Chamber and committees

NHS Highland's Valuing Service Award is a local employer recognition scheme and decisions on eligibility are therefore matters for the Board. While arrangements for recognising service vary across NHS boards, workforce policies and staff terms and conditions are regularly considered through established national partnership arrangements. Scottish Government will continue to monitor issues raised by staff and trade unions through these channels, while respecting boards' responsibilities for local schemes.

The Scottish Government has not received any proposals for the introduction of a mobile drug consumption unit, as a result has not undertaken any detailed consideration of this model.

The Scottish Government's focus has been on supporting the establishment and operation of Scotland's first safer drug consumption facility, The Thistle, in Glasgow. The Lord Advocate’s Statement of Prosecution Policy applies only to that fixed facility and does not extend to mobile units.

The Scottish Government’s strategic approach to prostitution is a collective approach, rooted in working with stakeholders across the wider public and third sector, to challenge and deter men’s demand for prostitution and support those with experience of it. We know that we alone cannot prevent and tackle abuse; it takes a sustained effort across partnerships.

As part of that strategic approach we have regular discussions with Police Scotland about how best to disrupt demand, and support women with experience of selling/exchanging sex, who we recognise as victims of exploitation.

Anyone engaged in selling or exchanging sexual services should be able to access support and mainstream services without fear of stigma, judgement and discrimination.

Later this year we will launch a rights guide for women involving in the online sex industry, which we have funded the Mhor Collective to develop, as leading experts in the impact of digital space on people’s human rights.

The residential rehabilitation bed capacity survey, published in December 2025, confirmed a maximum capacity of 574 beds across 28 facilities in Scotland as of October 2025. Of the 28 facilities that responded, 96% reported that they accepted publicly funded placements.

The Scottish Government remains in regular contact with NHS Boards regarding the development of specialist support services funded through the £4.5 million annual allocation for long COVID, ME/CFS, chronic fatigue and other similar conditions. NHS Boards are responsible for the planning and operational delivery of services for their local populations and are best placed to determine implementation timescales considering local circumstances and workforce considerations.

A range of voluntary processes are in place to assist prisoners to engage with appropriate support services following their release. These include the national third sector throughcare service Upside, who offer support to short sentence prisoners leaving custody, should they wish to receive it.

The SPS notifies each local authority of upcoming prisoner releases to their area twelve weeks in advance, to help inform the future operation of public housing and other local government services and social work activity, including local authority voluntary throughcare services (should the individual request that assistance).

Individuals who have no fixed abode upon release from custody are considered to be involuntarily homeless. It is the responsibility of each Local Authority to address the needs of potential homeless people in their area – balancing local need of all types, to local resources. The Scottish Government, Scottish Prison Service and housing partners developed the SHORE standards (“Sustainable Housing On Release for Everyone”) to highlight good practice in addressing the housing needs of individuals entering and leaving prison.

Prison based healthcare services will notify relevant community-based healthcare services in advance of a prisoner’s release. SPS officers and Prison Link Centre staff will assist individuals who are seeking to engage with public and third sector services prior to their release.

Department of Work and Pensions also deploy staff within prisons to help prisoners with benefit matters, including assistance to obtain their benefit entitlement after their release.

Where a prisoner’s sentence requires them to be subject to mandatory supervision following their release, the necessary preparations will be made by Justice Social Work services to align with the prisoner’s release date.

Prisoners who reach the automatic early release date for their custodial sentence cannot be detained further due to their status regarding accommodation or other forms of support.

The Scottish Government wants everyone to receive the best possible care and treatment from our health and care services and expects NHS Boards, including NHS Grampian and NHS Tayside to provide safe, effective and person-centred care for people with PoTS. To support this, the interim signposting document produced by Healthcare Improvement Scotland to guide clinicians to current evidence-based resources for the management of PoTS in adults with Long Covid and post-viral syndromes is available on the NHS Scotland Long Covid Network website at: https://www.nn.nhs.scot/longcovid/for-professionals/.

On 22 September 2025, Scottish Ministers met with Vincent Bryson, Chief Executive of Scottish Curling, and Richard Lochhead MSP to discuss issues affecting curling and ice sports in Scotland. Discussions were centred on the sustainability of ice rinks, the impact of rising energy costs on facilities, investment in sport, and opportunities to host major events.

The Scottish Government remain engaged with Scottish Curling directly and through our national agency sportscotland.

The Scottish Government recognises the important role that sport and physical activity can play in supporting health, wellbeing and independence.

Responsibility for assessing social care needs rests with local authorities, which should have regard to the statutory guidance accompanying the Social Care (Self-directed Support) (Scotland) Act 2013. The guidance promotes person-centred, outcomes-focused approaches and consideration of individuals' views, aspirations and participation in community life.

The Self-directed Support framework does not prescribe specific activities, allowing flexibility to meet agreed outcomes. Where sport or physical activity supports those outcomes, it may be considered through support planning.

Any new funding commitments or changes to existing funding will be discussed and agreed through COSLA formal financial governance process which requires agreed recommendations from the joint Scottish Government and COSLA Officers’ Settlement and Distribution Group and political agreement from Scottish Ministers and COSLA political Leaders.