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Information on average waiting times for psychological services specifically following (a) pregnancy loss, (b) stillbirth, and (c) neonatal death is not held centrally by the Scottish Government.

Psychological services are delivered by NHS Boards. Boards report their overall performance against the 18 week referral to treatment standard, and this data, published quarterly by Public Health Scotland, does not include the reason for referral at this level of detail.

We continue to work with all NHS Boards to improve access to mental health and psychological services, including specific support for perinatal mental health and bereavement.

It is not normally the case that Parliament is informed of determinations on consenting applications. However, given that Parliament is in recess and that the Berwick Bank offshore windfarm consenting application of significant interest and of strategic importance, I considered it appropriate and helpful to proactively inform Parliament of the decision made in relation to this application.

I can therefore advise that Scottish Ministers have today granted consent to the application for the Berwick Bank Offshore Windfarm which will be located in the North Sea in the outer Firth of Forth. It will be one of the world’s largest windfarms and will have an estimated capacity of 4.1GW. This decision has been taken after careful and lengthy consideration of the project’s potential environmental impact and its potential impacts on other users of the sea.

This decision is a major step in Scotland’s progress towards achieving net zero and tackling the climate crisis, as well as supporting national energy security and growing our green economy. Increasing renewable energy generation is critical to meeting our climate change targets, with climate change being one of the biggest threats to Scotland’s biodiversity and health of its marine ecosystems.

We are requiring that the developer must deliver environmental compensation to address the environmental impacts of this windfarm, alongside measures which will mitigate and minimise impacts to other sea users. The Scottish Government will work with SSE Renewables and stakeholders on proposed environmental compensatory measures required to address the impacts of the project.

Offshore wind is already one of Scotland’s greatest modern success stories – we now have the opportunity to deliver a potential offshore wind pipeline of over 40 GW putting us at the forefront of offshore wind development globally. This is the right decision for Scotland’s interests and will help to deliver significant benefits for our nation.

The determination paperwork can be found here: Section 36 Consent - Construction and Operation of Generating Station - Berwick Bank Wind Farm - Firth of Forth | marine.gov.scot.

The community transport sector provides many of our most vulnerable groups with access to essential goods and services and to social or leisure activities.

These services assist those who can’t or don’t use conventional public transport, providing ways to help them connect better with their local areas and wider communities. I recognise that these organisations may not be able to access finance afforded to commercial entities so I am pleased to announce that we will be launching a further round of our successful Plugged-in-Communities fund with a current budget of £4 million in 2025-26 which will be administered again by Energy Saving Trust.

In determining an application for a licence, NatureScot must consider whether the hunt is sustainable, in that it would not have an adverse effect on the conservation status of the species concerned, namely gannets.

In the case of the Guga Hunt licence issued this year, NatureScot have confirmed that a population viability analysis of the gannets at Sula Sgeir was completed and considered as part of their assessment prior to issuing the licence.

In issuing a licence to permit the taking of 500 gugas, NatureScot have concluded that this number will allow the gannet population to continue to recover and enable a sustainable future take. The previous licence issued in 2018 was for 2000 birds.

The guidance on the education of children and young people unable to attend school due to ill health was published in June 2015 and remains current.

Ministers have committed to ensuring the national guidance remains up to date and will review, if appropriate, whether or not amendments require to be made. The overall decision making, in relation to charging however, is ultimately a matter for Local Authorities and Health Boards.

Supporting families through access to high quality, affordable and accessible childcare is critical to the First Minister’s mission of eradicating child poverty. That is why, since 2021, the Scottish Government has prioritised investment of £1 billion per year in funded Early Learning and Childcare (ELC) for all 3- and 4-year-olds, 5-year-olds whose entry to primary school has been deferred, and those 2-year-olds who need it most.

Scotland is the only part of the UK to already offer 1,140 hours a year of funded ELC to all 3 and 4-year-olds and eligible 2-year-olds regardless of their parents’ working status – putting children first. If families paid for this offer themselves, it would cost them more than £6,000 per eligible child per year.

