Chamber and committees

Within the policies we set, NHS Boards have responsibility for the design and delivery of services to meet the needs of their local populations and deliver safe, high-quality care. NHS Boards may commission local reviews of services to support them in the design and delivery of safe, sustainable services which best meet the needs of their local populations and geographies.

If Scottish Ministers have concerns about local services they would discuss these with the Board as they are responsible for local service delivery, following which Ministers may decide to commission an independent review. There are no set criteria for such decisions as it will depend on the circumstances of the issues under consideration and the most appropriate response.

Healthcare Improvement Scotland (HIS) undertakes independent inspections of obstetric maternity units in Scotland through its Maternity Inspection programme. The inspection programme launched in January 2025 and details of the inspection methodology are made publicly available on the HIS website, along with inspection reports and NHS Board improvement plans. Crucially, HIS maintains independence in its scrutiny activity, including in its inspection programme. HIS takes decisions around inspection activity using a risk-based, proportionate and data- and intelligence-led approach.

Links:

https://www.healthcareimprovementscotland.scot/inspections-reviews-and-regulation/safe-delivery-of-care-in-maternity-units-inspection-programme/

https://www.healthcareimprovementscotland.scot/inspections-reviews-and-regulation/inspections-of-nhs-hospitals-and-services/hospital-and-services-inspection-reports/

A Business and Regulatory Impact Assessments (BRIA) will be published when the final SSI is laid in Parliament and will set out the estimated costs associated with the addition of the characteristic of sex to the Hate Crime and Public Order (Scotland) Act 2021 (“the 2021 Act”). This will be informed by discussions with Police Scotland, the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service (COPFS) and other justice sector bodies about the costs that may arise.

With regards to the timetable for implementation, the final SSI will include a date on which it takes effect. This commencement date will be agreed following consultation with Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal, Police Scotland, the Scottish Courts and Tribunal Service and others with an interest, so as to ensure that there is sufficient time for them to carry out necessary training and changes to IT systems and guidance.

There is no power within the 2021 Act for the Scottish Ministers to publish statutory guidance on the Act.

The establishment of the National Social Work Agency is underway. It will be an Executive Agency of the Scottish Government and will be established by Spring 2026. Recruitment for the Chief Executive of the agency is underway to support the transition from the Scottish Government and is line with existing policies and procedures.

The Scottish Government’s hybrid working policy outlines that organisations outside of Scottish Government core, for example, executive agencies will set out their own local approaches. Once the Chief Executive is in post and with the supporting structures in place, the future policy on hybrid working within the National Social Work Agency will be a matter for the Chief Executive and the Board to lead, in consultation with staff and the unions.

The fiscal regime for offshore oil and gas, as well as the regulatory regimes for licensing and consenting, are all matters that are currently reserved to the UK Government.

We continue to call on the UK Government to listen carefully to concerns being expressed by businesses and trade bodies around the impacts of its Energy Profits Levy.

We are now awaiting the UK Government’s response to its recent consultation, which must clearly set out how a stable and long-term fiscal regime will be used to deliver business and investor certainty for the North Sea. The Energy Profits Levy was always supposed to be a temporary measure and we must see the earliest possible end date, as it is now affecting investment and jobs in the North East.

Since 2021, Forestry and Land Scotland (FLS) have worked with the Alliance for Scotland’s Rainforest to identify landscapes where they can work co-operatively with other land managers to effectively control rhododendron at the landscape scale. FLS accounting systems do not differentiate rhododendron control from other environmental expenditure such as Invasive Non-Native Species control. Therefore, it is not possible to provide exact figures of expenditure on a) removal and b) control of Rhododendron ponticum in each year since 2020-21. However, between 2022-23 and 2024-25 £1.685 million was spent on INNS and rhododendron removal and follow-up control in priority rainforest areas. During the current financial year, £1.397 million has been made available for INNS and rhododendron control.

Scottish Forestry has agreed £1.793 million of grant support for the eradication of rhododendron since the 2020-21. The funding provided is to support works that secure the removal of rhododendron from the funding area.

In addition, a number of Nature Restoration Fund projects aimed at improving and restoring areas of Atlantic rainforest include rhododendron control and removal. NatureScot does not hold precise information on the elements of those project costs that are solely directed at rhododendron control, but the total of the awarded costs of these projects from 2020-21 to 2024-25 is £1.734 million. The total of the awarded costs for 2025-26 is £1.322 million.

The Circular Economy (Scotland) Act 2024 states that Scottish Ministers may, by regulations, make provision prohibiting or restricting the disposal of unsold consumer goods if they consider it appropriate to do. The policy design will be informed by evidence and stakeholder engagement, and any measures will include an implementation period to allow businesses to prepare. Textile products will be a key focus of our product stewardship plan, and the sector will be considered in our forthcoming Circular Economy Strategy.

Implementation of Sections 14 and 15 of the Hate Crime and Public Order (Scotland) Act 2021 enable ongoing evaluation of the effectiveness of the legislation by ensuring systematic data collection and public reporting. If the draft SSI is approved by Parliament when it is laid following the current consultation period, these reporting requirements will enable a deepening of the understanding of the impact of implementing the sex characteristic legislation, while also supporting meaningful engagement with communities to assess how commencement will affect them.

Further, we will continue to monitor our wider activity to tackle hate crime as set out in the terms of reference for the Hate Crime Strategic Partnership Group which is chaired by the Minister for Victims and Community Safety.

The Scottish Government and its agencies have not had any recent discussions with the horticultural sector specifically regarding the invasiveness of Rhododendron ponticum.

Across Scotland from April 2020 to March 2024 a total of 1,179 Drug Treatment and Testing Orders (DTTOs) were imposed by the courts. There were 743 DTTOs completed or subject to early discharge from the court on the basis of sufficient progress being observed between April 2020 and March 2024.

The draft Scottish Statutory Instrument which seeks to add sex as a characteristic to the Hate Crime and Public Order (Scotland) Act 2021 ("the 2021 Act") is subject to super affirmative process and is therefore subject to consultation. Stakeholders, including women’s aid services and intersectional advocacy organisations, were notified of the publication of the draft SSI and the launch of the consultation. They were encouraged to both actively participate in the consultation process and to disseminate the details of the draft SSI and consultation within their wider networks to broaden the scope of outreach.

We will utilise the feedback received via responses to the consultation to inform the final policy of the SSI. Similarly, if the final SSI is passed by Parliament, we will engage with all organisations with on matters relating to implementation prior to the SSI coming into effect.

There is no power contained in the 2021 Act for the Scottish Ministers to publish statutory guidance.