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There are currently no obligations on Scottish homeowners to install heat pumps or other clean heat systems. The Scottish Government recently published a draft Buildings (Heating and Energy Performance) and Heat Networks (Scotland) Bill which, subject to the outcome of the Scottish Parliament election, we intend to introduce early in the next session. The draft Bill sets out a roadmap to decarbonising heating in Scotland’s homes. While the draft Bill would set Scottish Ministers a target of ensuring Scotland’s buildings no longer use polluting heating systems by 2045, it would not place any obligations on homeowners to replace their existing heating systems. A full financial memorandum will be published alongside the bill when it is introduced in the next parliamentary which will set out relevant costs.

Data on the number of coordinated support plans by sector and local authority between 2007-2024 are published in the Pupil Census supplementary statistics: Pupil census supplementary statistics - gov.scot

Statistics prior to 2007 are not available.

The Scottish Government is consistent in requesting early and meaningful engagement with the UK Government on matters of significant importance for Scotland, particularly where there is a clear devolved read-across such as the UK Budget.

Responsibility for providing education and discussing treatment options lies with clinicians, who are expected to ensure that individuals receive clear, accurate information about all available diabetes technologies when considering their care. Decisions on prescribing specific devices are made by the prescribing clinician in line with clinical guidance and in discussion with the individual.

The Scottish Government supports this through a range of initiatives designed to improve access to reliable information and education. We fund digital resources such as My Diabetes My Way, Scotland’s interactive self-management platform, which provides secure access to personal health records, test results, treatment plans and NHS-accredited eLearning resources. We also invest in DigiBete, a digital tool offering age-appropriate education and practical support for people living with diabetes.

Education is central to the National Closed Loop System Onboarding Programme, hosted by NHS Golden Jubilee. This team provides virtual training and support from experienced clinicians and peer support workers, enabling people anywhere in Scotland to start using diabetes technologies without delay and with confidence.

We work closely with the third sector, including Diabetes Scotland, to promote peer support and community-based education. These partnerships help ensure that people living with diabetes have access to practical advice and lived experience alongside clinical guidance.

Finally, through the Scottish Diabetes Group and its subgroups, we continue to deliver the commitments set out in the Diabetes Improvement Plan (2021–2026). This includes work to improve knowledge and confidence in primary care teams, ensuring that clinicians across Scotland are equipped to discuss technology options effectively with their patients.

We are committed to ensuring that everyone living with diabetes can access clinically appropriate, safe, effective and person-centred care. We know that waiting times for access to diabetes technologies, such as Closed Loop Systems (CLS), remain a challenge, and we are taking action to improve this.

Since 2016, the Scottish Government has invested over £50 million to support technology access, including:

• £29.6 million between 2016-2022 for diabetes technologies
• £8.8 million in 2024-25 to expand CLS access
• £14.6 million in 2025-26 to onboard 2,500 additional individuals and cover recurring consumables

These measures increase capacity and reduce delays by enabling virtual onboarding and freeing up local clinic resources. In addition, the National Onboarding Team, hosted by NHS Golden Jubilee, provides virtual education and training, enabling people anywhere in Scotland to start using diabetes technologies without delay. This innovative model supported almost 1,000 people last year with a 100% satisfaction rate.

The National CLS Onboarding Programme has enabled more than 4,200 people to receive CLS since May 2024. As of September 2025, 77% of under-18s with Type 1 diabetes have access to CLS, and every child or young person should have received at least a referral. This paediatric focus helps prevent complications early and reduce future backlogs.

This builds on Scotland’s strong progress in diabetes technology adoption. According to the 2024 Diabetes Survey, insulin pump use has risen to 23.2% of all people with Type 1 diabetes, up from just 6.3% in 2013. Continuous Glucose Monitoring (CGM) adoption has increased to 85.7% in 2024, compared to 82.5% in 2023, reflecting Scotland’s commitment in digital diabetes care.

We will continue to work with boards to reduce variation and waiting times through targeted funding and performance-based delivery models that prioritise equitable access for all.

The Scottish Maternity and Neonatal Taskforce will look at the scope of a national review of maternity services based on the emerging themes and outcomes of the Healthcare Improvement Scotland Inspections of Maternity Units across Scotland, and any other area that the Taskforce might identify. It will also look at the provision of maternity services in rural areas, including in Caithness and Stranraer.

A full workplan will be agreed by the Taskforce once it has been established, and Parliament will be updated in due course.

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.