Social Security Scotland regularly publishes information on the number of people who receive Carers Allowance Supplement as part of its official statistics releases, which happen twice a year.

The Scottish Government commissioned the Independent Review of Adult Disability Payment (ADP) to ensure the benefit continues to meet the needs of disabled people in Scotland. We appreciate the comprehensive recommendations it provides on how Adult Disability Payment may be improved.

The review focused specifically on Adult Disability Payment and many of the review’s recommendations would be neither relevant nor appropriate beyond that. However, as part of our ongoing commitment to continuous improvement, we will consider whether there are any insights and learning which may be relevant more broadly across our new disability benefits.

The Scottish Government commissioned the Independent Review of Adult Disability Payment to ensure the benefit continues to meet the needs of disabled people in Scotland. We appreciate the comprehensive recommendations this report provides for how we may improve Adult Disability Payment.

We are considering the feasibility of the recommendations, including the potential impact on fairness, sustainability and delivery. An initial response to the review will be published in January 2026.

The Scottish Government does not hold data for the number of healthcare visits, including GP visits, children and young people under the age of 25 are making before they receive a cancer diagnosis compared to older adults.

The Collaborative and Compassionate Cancer Care: The Cancer Strategy for Children and Young People in Scotland 2021–2026, is a dedicated cancer strategy for children and young people, in Scotland.

The strategy sets out our ambitions and actions to provide the best possible treatment and care, as early as possible, to children and young people with cancer. There are several actions that specifically relate to an early, precise diagnosis of cancer.

The Managed Clinical Network for Children and Young People with Cancer (MCN CYPC) are responsible for the implementation and evaluation of the Children and Young People’s cancer strategy.

We published the Scottish Referral Guidelines for Suspected Cancer in August 2025, which includes a specific Cancer in Children & Young People Guideline, encompassing multiple distinct types of cancers more commonly diagnosed in those aged 0-24 years.

A suite of assets have been created for Gateway C, Scotland’s free primary care cancer education platform. These include bespoke assets focusing on children and young people to support early identification of possible symptoms of cancer and prompt referral.

The vast majority of funding allocated to councils is provided by means of a block grant. It is then the responsibility of individual local authorities to manage their own budgets and to allocate the total financial resources available to them, including on road maintenance, on the basis of local needs and priorities, having first fulfilled their statutory obligations and the jointly agreed set of national and local priorities.

The 2025-26 budget delivered record funding of over £15.1 billion for Local Government, a real terms increase of 5.5 per cent.

In 2025-26, Inverclyde Council will receive £227 million to support day to day services, which equates to an extra £13.1 million or an additional 6.1% compared to 2024-25.

As is normal, decisions on future local government finance settlements will be the subject of negotiations with COSLA on behalf of all 32 local authorities and announced as part of the outcome of the Scottish Budget on 13 January.

Since September 2025, there have been five meetings between Scottish and UK ministers in which the UK Budget was covered. In these meeting, Scottish Ministers have raised the implications of the UK Budget for the Scottish Budget.

The Scottish Government is committed to supporting a strong maritime sector, including Inchgreen Marine Park, which has been funded through the Glasgow City Region Deal. We are actively engaging with a range of businesses interested in the redevelopment of Inchgreen Dry Dock in Inverclyde, a project further supported by recently announced UK Government funding.

Our engagement spans the wider maritime and shipbuilding sector, including collaboration with the National Shipbuilding Office and the Scottish Maritime Cluster. This work covers key areas of the maritime economy such as shipbuilding, freight facilities, maritime tourism, and vessel repair.

Several maritime companies are currently in discussions to expand shipbuilding and repair facilities in the region, creating significant job opportunities. We are aware of early-stage conversations between interested parties that could lead to further employment growth and economic benefits.

Scottish Ministers do not routinely cancel meetings with their UK Ministerial counterparts. Scheduling of meetings is subject to normal diary considerations.

The consultation will be published on 5 January 2026 and will help to inform a detailed assessment of whether and when providers of care home and 'care at home' services can be understood to be delivering public functions. Subject to the outcome of that assessment, it will also inform decisions on whether, and in what fashion, Ministers might exercise their power under section 5 of FOISA to extend the legislation to private and third sector organisations delivering these services.

We understand that around 4,900 individuals across 71 UK credit unions will lose cover without compensation. The impact in Scotland is estimated to be c1,400 individuals across 29 credit unions in Scotland. Some of those may be eligible for alternative policies on similar terms however individuals over 81 years of age, or with pre-existing medical conditions, may be unable to secure alternative cover and may have insufficient funds to pay for their funeral. The Scottish Government has engaged with the Financial Conduct Authority and impacted credit unions in Scotland to understand the implications of the withdrawal and the support being provided to current policyholders.

The Cabinet Secretary for Finance and Local Government and I met with Paul Sweeney MSP and a representative of impacted credit unions on Tuesday 18 November and I have continued to engage with the credit union to discuss this further.

The regulation of financial services is fully reserved; however, the Cabinet Secretary wrote to Lucy Rigby, the Economic Secretary to the Treasury on 21 November to ask her to consider the requests of the coalition of Scottish Credit Unions with an offer to meet to discuss this issue.

We stand ready to work with the UK Government to avoid some of our most vulnerable people from being forced into funeral poverty or having to resort to debt to enable them and their families to have peace of mind at the end of their life.