Seòmar agus comataidhean

We are proud of Scotland’s world class strengths in semiconductors technologies which form a part of our critical technologies supercluster. We are committed to supporting its growth through our national cluster building initiative to support economic growth and resilience. The supercluster is a significant economic asset of strategic importance for both Scotland and the UK and is on track to reach £10 billion turnover by 2035.

As global leaders like Micron focus on advanced memory and AI chips, there will be rising demand for high-end packaging, testing, and integration. This is a Scottish strength and makes the new National Advanced Semiconductor Packaging and Integration Centre (NASPIC) under NMIS more important and valuable.

The global semiconductor market has long been vulnerable to market fluctuations and we believe there is much the UK Government can do to strengthen national supply chain sovereignty, particularly on energy costs and greater capital investment in semiconductor fabs.

The preferred source for data on business deaths is the annual Office for National Statistics (ONS) Business Demography series, the latest edition is available at: Business demography, UK - Office for National Statistics. Business deaths are a proxy for the number of businesses closed down. Business deaths are measured as businesses removed from the Inter-Departmental Business Register (IDBR), which is a database of all businesses registered for Value-Added-Tax (VAT) and/or Pay-As-You-Earn (PAYE) income tax. A business is removed from the IDBR if its turnover and employment are zero for several periods, or if the ONS is notified that the business has ceased trading through an administrative or survey source. Business deaths data for East Dunbartonshire are provided in Table 1. Note that we do not have information on why these businesses have ceased trading.

Table 1: Business Deaths, East Dunbartonshire, 2020 to 2024

The Scottish Government does not produce estimates of actual average annual costs of heating homes.

The Department of Energy Security and Net Zero (DESNZ) publishes Annual domestic energy bills tables at Annual domestic energy bills - GOV.UK which provide annual estimates of gas and electricity bills. These are available at a Scotland and regional level, including for North Scotland.

As part of the Scottish House Condition Survey, the Scottish Government produces estimates of average fuel bills, which includes heating homes to specific heating regimes, as set out in The Fuel Poverty (Enhanced Heating) (Scotland) Regulations 2020, as part of the Scottish definition of fuel poverty, as set out in Fuel Poverty (Targets, Definition and Strategy) (Scotland) Act 2019. However, these estimates do not represent actual costs paid by households. However, beyond exact averages we are very conscious of differentials and heightened costs in rural and island Scotland and factor this in to all our relevant decision making.

The meeting referred to was reconvened and I was pleased to meet with Minister McCluskey on 3 December to discuss the Warm Home Discount and the UK Government’s proposed Warm Homes Plan.

The Scottish Government continues to consider clean heat deployment, and costs thereof, as part of the development of our updated Heat in Buildings Strategy and Delivery Plan to be published by the end of 2026.

Changes to Local Connection in 2022 did not impact the ability of a Scottish Local Authority to refer a homeless household back to a local authority in England or in Wales in which they have a local connection (residence, employment, family or special circumstances). The 2022 changes related only to referrals between Scottish Local Authorities. Statistical analysis and extensive stakeholder engagement informed the decision to suspend referrals between Scottish local authorities for homeless households based on their local connection status. In the three years since, the number of homeless households presenting as homeless to a local authority in Scotland where they have no local connection remains low. The most recent publication (16 September 2025) shows that rates of households that were eligible for referral before November 2022 is 4%, which is consistent with previous years’ rates (the average of which is 3%) and similar to pre-legislative figures.

The Chairs of NHS Lothian and NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde were invited to chair the Sub-National Planning and Delivery Committees (SPDCs) following an assessment of the practical considerations required to support the running of the proposed SPDCs. NHS Lothian and NHS Greater Glasgow Clyde, as the largest Health Boards, were identified as having the capacity and capability to do so. It is, however, the responsibility of the participating Health Boards to determine how they will implement The Co-operation and Planning Directions 2025 which came into force on 13 November 2025. This includes the development of the terms of reference of the SPDCs which will provide further details on membership and chairing arrangements.

The comment about difficulties in establishing communication referred directly to inter-ministerial discussion on the contents of the UK Budget. The meeting between the UK Minister for Energy Consumers and I was reconvened and I was pleased to meet with Minister McCluskey on 3 December to discuss the Warm Home Discount and the UK Government’s proposed Warm Homes Plan.

The provision of Asylum Accommodation and Support Contracts is reserved to the UK Government and managed by the Home Office.

The Scottish Government has no control over asylum accommodation and support and we would not expect the Home Office to discuss contractual matters with us.

I refer the member to the answer to question S6W-42484 on 17 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.