Chamber and committees

As an Executive Agency of the Scottish Government the Scottish Prison Service (SPS) has responsibility for the operation of prisons.

As a replacement for HMP Barlinnie, HMP Glasgow, will deliver a modern, safe and secure accommodation that increases the overall design capacity by 357 spaces.

Detailed transition arrangements for the opening of HMP Glasgow are currently being developed by the SPS National Population Management Team, and consideration of prisoner allocation across the prison estate will form part of this planning. This work forms part of a wider SPS initiative to maximise useable capacity throughout the prison estate.

The Scottish Government has been in correspondence with BMA Scottish Resident Doctors Committee since their acceptance of the 2-year pay agreement in January 2026. The pay agreement sets out clear parameters for implementation dates, and these have been reiterated to the BMA Scottish Resident Doctors Committee.

Pay protection arrangements will have been applied in line with the relevant medical and dental contract, national circulars, and any applicable local agreements.

The funding approach to deliver the Better Surfaces Fund will be considered and prioritised as part of the Scottish Budget 2027-28.

As with all areas of Local Government funding, substantive details around funding allocations and accountability will be considered through the joint COSLA and Scottish Government Settlement and Distribution Group prior to recommendations being provided to COSLA Leaders.

As an Executive Agency of the Scottish Government, The Scottish Prison Service (SPS) has the responsibility for operation of prisons, including staffing.

The Scottish Prison Service has identified opportunities to strengthen support for new prison officers, including piloting a work-based learning approach for Residential Officers, initiating a review of both the Officer Foundation and Residential Officer Foundation Programmes in 2027, and also through the development of a proposed formalised SPS-wide approach to mentoring.

Working with their key stakeholders including the recognised trade unions, SPS will be commencing work on these initiatives over the coming months with any agreed and required changes being implemented thereafter.

The Scottish Government is already undertaking work to expand pathways into the nursing profession and attract people from all different stages of life via the Nursing and Midwifery Taskforce (NMT). By widening access to nursing and providing more flexible routes into the profession, this work is intended to strengthen and diversify the future registered nursing workforce. Increasing the number and range of people able to enter nursing will help broaden the pool of registered nurses who may subsequently choose to develop their careers in a specialist field such as IBD nursing, supporting longer-term workforce capacity.

The Scottish Government has also provided additional investment to NHS boards since 2015 to support clinical nurse specialist provision and care. Boards make the decisions on where to prioritise this funding based on local need. People who require specialist nursing services, including IBD services, should receive the best possible care and support and benefit from healthcare services that are safe, effective and put the patient at the centre of their care. The Scottish Government expects NHS boards to ensure that patients with specialist conditions have appropriate access to a range of professionals, including specialist nurses, to ensure the best management of their condition.

The Scottish Government has overall responsibility for health and social care policy in Scotland; however, the statutory responsibility for delivering or commissioning services at a local level lies with local authorities, NHS Boards and integrated health and social care partnerships. Operational decisions, including whether there is a need for additional specialist nurses, are therefore matters for those bodies.

Both SPS and Scottish Government recognise the challenges set out by the POA(S) within their report and understand the potential impact these can have on staff.

Working together with their recognised trade unions partners, including POA(S), SPS are ensuring that staff voices are not only heard, but form part of their organisational improvement journey.

Work has already commenced on the issues identified within the report including work to address an unacceptably high prison population, assessment and improvement of organisational culture, the review of prison officer recruitment approaches, and the provision of meaningful wellbeing supports for all SPS staff.

The Scottish Government has addressed this issue through the Police Service of Scotland (Senior Officers) (Conduct) Amendment Regulations 2026, which establish a robust statutory framework for the referral, assessment and investigation of misconduct allegations involving senior police officers. Under the regulations, any allegation received by, or otherwise coming to the attention of, either the Scottish Police Authority or the Chief Constable must be referred to the Police Investigations and Review Commissioner (PIRC) without delay.

The regulations also place a statutory duty on the Commissioner to assess all allegations that are referred to, received by, or otherwise come to the Commissioner's attention, to determine whether the conduct alleged would, if proven, amount to misconduct, gross misconduct or neither. This ensures that all allegations are subject to independent consideration under a clear and consistent statutory process.

These reforms strengthen the framework for the oversight of senior officer conduct by providing independent scrutiny at the earliest stage of the process and ensuring that allegations are assessed transparently, consistently and in accordance with statutory requirements.

The enhanced arrangements reflect the unique responsibilities, visibility and public accountability associated with senior officer roles. For that reason, the senior officer misconduct regime incorporates additional safeguards to support independent scrutiny, transparency and public confidence in the handling of allegations.

The pay agreement reached with Resident Doctors and Resident Dentists is clear that individuals would move to the next pay point on their pay journey from 1 December 2025 or for any Resident Doctor or Resident Dentists at the top of their respective pay scale who cannot benefit will receive the equivalent value in a one-off consolidated payment.

The Scottish Government worked with BMA Scottish Resident Doctors Committee to provide clarification on the implementation of the one-off consolidated payments, as referenced in PCS(DD)2025/1 (Addendum 2 – Residents).

The agreed letter was issued to NHS Scotland Boards on 24 August 2026 for their action. It has not been published as it was issued as operational correspondence to NHS Scotland Boards, as opposed to a formal circular or new policy guidance. The letter was approved by BMA Scotland before being issued.

The Scottish Government has no current plans to introduce a specific single unique identifier for children and young people to support data sharing between health, social care and education services.

The Scottish Government supports the addition of the Police Investigations and Review Commissioner (PIRC) to the list of prescribed persons under the Public Interest Disclosure (Prescribed Persons) Order 2014 and has been working with the Department for Business and Trade and PIRC on the practical arrangements required to support implementation.

As an amendment of the Public Interest Disclosure (Prescribed Persons) Order 2014 is a matter for the UK Government through reserved legislation, the timing of any amendment to the Order is ultimately a matter for the UKG Government. The Department for Business and Trade has advised that the next update to the Order is expected in 2027.

The Police (Ethics, Conduct and Scrutiny) (Scotland) Act 2025 has strengthened independent oversight of Police Scotland and increased the transparency of how public interest concerns are handled. The Act requires PIRC to keep under review the arrangements that Police Scotland and the Scottish Police Authority have in place for investigating whistleblowing complaints. This provision commenced in June 2025 and supports organisational learning, continuous improvement and greater public confidence in the handling of concerns raised by police officers and staff.