Chamber and committees

Radiographers have an integral role in delivering cancer care. The number of qualified radiographers has increased by 3.5% in the last year, and 14.5% over the last five years. We recognise, however, that there are currently 141.8 WTE qualified radiography vacancies across Scotland.

The Scottish Government will work with NHS Boards and other partners in understanding where and how to increase the number of radiographers. Radiographers are involved in the diagnosis and treatment of a range of conditions, including cancer.

While the Scottish Government sets the strategic policy direction for the NHS in Scotland, operational matters including the funding and location of staffing are the responsibility of NHS Boards. We expect NHS boards to plan and provide safe, effective, and high-quality care, in line with their statutory service provision and workforce planning responsibilities. The Scottish Government has therefore not set targets for radiographer numbers year on year.

Scottish Government is providing record investment as set out in this year’s budget of almost £22.5 billion to health and social care in 2026-27.

Ministers established the Scottish Hospitals Inquiry to ensure families get the truth they deserve, and we are clear that changes to NHS structures will not impact on this. Our planned reforms to NHS structures are designed to improve NHS accountability, transparency and experiences for patients, and as is customarily the case in situations such as this the successor public body will inherit all rights, liabilities and obligations of the previous one. We will carefully consider all the findings and recommendations made by the independent Inquiry chair Lord Brodie, when the final report is published. Criminal investigations are a matter for Police Scotland.

As outlined in the Programme for Government, the Scottish Government will be engaging in an extensive dialogue over the next three months with partners in Local Government, across Parliament, and with stakeholders including representatives from local communities, to reach a clear shared direction about the future of local governance in Scotland. As part of this engagement, the Scottish Government will explore with Local Government partners the potential benefits of a regional model for local governance, while ensuring that decisions are taken at the most appropriate level.

Procurement is underway for the Welcome to School Bags, and costs will be confirmed following conclusion of the procurement process.

Likewise, the colours of the school bags will be confirmed following conclusion of the procurement process.

Each bag will contain a pencil case, stationery, including pens, pencils, coloured crayons and a notebook, a water bottle, and resources to support learning at home. It will also include information relevant to families of P1 children to support their entry to school.

The bags will not be branded.

The Scottish Government published the Health and Care Improving Flow Plan 2026-2031 on 31 August, delivering our commitment to publish a National Flow Plan within the first 100 days of this administration.

The Plan sets out our ambition for one connected system, simple routes to care, ensuring every person receives the most appropriate response as quickly as possible. It outlines action to improve navigation into care, expand home and community-based services, strengthen discharge arrangements, improve acute hospital flow, and tackle overcrowding and corridor care

The Plan has been developed jointly with Scotland East and Scotland West Sub-National Planning Committees and informed through engagement with NHS Boards, Health and Social Care Partnerships, clinicians, national agencies, care providers and other partners. Detailed operational implementation arrangements an collaboration with partners will continue to be developed following publication. Through delivery of this Plan we will improve access to care, support more care closer to home, reduce delays and improve outcomes for people across Scotland.

The Health and Care Improving Flow Plan does not set out proposals for structural reform of NHS Boards. Separate proposals for NHS structural reform were announced in the Programme for Government on 1 September 2026.

We recognise that demand for neurodevelopmental support, including autism diagnostic assessments, is exceeding current capacity in many areas. This reflects wider challenges across health and social care, which is why the Population Health and Service Renewal Frameworks sets out the need to shift towards earlier intervention, prevention and support that is centred on people’s needs.

Within this wider programme of reform, we are working with NHS Boards, local authorities and other partners to improve access to neurodevelopmental support for children, young people and adults. Our focus is on ensuring that people can access appropriate support when they need it, based on their needs rather than requiring a diagnosis before support is available.

For children and young people, this includes delivering the actions arising from the implementation review of the National Neurodevelopmental Specification for Children and Young People, working with COSLA and the Children and Young People’s Neurodevelopmental Taskforce.

For adults, we are working to improve access to neurodevelopmental support through implementation of the Royal College of Psychiatrists in Scotland's four-tier national pathway. This work will help health boards to develop approaches that provide support on the basis of need, whether or not a person has a formal diagnosis.

In delivering our 100-day commitment, we have worked with key stakeholders and people with lived experience to develop a route-map for adoption and integration of this approach, which we expect to publish this Autumn.

In December 2017, the Scottish Government introduced a national cyber incident reporting procedure to support affected public sector bodies.

The Scottish Government cannot confirm the number of cyber attacks affecting NHS Scotland prior to 2018, as no equivalent national reporting arrangements were in place.

Information available from 2018 onwards is set out in the following table.

An evaluation of our ‘Be the Early Bird’ campaign during 2024-25 can be found here - 10. Other marketing channels and activity - Detect Cancer Earlier Marketing Campaign: Evaluation Report 2024/2025 - gov.scot.

This report found that the campaign’s impact is evident in the high levels of recognition, engagement and reported action, and increased visits to our getcheckedearly.org website.

We plan to publish an evaluation into the 2025-26 outputs of the campaign before the end of 2026.

Regarding the potential for a specific campaign for gynaecological cancer, it is important to note that the Scottish Government takes a whole-system, cross-cutting approach to improving cancer survival and providing excellent care, rather than developing tumour-specific national action plans or campaigns.

The current Cancer Strategy for Scotland 2023-2033 is structured around system-wide priorities such as prevention, diagnosis, treatment, workforce, inequalities, person-centred care, research and survivorship. This is with the aim of making system-wide improvements that benefit people with many different cancers, rather than any one tumour type.

In addition to this, we are working towards the ambition of our Women’s Health Plan, that all women and girls in Scotland experience the best possible health – throughout their lives.

The Scottish Government does not hold that information and we suggest the member contact relevant local authorities directly.

The Scottish Government has not received any specific advice regarding national security risks associated with Chinese-manufactured buses operating in Scotland.

Vehicle safety and cybersecurity requirements are reserved matters, overseen by the UK Government through the DVSA and the National Cyber Security Centre. All vehicles operating in Scotland must meet the relevant UK-wide standards.