Seòmar agus comataidhean

I recognise that there has been a significant increase in adults seeking ADHD and autism assessments across Scotland. I recognise how important assessment and support through local services can be and I expect NHS Boards to deliver appropriate local services to ensure that their local population have the highest quality of care and treatment at the right time and in the right place.

The Scottish Government is working with the National Autism Implementation Team (NAIT) to develop national Adult Neurodevelopmental Pathways, building on the pilots we funded in four NHS Board areas and the subsequent learnings and recommendations. We are engaging with a wide range of interests in this work and we have also met with the Royal College of Psychiatrists to discuss their recent proposals.

We are continuing to work with NHS Health Boards and local authorities to improve services and support for children and young people, including supporting them to implement the Neurodevelopmental Service Specification for Children and Young People, underpinned by GIRFEC and encouraging multi-agency working. To support this, in addition to investment through Health Boards, we have provided over £1 million to fund five Neurodevelopmental tests of change. We have also provided further funding, totalling almost £250,000, in financial year 2024-25 to fund a range of individual projects to improve neurodevelopmental assessment and support for children and young people.

The Scottish Government has made significant early progress through our delivery schemes, with heat pump deployment increasing year on year. The rest of the UK is now catching up on pace of delivery, having adopted a similar approach to our existing grant offer.

We will introduce a Heat in Buildings Bill this year which sets a target for decarbonising heat by 2045. However, we must ensure that any proposed interventions reduce carbon emissions and help reduce fuel poverty. We are therefore calling for urgent UK Government action to significantly reduce the running costs of clean heating systems like heat pumps.

Ministers recognise the very challenging financial landscape across health and social care but remain committed to making progress regarding the removal of non-residential charging in partnership with others.

Ongoing engagement work has made clear there is variation in non-residential care charging across the country and some groups and people are more adversely impacted. We will continue to work with others on this issue to ensure people have greater clarity on what charges apply and where they can go for support.

The Scottish Government acknowledges that the increase in children, young people and adults seeking neurodevelopmental support and assessment across Scotland is creating challenges for services.

Scottish Government officials are engaging with Health Boards across Scotland to understand the challenges that they are facing in providing assessment and support services for neurodivergent adults, and to discuss potential solutions.

We fund the National Autism Implementation Team to support NHS Boards to develop, enhance and redesign local neurodevelopmental services for adults.

While the Scottish Government has overall policy responsibility for health and social care policy in Scotland, decisions on how to deliver services to best meet the needs of the local population are the responsibility of NHS Boards and their partners.

The 2025-26 Budget which has been approved by Parliament will provide a record £21.7 billion for Health & Social Care next year. This includes £16.2 billion for health boards - a 3% cash uplift and real terms increase on their baseline funding. It will also deliver record funding of over £15 billion for Local Authorities, a further 4.7 per cent real terms increase.

We have allocated £123.5 million to Health Boards this year on a recurring basis through the Enhanced Mental Health Outcomes Framework which plays a part in improving the quality and delivery of mental health and psychological services, including neurodevelopmental services for children, young people and adults.

The Scottish Government received an Emergency Services Mobile Communications Programme (ESMCP), Draft Programme Business Case (PBC) from the Home Office in May 2024. This indicated that the Emergency Services Network (ESN) would be delivered by 2029-30.

Since then the Home Office has completed a major re-procurement exercise, which has resulted in the appointment of new commercial suppliers to deliver the Programme. The Home Office is currently updating the 2024 PBC and associated documentation, to reflect the impact of the new suppliers. This information is expected to be shared with partner organisations, including Scottish Government, in the coming weeks.

While the re-procurement exercise has introduced delays into the Programme, this has not had any operational impacts on the emergency services in Scotland, who continue to use the Airwave network for critical communications.

Our goal remains to decarbonise the heat in Scotland’s buildings by 2045. We are taking action in pursuit of this target, including the allocation of £1.63 billion of funding through our Heat in Buildings schemes this Parliamentary Session so far.

The Heat in Buildings Bill that we have committed to introducing this year will set this target in legislation. But we also need urgent UK Government action to significantly reduce the running costs of clean heating systems like heat pumps.

The Scottish Government has had a range of discussions with a number of stakeholders regarding implementing the Visitor Levy (Scotland) Act 2024, including on alternative models.

The operation of Police Scotland, including the deployment of officers, is for the Chief Constable. The latest official statistics show there were 16,553 FTE police officers in Scotland on 31 March 2025. The Scottish Government supports the Chief Constable in having the flexibility to develop and utilise her workforce in a way that responds to the challenges she faces by ensuring she has the right workforce in place. In 2025-26, we are increasing investment in policing by £90 million to a record £1.64 billion to support police capacity and capability.

This information is not held centrally by the Scottish Government.

The selection of countries and sites for global clinical trials for new cancer treatments is dependent on a complex range of factors, including the wider regulatory environment.

The Scottish Government and the Chief Scientist Office work closely with NHS Research Scotland and with the UK National Institute for Health and Social Care Research to ensure that Scotland continues to offer the best environment for clinical research and cancer clinical trials.

Officer wellbeing and retention are operational matters for Police Scotland. I refer the member to my response to S6W-35420 on 17 March.

The Chief Constable has stated to the Criminal Justice Committee that the wellbeing of police officers and staff is one of her main priorities. Police Scotland has made a £17 million investment in wellbeing, which includes a 24/7 Employee Assistance Programme and enhanced occupational health services, to support officers and staff wellbeing.

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