Chamber and committees

I know that you take this issue very seriously and you raise it legitimately. The civil legal aid system is generally effective in delivering help to those who need it, but we recognise that there are some challenges in certain types of cases and locations. That is why solicitors in all parts of Scotland can access funding for work to be carried out under legal assistance schemes. The schemes are flexible enough for solicitors to travel to rural and remote parts of the country to conduct work, should it not be possible to instruct a local agent.

The Scottish Legal Aid Board is aware of the difficulties that people may face in securing access to justice due to the relatively low number of solicitors in the Highlands and Islands. That was a factor in the creation of the Civil Legal Assistance Office—the CLAO—which has offices in Inverness, Aberdeen and Edinburgh. The Inverness office opened in 2008, and it serves the Highlands and Islands, including the Western Isles.

The Regulation of Legal Services (Scotland) Act 2025 is a significant step towards expanding access to justice. Once commenced, the legislation will remove restrictions that prevent charities, law centres and citizens advice bodies from directly employing solicitors to provide certain legal services to some of the most vulnerable people in society. I hope that the committee agrees that that is a significant step in expanding who can provide legal advice.

The Scottish Government is taking forward reforms outlined in our “Legal aid reform: discussion paper”, which was published earlier this year. That should simplify the process for solicitors and those needing legal assistance, and it includes longer-term proposals for funding and improving the delivery of services. All views are welcome on that discussion paper.

On women’s aid organisations, I have had the honour of visiting provision throughout Scotland, from Dumfries to way up in the Highlands and Islands. Their work is vital, and I commend it. They work incredibly hard, and I have spoken to women who have benefited as well.

I have mentioned before the equally safe strategy, which recognises that small rural and island communities face particular challenges. The strategy is funded accordingly, and the equally safe delivery plan is in place. We have mentioned the funding challenges, especially concerning multiyear funding and the precarious funding that can happen as well. However, I will end on a reminder that at least £5.4 million from the delivering equally safe fund is allocated to rural and island communities—and that excludes rural areas that are predominantly within urban local authorities, so the actual amount will be higher.

The equally safe delivery plan is held jointly with the Convention of Scottish Local Authorities, and it provides services through third sector organisations across multiple portfolios, including health. It is an example of cross-portfolio delivery.

We are expanding access to justice in the ways that I mentioned, for instance by removing restrictions that currently prevent charities, law centres and citizens advice bodies from providing legal services. You and I both know that they often have solicitors working in them. Those bodies have that support, but they have not been able to offer services, so I think that there will be a significant impact in expanding provision. Citizens advice centres and third sector organisations are based in local communities, and that change should make a difference.

Can I make a comment about the rural assessment toolkit, which I may mentioned earlier? Toolkits are incredibly helpful because they give practical examples of how not just civil servants but everyone can get an accurate picture of where we are and then move strategically through things. The rural assessment toolkit was launched in April 2025, so the scaffolding is there.

You also mentioned particular areas. The rural delivery plan will cover agriculture, marine, land reform, transport, housing, social justice, population challenges, rural skills, digital connectivity, economic development, and health and social care. It is quite wide ranging in taking cognisance of all those issues.

I am sorry, Ms White, but I missed something there. Did you name a particular cabinet secretary?

I absolutely accept that there are challenges in rural areas. I have said that there are issues with distances, modes of transport and people often having to travel very far to get to hospital.

I cannot remember the statistics off the top of my head, but I believe that there have been significant improvements in waiting times for hip and knee replacements, with people being able to access those procedures.

I accept that there are challenges, but I do not accept that we are failing generally. I understand that people will have different experiences, and members raise such cases in the chamber. I accept that no one’s experience of what the national health service provides should fall short, but I do not accept that we are failing across the board.

I might have to bring in my colleagues for more technical detail on the pilot.

No, we have not discussed that. However, what you have said is now on the record, and I am more than happy to bring that up with the cabinet secretary. We will follow up that issue. Thank you for raising it.

