Seòmar agus comataidhean

The Scottish Government has received appropriate legal and policy advice on the position in Gaza, and does not comment on legal advice.

The Scottish Government has considered the legal and diplomatic risks. The International Court of Justice has held that actions of Israel in Gaza amount to a prima facie case for genocide and the International Courts are investigating those matters.

“Data centres, and the associated digital infrastructure required to service them, are the backbone of a vibrant digital economy. Increased data centre presence in Scotland will help the country to fully embrace new and emerging technologies and opportunities in the future and support the Scottish Government's policy ambitions.

There are a number of different considerations that can impact the establishment of new data centres including electricity network, planning and technical considerations and each site has its own challenges and opportunities. Working across Scottish Government and its agencies, in conjunction with the UK Government where appropriate, we are seeking to address these opportunities and challenges to support the realisation of data centre investment across Scotland, whilst maximising spillover benefits such as re-use of excess heat and economic additionality.”

The information requested on how many consultants have been appointed to NHS Scotland in each year since 2020 can be found on the TURAS NHS Education for Scotland workforce statistics site at:

NHS Scotland workforce | Turas Data Intelligence.

Since 2020, we have increased the Medical & Dental Consultant workforce by 10.9% (from 5,606.4 WTE as at March 2020 to 6,217.5 WTE as at March 2025).

The Scottish Government works with a stakeholder group to undertake annual reviews of the number of specialty training places (for resident doctors) needed across all specialties in order to meet anticipated future service demand and consultant need.

In response to the recommendations from these reviews, the Scottish Government has funded the creation of hundreds of additional specialty training places in Scotland across multiple different specialties since 2014.

Work is on-going to align the governance and delivery of thrombectomy with similar national programmes. This alignment with wider health service planning aims to support oversight of thrombectomy planning and encourage greater collaboration between NHS Boards in delivering this vital service.

Whilst the Scottish Government cannot currently provide a timeline for expanding the service, Scottish Government officials and NHS planners have been asked to work at pace on developing a plan for the next steps for service expansion.

The Scottish Government remains committed to implementing a high quality, clinically safe and equitable thrombectomy service.

We have invested over £51 million to date on expanding access to thrombectomy and remain committed to further expanding the service, ensuring access is as equitable as possible.

In April 2025, the Centre of Expertise for Waters published research into the feasibility of wastewater monitoring for psychoactive substances in Scotland. The research publication is available here: https://www.crew.ac.uk/publications/review-psychoactive-substances-wastewater-monitoring-approaches-and-recommendations

While the research found that there were potential benefits of wastewater monitoring, and recommended piloting this in Scotland, there is further consideration required to understand how this would inform our future policy and enhance existing public health surveillance systems. The Scottish Government is working with Public Health Scotland to consider these issues as part of our wider work to extend our surveillance abilities.

As the recruitment and deployment of officers is a matter for the Chief Constable, the Scottish Government do not hold this information.

The Scottish Government is investing a record £1.64 billion in policing in 2025-26, an increase of almost £90 million of additional funding from the 2024-25 budget. Our investment in policing has enabled Police Scotland to take on more recruits in 2024-25 than at any time since 2013, with further intakes planned throughout 2025. Police Scotland has stated that it has a healthy recruitment pipeline

Scottish Enterprise are continuing to make significant progress to triage and identify credible options to secure investment in Grangemouth’s future. Ministers are receiving regular updates from the Investor Taskforce and the Scottish Government will report on this work in due course.

The Scottish Government holds no information on which public sector organisations have been awarded City of Sanctuary awards in the last 5 years. Some of this information is available in the Cities of Sanctuary UK 2024 Impact Report which is available on their website.