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There is an opportunity for Scotland to become a leader in green data centres given our capacity to generate energy from renewable sources.

In 2023, 70% of electricity generated in Scotland was from renewable sources – a marked increase compared to less than one-third (32%) a decade previously. As of June 2025, there is an estimated capacity of 76.5 GW of renewable energy projects, including storage, in the planning pipeline in Scotland. This means there is ample opportunity to use excess renewable generation for data centres, helping to reduce the impact and taxpayer costs of network constraints, with £390 million paid to Scottish wind farm operators in 2024 alone. As the National Energy System Operator (NESO) recognised in its 2025 Future Energy Scenarios, up to a fifth of Great Britain’s future data centre demand could be based in Scotland.

While we have no immediate plans to introduce planning guidance for energy-intensive developments, strategic planning is being undertaken by the Scottish Government to accommodate any infrastructure demands of AI technologies, such as AI data centres. Together with the UK and Welsh Governments, we have jointly commissioned NESO to produce a Strategic Spatial Energy Plan (SSEP) for Great Britain. The SSEP will spatially optimise a specified volume of flexible data centre demand (1-2GW). This will indicate where opportunities for energy system benefits exist, such as co-location of renewables and data centres, supporting the development of government policy on the spatial location of data centre demand. The Regional Energy Strategic Plan for Scotland will further enable the coordinated development of the energy system across multiple vectors.

National Planning Framework 4 (NPF4) designates all green data centres of a major scale as part of National Development 12: Digital Fibre Network. What constitutes a major development is defined within the The Town and Country Planning (Hierarchy of Developments) (Scotland) Regulations 2009.

There has never been a provision in law for supervised working while organisations were waiting to obtain a Protecting Vulnerable Groups (PVG) scheme record. Until 1 April 2025, the PVG scheme was not a legal requirement therefore organisations could choose to have people in regulated work without seeing PVG scheme membership.

The Disclosure (Scotland) Act 2020 introduced a legal requirement for organisations to receive a Level 2 with PVG scheme information before a person can carry out a regulated role for them. This was in response to the 2017 Health and Sport Committee report into Child Protection in Sport which noted serious concerns that “the application of the current PVG scheme results in variations in practice as to whether coaches can work/volunteer in a limited capacity without a PVG check having been completed”.

The changes under the Disclosure Act closed this gap which undermined public confidence in the PVG scheme and safeguarding of children and protected adults.

The Distress Brief Intervention (DBI) Programme is now live in all 31 HSCPs across Scotland. At end August 2025, over 97,000 people had been referred to the programme. We will shortly provide an update on our progress towards the significant milestone of 100,000 people referred.

Over the coming months, the Scottish Government will be working with our partners to review how well DBI has been embedded, and what else may be needed moving forward to strengthen it. Our focus will be on the sustainability of the programme, and maintaining the right level of support to frontline services.

The first step of this review will be considering the results of the evaluation of under 18s elements of the DBI programme, which we are due to publish in November 2025.

I refer the member to the answer to question S6W-41180 on 28 October 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.

The proposed powers in the Pensions Schemes Bill ensure Scottish Ministers maintain parity of powers with the UK Government for the respective Local Government Pension Schemes.

Our Programme for Government demonstrates our commitment to encouraging investment in Scotland, and we are actively engaging with pension funds, including the local government funds, to collaborate and explore opportunities to support the growth of the Scottish economy.

The Scottish Government recognises the importance of timely access to psychological support, including psychological therapies, for bereaved parents. One of the main ways this is provided is through Maternity and Neonatal Psychological Intervention (MNPI) services. For most parents who have suffered a pregnancy loss, bereavement and grief support provided by their Health Board or third sector organisations will meet their needs and they will not require specialist mental health services.

When procuring and managing contracts Procurement Services ensures compliance with all legal requirements and the procurement principles including non-discrimination and equal treatment. Procurement Services will continue to monitor and comply with Scottish Procurement Policy notes from the Scottish Government and with UK Government advice relating to international embargos and sanctions.

The Scottish Government’s National Innovation Strategy sets out an ambitious programme of actions which aim to use innovation as a key driver of productivity and economic growth.

Since 2007 productivity has grown at an average rate of 0.9% per year compared to the UK average of 0.3%. We continue to work with partners to build upon this and maximise opportunities for sustainable productivity growth.

The Scottish Government has allocated almost £228 million to Scottish Enterprise to support its activity in 2025-26. Scottish Enterprise is delivering on the actions set out by the Innovation Strategy’s Productivity Programme through its two missions aligned to innovation and productivity. These missions aim to:

1. Scale innovation strengths into high-growth industries, strengthen competitive sectors, support scaling companies, create high-value jobs and enhance global competitiveness.
2. Drive capital investment to boost productivity, by increasing business investment, raising productivity, and supporting higher-value employment opportunities that contribute to inclusive economic growth.

The Scottish Government is also working with the Productivity Institute and the University of Glasgow on an Innovation-Driven Productivity Study, which will deliver a productivity framework tailored to Scotland’s high-value sectors, supported by regional and sectoral case studies to inform future policy and practice.

The National Innovation Strategy sets a clear ten-year vision (2023–2033) for Scotland’s innovation and productivity ambitions. It provides a long-term direction for government and partners — a compass setting the course for our innovation journey. While the priorities established in 2023 remain fixed, the delivery of these priorities is designed to be adaptive, allowing programmes and actions to respond effectively to evolving economic conditions, technologies, and business needs, while maintaining alignment with the Strategy’s overarching objectives.

The Scottish Government does not hold this information centrally. Local authorities are responsible for paying foster carers’ allowances. Prior to the introduction of the Scottish Recommended Allowance in August 2023, the Scottish Government had no role in setting allowance rates.