Scotland continues to face one of the most difficult public spending environments since devolution. Despite this the Scottish Government remains committed to reaching more younger children with funded ELC that need it most, and the Programme for Government, published on 6 May 2025, set out that this year we will work with local authorities to maximise uptake of our existing offer for eligible 2-year-olds to ensure that as many children as possible benefit from the current offer.

In terms of planning for a future potential expansion, we are investing up to £16 million over 2 years within 23 Early Adopter Communities (EACs), across 6 local authority areas. The EACs are helping the Scottish Government and our local partners to understand what it takes to deliver childcare systems that support families with children from the early years to the end of primary school. This work is expanding access to affordable childcare for low-income families with children and evaluating the difference this can make.

It is important to recognise that the UK Government’s offer is not an expansion of universal childcare for all children under three. The new entitlement is only available to working families in England - those where parents earn at least the National Minimum Wage or Living Wage and work for 16 hours a week on average. The Institute for Fiscal Studies has made clear that, despite billions of investment by the UK Government, “the poorest one third of families will see almost no direct benefit from the new entitlements”. The difference in entitlements between the UK Government and Scottish Government reflects the Scottish Government’s policy intention that access to more hours of funded ELC is an investment in all children’s later outcomes - underpinned by national and international evidence.

Staff training is an operational matter for the Boards and employers. However, in 2021 the Scottish Government published the National Neurodevelopmental Specification for Children and Young People. This sets out standards for all children’s services to follow to ensure children and young people can access the support they need for their neurodivergence. This includes ensuring staff undertaking the initial assessment are appropriately trained, supervised and experienced for the purpose, including identifying strengths, as well as difficulties.

The Scottish Government provides funding to NHS Education for Scotland (NES) for Staffing and Multidisciplinary training delivery and resources to help address mental health inequalities, supporting groups who are particular risk. This activity will strengthen support and care pathways for people requiring neurodevelopmental support, working in partnership with health, social care, education, the third sector and other delivery partners. This will ensure those who need it receive the right care and support at the right time in a way that works for them.

The support provided to young disabled people during their transition to adulthood should be person-centred and tailored to the young person and their specific needs and goals.

Young disabled people are entitled to support in planning for transitions through The Education (Additional Support for Learning) (Scotland) Act 2004 and associated Regulations and through the non-statutory Getting it Right for Every Child (GIRFEC) Child’s Plan. They may also be entitled to wider support – for example, financial support through the child disability payment and adult disability payment.

The National Transitions to Adulthood Strategy was published on 30 June 2025. Through this Strategy, the Scottish Government has committed to:

• continuing to invest in the Independent Living Fund Scotland’s Transition Fund to support young disabled people to make a smoother transition from childhood into adulthood by promoting independence, community participation, social inclusion and confidence, including referring applicants for grant funded person-led planning support where it is needed;
• funding the National Development Team for Inclusion (NDTi) in 2025-26 to build on their Time to Talk Next Steps Scotland Pilot to:
  • promote and support person-led and relationship-based approaches to planning amongst practitioners; and
  • support the wider use of Promoting a More Inclusive Society (PAMIS)’ digital passport in person-led communication and transitions planning to empower young people with complex needs to have their voices heard; and
• working with the Association for Real Change (ARC) Scotland to promote the use of Compass for young people as a tool to support person-led planning within existing planning mechanisms.

I refer the member to the answer to question S6W-39324 on 31 July 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.

ARC Scotland’s third Principle of Good Transitions states that Planning should start early and continue up to age 25. ARC Scotland also provide the descriptors to this principle which are:

• Planning should be available from age 14 and be proportionate to need.
• Children’s plans and assessments should be adopted by adult services.
• Transitions planning and support should continue to age 25.

The priorities within the National Transitions to Adulthood Strategy build on the Association for Real Change (ARC) Scotland’s Principles of Good Transitions, and as such, it sets out the standards expected in delivery of transitions support for young disabled people across Scotland.

In Priority 1- Choice, Control and Empowerment of the strategy it sets out what is already happening and what else the Scottish Government will do to support and strengthen existing planning mechanisms, including continuing to promote early transitions planning and person-led planning resources and practices.