Chamber and committees

The Agriculture Reform Implementation Oversight Board (ARIOB) last met on 23 January 2026.

The Scottish Government continues to support reforms across our justice services – responding to society’s changing needs, removing duplication and ensuring there are modern user-centred digital services which deliver best value for money and fully support all users of the justice system, including expanding digital evidence sharing capability and enabling police and expert witnesses to give their evidence remotely.

The Scottish Courts and Tribunals Service (SCTS) is an independent, judicially led, public body, chaired by the Lord President. The scheduling and delivery of programmes, including database integration, are operational matters for the SCTS Board and the Scottish Prison Service.

The Scottish Government support Scottish Curling’s strategy ‘Sweeping Change: The Future of Curling 2023-2027’. The strategy aims to create a nationwide network of thriving curling communities by increasing participation, strengthening clubs and facilities, developing coaches and volunteers, supporting athlete pathways, improving engagement, and embedding sustainability across the sport.

The Scottish Government, through sportscotland, works in partnership with, and invests in, Scottish Curling to support the delivery of these objectives.

Over the past year there has been a focus on medication assisted treatment (MAT) in prison settings and Public Health Scotland(PHS)have had extensive engagement with NHS healthcare staff and the Scottish Prison Service.

The development and implementation of clinical pathways is led by NHS under established clinical governance arrangements and informed by clinical evidence and service needs.

Where proposals are put forward for pathway development, these are considered through established, clinically led processes by NHS and relevant national delivery partners.

Officials are aware that NHS Wales and Ehlers-Danlos Support UK have been working to develop a national pathway for hypermobility in Wales. Once published, the pathway may provide useful evidence and learning that could help inform future approaches in Scotland.

Since NHS Grampian moved to Stage 4 of the NHS Scotland Support and Intervention Framework for finance, leadership and governance in May 2025, a range of support measures have been put in place commensurate with the Board’s financial challenges. This includes a Scottish Government-led Assurance Board, which provides enhanced oversight and support to NHS Grampian, monitoring progress against key financial and operational challenges while strengthening financial governance. It continues to work closely with the Board's leadership team to support recovery planning and help return the Board to a sustainable financial footing.

NHS Grampian remain on track to meet key financial targets in 2026-27.

Our national agency for sport, sportscotland, supports efforts to increase awareness and participation in curling through its investment and partnership work with Scottish Curling.

This includes supporting initiatives such as the national Try Curling programme, club development activity, workforce development, and investment in projects designed to strengthen pathways and create more opportunities for people to experience and participate in the sport.

In addition, Scottish Curling and sportscotland are committed to helping to raise the awareness of curling by hosting major international events. In March 2025, Scotland hosted the World Wheelchair Curling Championships and the World Wheelchair Mixed Doubles Curling Championships in Stevenston, North Ayrshire, helping to showcase the sport to wider audiences.

Prison officers play a vital role in our justice system, helping to ensure our prisons are safe, secure and stable environments for all that live and work there. Unlike other uniformed groups, prison officers do not have a dedicated pension scheme as they are members of the Civil Service pension scheme which is a reserved matter for the UK Government.

The Scottish Government has strongly supported the position of the Prison Officers Association that the retirement age of prison officers be brought into line with armed forces, police, and firefighters who retire at 60. This reflects the operational environment and physical demands associated with the role which can be particularly challenging.

SPS provide support to staff to remain at work and in meaningful employment when they cannot undertake their full contractual role, including workplace adjustments and redeployment to alternative roles across the organisation. Every effort will be made to accommodate requests for a change or adjustment where the request is evidence based.

The Scottish Government recognises the importance of high-quality data in supporting transparency, service improvement and equitable access to care.

We do not currently routinely collect or publish national data on the number of people waiting to access hybrid closed-loop (HCL) systems or the number of new-start patients by NHS Board. As HCL systems become embedded within routine diabetes care, responsibility for service delivery rests with NHS Boards, which are expected to provide access in line with relevant NICE and SIGN guidance, based on clinical need and individual patient circumstances.

The Scottish Government will continue to work with NHS Boards and national partners to consider how data on diabetes technologies can best be collected and reported, including whether additional information could support greater transparency, service planning and the identification of unwarranted variation in access across Scotland.

I refer the member to the answer to question S7W-02548 on 15 September 2026. All answers to written Parliamentary Questions are available on the Parliament’s website, the search facility for which can be found at: https://www.parliament.scot/chamber-and-committees/questions-and-answers