Chamber and committees

The Scottish Government has allocated £36 million in 2026-27 to support the GP walk-in services programme. Detailed operational planning, including service capacity, is undertaken by NHS Boards. Services are being implemented through a phased pilot approach and delivery models vary between locations to suit local needs.

RPID is progressing FFIS verification nationally, with evidence assessed in order of receipt and payment holds released as soon as the required verification is complete and compliance with the grant conditions is confirmed.

As of 17 September 2026, 533 of the FFIS cases currently affecting BPS payments are under review and awaiting verification. Resources and processing performance are being managed and kept under review nationally to progress the outstanding caseload.

BPS payments are not guaranteed in a particular payment run. Where an FFIS hold remains, this reflects the need to complete the required controls on grant paid in advance. Those controls are necessary to protect public funds, with more than £373,000 already identified for recovery from 45 completed cases.

The reported figure of more than 1,200 is misleading. As of 17 September 2026, there are 730 FFIS cases where evidence has been provided and BPS payment remains on hold until verification has been completed, review has started for 533 of these cases, with further information requested from 162 farmers or crofters before verification can be completed.

Verification has not yet started in 198 cases. Of these, 162, 82%, had been received during the first 17 days of September.

The BPS payment window runs between September and June. A payment hold for FFIS does not mean the BPS is otherwise ready for payment as other processing may be required.

FFIS grant was paid in advance, and verification is required to confirm that the approved investments have been completed and the grant conditions met. Payment holds are released once the required checks are complete and compliance is confirmed.

The verification process is identifying non-compliance and protecting public funds. To date, 45 completed cases have identified more than £373,444 for recovery, while RPID continues to progress the remaining caseload.

Local Government pay is a matter for local authorities. Officials are engaging with Delivering Equally Safe fund managers to understand the implications of the proposed changes to pay and grading within Glasgow City Council on the delivery of agreed service outcomes under grant funding conditions.

The Scottish Government remains committed to supporting specialist services that provide vital support to victims and survivors of gender based violence and is aware of the pressures front line support services are under. That is why the Delivering Equally Safe fund benefited from a 5% increase in 2026-27, taking total investment in the Delivering Equally Safe Fund to almost £46 million over 2026-2028 (almost £23 million per year). The Delivering Equally Safe fund managers, Inspiring Scotland, work with funded organisations to review their outcomes. This enables services to consider necessary changes where circumstances have changed.

Our Programme for Government 2026 to 2031, sets out that we will act quickly to provide emergency funding to organisations under significant pressure, enhance arrangements for the Delivering Equally Safe Fund and develop a new multi-year fund to ensure vital services are sustainable and can respond flexibly to need.

To date the Scottish Government has not carried out any assessment of the international data regarding automated harm reduction kiosks.

We remain committed to exploring any evidence-based harm reduction measure which will help us to reduce drug-related harms and save lives. We are aware of different methods of IEP distribution across the world designed to suit their localities and encourage local areas to consider what would best suit their area.

If a local area has identified an automated vending machine as a measure which would benefit their area, Scottish Government officials would be happy to work with them on the feasibility and logistics of implementing it.

Scottish Government Rural Payments and Inspections Division are processing received applications in a timely and robust manner to ensure the safeguarding of public funds. The deadline for submitting evidence is 30 September 2026. As of 15 September 2026, 423 beneficiaries are still to provide evidence that the funded investment was carried out.

The Scottish Government has undertaken a socio-economic impact assessment (SEIA) as part of the Marine Consultation on ‘Proposed Fisheries Management Measures in Scottish Inshore Marine Protected.

The aim of the SEIA is to identify and assess the potential economic and social effects of the proposed measures on the lives and circumstances of people, their families, and their communities.

The SEIA estimates the effects of the proposed measures at individual site level for MPAs and at a regional level for PMFs.

In the development of the SEIA we have engaged with fishers to gather views on the potential social impacts of the proposed measures.

It also considers potential impacts on each of the 11 marine regions of Scotland with respect to economic impacts on fishing activities for both the vessels home port and port of landing.

Responsibility for registering and administering Power of Attorneys (PoA), lies with the Office of the Public Guardian (Scotland) (OPG), which forms part of the Scottish Courts and Tribunals Service (SCTS). The SCTS operates entirely independently of the Scottish Government, and all operational decisions are the responsibility of the SCTS Board under the leadership of the Lord President.

While the Scottish Government does not have a role in operational decision making, it continues to support SCTS through funding. The 2026–2027 Budget includes increased resource funding to help ease system pressures and support ongoing service improvement and modernisation. Decisions on any further funding, including for the continued development of systems and services such as those provided by the OPG, will fall to Parliament as part of any future spending considerations.

Student Awards Agency Scotland (SAAS) administers the payment of free university tuition fees for eligible Scottish-domiciled students. The following tables cover the number of people in each local authority area to have benefitted from this from the 2007-08 academic year.

Number of University Students receiving Tuition Fees by Local Authority, 2007-08 to 2016-17

Planning work being undertaken by Public Services Delivery Scotland will provide the information necessary to develop a 24/7 thrombectomy service across Scotland.

This work will include consideration of the specific requirements of rural and island communities, including those of people living in Dumfries and Galloway.