delivery of Housing First and continues to support its growth across Scotland through sustained investment in rapid rehousing and the implementation of rapid rehousing transition plans. Between 2018 and the end of March 2027 a total of £84.5 million will have been provided to local authorities to support rapid rehousing activity, including the delivery of Housing First.

The Scottish Government’s housing emergency action plan demonstrated our ongoing commitment to improving housing options for people with multiple and complex needs by including investment of £3 million capital and £1 million resource for the expansion of Housing First in 2025-26.

The Scottish Government also provides funding annually to Homeless Network Scotland to deliver a suite of tools designed to support local authorities and their delivery partners to scale-up and expand Housing First in Scotland, including the National Framework for Housing First and the Housing First Check-Up process.

Reporting on the delivery of Housing First will become a statutory requirement under the Housing (Scotland) Act 2025, ensuring transparency, consistency and evidence based improvement.

Behind every statistic is a human being. We know that experience of multiple forms of extreme disadvantage, including homelessness, poor mental health and opioid dependence, is linked to higher rates of ill health and premature death. The Scottish Government remains committed to doing all we can to address disadvantage, tackle health inequalities and prevent homelessness from happening in the first place.

We continue to support local authorities through funding of £8 million per annum for rapid rehousing to deliver Housing First, which provides the best response for people experiencing homelessness who have multiple and complex needs. 26 local authorities in Scotland offer Housing First and, as of March 2025, it is estimated that more than 2,100 people have been provided with a settled home and wrap-around support.

Our housing emergency action plan recognises that people with multiple, complex needs are particularly vulnerable during a housing crisis, and we provided an additional £4 million in 2025-26 to expand the delivery of Housing First. We also extended rapid rehousing funding to 2026-27, bringing total funding provided to local authorities since 2018 to £84.5 million. In addition, the Housing (Scotland) Act 2025 will introduce gold-standard homelessness prevention measures to ensure people receive the help and support they need before reaching crisis point.

We are committed to continuing to strengthen our response to the harms caused by drugs and alcohol. In 2025-26 we made £160 million available for drug and alcohol programmes, including widening access to treatment, residential rehabilitation and life-saving Naloxone. We are maintaining record levels of investment of over £160 million in 2026-27, including £115 million for Alcohol and Drug Partnerships across Scotland. We are also continuing to improve treatment and harm-reduction services through the implementation of the medication-assisted treatment (MAT) Standards and the establishment of the UK’s first safer drug consumption facility in Glasgow, which is backed by Scottish Government funding.

We recognise that addressing the harms caused by substance use requires an integrated and coordinated approach. Our new Alcohol and Drugs Strategic Plan, published on 10 March, sets out actions to tackle substance related harms and deaths in Scotland and ensure that people receive the care and support that is right for them.

We are also working with colleagues across the UK to identify opportunities for collaboration to respond to emerging drug trends, including the increasing prevalence of new synthetic substances, which is a matter of significant concern across the UK.

The funding package for implementing emergency department opt-out testing for blood borne viruses has been confirmed with all three participating NHS Boards. This includes funding for tests and laboratory costs, staff and support for patients. Funding has also been made available to support Boards with any start-up costs.

All organisations, including local authorities, must meet their obligations under the Equality Act 2010, including the duty to avoid placing deaf people at a disadvantage when making decisions about services. The Scottish Government continues to engage with Edinburgh City Council to ensure appropriate services remain in place. The Scottish Government has provided more than £1.7 million to improve access to services for deaf people across Scotland since 2021.

All Warm Homes Plan funding was announced in the UK Government's Autumn Budget on 27 November 2025.

All Warm Homes Plan funding was announced in the UK Government's Autumn Budget on 27 November 2025. Scottish Budget allocations were confirmed in the Scottish Budget published on 6 March, which included an allocation of £300 million for Heat in Building programmes.

I refer the member to my response to S6W-34484 on 25 February 2026 which clarified that The Cass Review only considered services offered by NHS England. It also outlined how the Scottish Government considered its recommendations in the context of NHS Scotland services and the work underway at the time.

Since then, a number of workstreams have progressed:

In September 2025, the ‘Task and Finish Group, led by the Chief Operating Officer’s Directorate and supported by NHS National Services Scotland (NSS), signed off on a new Target Operating Model (TOM) for young people’s gender identity services in Scotland. NHS Board Chief Executives are currently considering how they will support the implementation of the new model.

On 28 October 2025, Public Health Scotland published for the second time a set of nationally collated data on NHS gender identity clinics waiting times. This follows the first ever publication of such data in UK in November 2024. Both publications include data on the young person’s gender healthcare service.

Finally, following the publication of Transgender Care Knowledge and Skills Framework (Framework) for adults, NHS National Education for Scotland is now taking forward an annex to the Framework for staff supporting children and young people.

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.