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Through ScotZEB 1, the average subsidy per vehicle, excluding infrastructure was £176,000. Through ScotZEB 2, the average subsidy per vehicle, excluding infrastructure is £108,000. ScotZEB 2 is still a live project in its delivery phase, and consortium membership and vehicle numbers may be subject to change. Both phases of ScotZEB have been designed to bring about a market transformation in Scotland’s bus sector, to see the rapid adoption of zero-emission technologies.

Through ScotZEB 1, all subsidy was offered to bus operators, not to bus manufacturers. Similarly, through ScotZEB 2, the grant award was made to Zenobe Energy, to manage on behalf of their consortium of operators, and no subsidy went directly to manufacturers.

I recognise the importance of housing co-operatives and the need to support and encourage them. While we already have powers to make amendments to this section, given the importance of HMO licensing in protecting tenants in Scotland, any decision to make such a change should not be taken lightly, and certainly not before full consideration of any unintended consequences and mitigations had been undertaken. On that basis, the Scottish Government has no immediate plans to change the legislation relating to Houses in Multiple Occupation (HMO) licensing requirements.

England and Wales operate a different HMO licensing regime from Scotland.

The dental therapy degree, BSc (Oral Health Science), is delivered by Glasgow Caledonian University, University of Dundee, University of Highland and Islands and University of Edinburgh. The Scottish Government had an agreed annual target of 40 dental therapists across Scotland in a year with all four institutions. The University of Edinburgh indicated in December 2023 that it no longer wished to offer this qualification after 2027. We are continuing to look at how we can expand the capacity in other universities to make up for this future loss of places.

The Scottish Government does not hold information on current student numbers.

The Scottish Government does not hold this information centrally. However, we have been able to access the latest workforce survey, published by NHS Education for Scotland (NES) on 31 December 2024. There are approximately 267 WTE dental therapists currently employed in Scotland, with around 200 working in practices alongside independent contractor dentists. A further 55 are employed by the NHS in Public Dental Services (PDS), providing dental services for people who cannot access care from an independent dentist due to special needs, while the remaining 12 work in hospital services.

Responsibility for measuring Scotland’s inward investment performance, which includes planned jobs and supply chain impacts for involved projects, rests with Scottish Enterprise. The independent EY Attractiveness Survey and the UK Government’s Department for Business and Trade’s (DBT) annual inward investment results provide an additional performance indicator for inward investment. Collectively, the results provide robust estimates of Scotland’s inward investment activity and performance.

Mergers and Acquisitions (M&A) is not a classification that the Scottish Government, Scottish Enterprise nor EY use when measuring the performance of inward investment projects into Scotland.

Scotland has a strong record in attracting foreign direct investment and our Inward Investment Plan (IIP) plays a central role in supporting our ambitions to be a destination of choice for global inward investors. Information on how Scotland has performed in terms of attracting inward investment projects is available via the EY attractiveness survey (the latest results can be found here: ey-uk-attractiveness-survey-scotland-06-2025.pdf) and the Department for Business and Trade Inward Investment Results (the latest results can be found here: DBT inward investment results 2024 to 2025 - GOV.UK). Scottish Enterprise results will be published in the Autumn.

The Scottish Government issued a Medicine Supply Alert Notice (MSAN) relating to supply disruption of the medicine naloxegol on 25 April 2024. The anticipated resupply date for the medicine has since been moved to 15 August 2025 and the medicine is unavailable throughout the UK. The Scottish Government appreciates the frustration and concern that this continued shortage will be having on patients prescribed this medication and while medicines supply continues to be reserved matter for the UK Government, we continue to press for a lasting solution in our engagement with the UK Government’s Department of Health and Social Care.

The supply of medicines and the associated legislation are a reserved matter for the UK Government and the Scottish Government continues to engage with them on all medicine supply issues. The UK Department of Health and Social Care have stated that while the medication is currently unavailable, the anticipated resupply date is mid-august 2025. An alternative medication named Naldemedine (Rizmoic) remains available in 200 microgram tablets and can support increased demand. Those affected by the shortage are encouraged to discuss alternative treatments with their clinical team.

Scottish Government officials continue to monitor the situation for any further developments and are maintaining a close dialogue with all Health Boards to help manage this medicine supply disruption.

Consultation on bringing NHS Education in Scotland and NHS National Services Scotland together will take place over 2025 and work is underway to establish the full range of functions of the new organisation.

The Scottish Government recognise that to meet the ambition of service renewal and address the health and care needs of our population we urgently need to work differently. We are therefore taking the opportunity to bring key enablers of national service delivery together to create opportunities for further improvement, innovation and efficiency across NHS Scotland.

Consultation on bringing NHS Education in Scotland and NHS National Services Scotland together will take place over 2025 and work is underway to establish the full range of functions of the new organisation. Financial assessment will be part of this. The aim throughout will be to optimise the delivery of national services, creating opportunities for further improvement, innovation and efficiency across NHS Scotland.

Social Security Scotland recognises and values a wide range of diverse groups beyond the nine protected characteristics set out in the Equality Act 2010, including a strong commitment to the armed forces community – veterans and their families.