You are right to point out the challenges that are faced in recruiting new GPs in rural areas. The Scottish Government recognises that challenge and is taking a number of actions to counter it. We incentivise GPs to take up positions in rural areas through our £10,000 golden hello scheme. NHS Education for Scotland rural fellowships in rural practice are offered across six health board areas in Scotland, and those fellowships offer qualified GPs the opportunity to develop the generalist skills that are required in rural and island areas through working in a range of clinical settings. We also fund 70 places annually on the four-year Scottish graduate entry medicine programme—ScotGEM—which is tailored to meet the current and future needs of the NHS, with a focus on rural medicine and healthcare.

It might be interesting to note that the most recent health and care experience survey, for 2023-24, reported that 85 per cent of people on the islands agreed that they could easily access GP services, with the figure being 88 per cent for pharmacies. The survey suggests that most islanders can make GP appointments in advance—the figure is 82 per cent for NHS Orkney, 73 per cent for NHS Shetland and 76 per cent for NHS Western Isles. I hope that that gives a bit of extra context for the committee.

I have my portfolio, and I have given a commitment to the committee that, if there are specific points on other portfolios that I have not addressed, I will raise them and we can get a response back to you. I think that that is fair enough.

I recognise the challenges with digital access; in the social justice portfolio, there is an issue with digital connectivity and the uptake of social security benefits, so I totally understand the challenges. We have a statutory duty to promote the take-up of benefits across the social security system, and we aim to build in resilience so that access is not reliant on one method, such as digital. I get that across the board with the intersectionality of my portfolio. There are some disabled people, for instance, who make great use of digital devices and connectivity, but others find that a pencil and paper or a form is the more suitable way to access services, while other folk prefer a telephone call or a human being. It is about ensuring that there is a broad range of access options, which not only is good practice and more inclusive but builds resilience when digital connectivity is poor.

Perhaps one of my officials wants to come in with further details. If there are any specific elements of your question that I have not addressed, I am happy to bring that up with the minister for the relevant portfolio and get answers for the committee.

We absolutely recognise that the pressure on household budgets is enormous. The 2025–26 budget continued to allocate £3 billion a year to policies that tackle poverty and the cost of living. I absolutely get that there will be more of an impact in rural areas, where there are additional and unique cost of living pressures compared to those in urban areas.

One example is the expansion of affordable childcare. There is also improving access to essential services and supporting rural wage growth through investment in diverse industries and skills. With regard to childcare in particular, which has an intersection with my portfolio through the addressing depopulation plan that sits with me, we are investing huge amounts of money—almost £1 billion a year—to fully fund the 1,140 hours of childcare offer, and the costs of provision in rural areas are absolutely considered in the funding formula.

As part of the addressing depopulation fund, six or seven regions had a certain amount of money—I think that it was £30,000 initially. That money was and is being used—I have visited projects that are using it—and the areas get to decide what the local need is. Some areas have decided to prioritise childcare provision. One size does not fit all, so that might not involve a nursery, because there simply might not be enough children, so then you need childminders. Childminders have the additional burden of getting certification, getting their house ready and being able to match up with families—they need to get all that sorted.

We are supporting work across the country in which specific people now have the role of providing bespoke services. We know that even providing one part-time childminder can have a significant effect through enabling a nurse or shop worker to go to work to provide those services. That is a very practical measure, and the feedback on it has been good. Each local area has been able to decide what its priorities are. In contrast, some areas have decided to invest further in skills and retaining young people in the local area, so there is a variety.

The regional enterprise agencies work closely with partners to address equality of opportunity around housing, transport and so on. The regional growth deal rural projects are there to accelerate inclusive economic growth. I can get further information on that from the relevant cabinet secretary or minister. Generally, growing the economy is one of our top priorities, and regional economic partnerships are key to delivering that and to delivering effective regional decision making.

We are also trying to promote the social tariff. We get that it will not help every person, but we think that it will go a long way to help to deal with fuel poverty and high fuel costs. Those can be challenging for disabled households that need to have more appliances on, but even more so for those in a rural area, perhaps in the Highlands, where it is colder. You can see all the layers that are piling on, but I hope that I have given a couple of examples.

Yes. Through our addressing depopulation fund, those are exactly the type of barriers that people are working locally to address. For instance, they work with local authority applications to get all the standards checked. It is down to the nitty-gritty of supporting people in situ. That should help with exactly that situation.