Chamber and committees

The Scottish Funding Council (SFC) has advised that it is not possible to identify the number of Scottish-domiciled medical student places funded in each year prior to Academic Year (AY) 2013-14. Up to and including AY 2012-13, students from the rest of the UK (rUK) were eligible for funded places and the data cannot be disaggregated between Scottish-domiciled and rUK students.

The following figures therefore represent the total number of funded undergraduate medical student places available to student eligible for funding in each year. SFC advise that, following the removal of funded rUK places, the vast majority of funded places are held by Scottish-domiciled students, although eligibility is not solely restricted to Scottish-domiciled students.

Scottish Government worked with the Centre for Sustainable Delivery (CSfD) to explore the potential benefit of applying our existing Rapid Cancer Diagnostic Services (RCDSs) model for adults to children and young people. This exploratory work deduced that including children in the RCDS model would be unlikely to significantly improve earlier diagnoses beyond existing practice.

The Scottish Referral Guidelines (SRGs) for Suspected Cancer were revised in 2025 and included specific updates on supporting a diagnosis of cancer in children and young people specifically. This includes considerations for non-specific symptoms of cancer for under-18s, like those considered for Rapid Cancer Diagnostic Services (RCDSs).

The Scottish Government remains committed to improving audiology services across Scotland and we continue to work closely with partners to determine how best to move the provision of audiology care into community settings.

On 27 August 2026, I wrote to the Health, Care and Sport Committee to provide an update on my meeting with NHS Heads of Service, community audiology providers and other key stakeholders as part of this government’s 100 days prospectus. This meeting centred on a draft proposal for development of a Target Operating Model for audiology, and my letter sets out more detail on the Scottish Government’s immediate priorities for audiology services. It can be read in full here:

20260827 Minister for Community Care to Convener | Scottish Parliament Website

As this work is at an early stage and discussions with stakeholders are ongoing, a timetable for implementation will follow in due course.

The following table sets out the known coming into force dates for relevant provisions in the Tobacco and Vapes Act 2026.

Scottish Government engages with a range of stakeholders on matters relating to children and young people with cancer, These stakeholders include third sector organisations, the Managed Clinical Network for Children and Young People (MCN CYPC) and other clinical specialists as well as lived experience groups, who support and deliver cancer services for children and young people with cancer.

The Scottish Government does not hold this data centrally. It is published by Public Health Scotland (PHS) and is publicly available through the PHS Vaccination Surveillance Dashboard.

As part of the development of the Tobacco and Vapes Act 2026 (2026 Act), a UK wide impact assessment was published by UK Government. Scottish Government contributed to the development of this impact assessment.

Scottish Statutory Instruments resulting from the 2026 Act will be supported by relevant impact assessments as part of our usual policy development process. This includes the Children’s Rights and Wellbeing impact assessment, which would cover the appeal and accessibility of these products to children.

The Scottish Government published a partial Business Regulatory Impact Assessment (BRIA) on Display, alongside the "Tobacco and Vapes - Packaging, Appearance and Display consultation", for Scotland. This considers the impacts of proposed restrictions on adults using vaping products as a smoking cessation aid and impacts on businesses, including those which predominantly sell vapes.

Responses to the consultation and the partial BRIA will be used to support the development of any potential regulations on the display of relevant products. Any subsequent regulations in Scotland will be informed by a final BRIA.

The partial BRIA can be found here: https://www.gov.scot/publications/display-restrictions-products-prices-herbal-smoking-products-heated-tobacco-devices-vaping-nicotine-products-scotland-partial-business-regulatory-impact-assessment/

The UK-wide consultation can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/consultations/tobacco-and-vapes-packaging-appearance-and-display/tobacco-and-vapes-packaging-appearance-and-display#how-to-respond

The Scottish Government is committed to improving the diagnosis and targeted treatment of disease through our continued investment in genomics.

The Genomics in Scotland strategy, published in April 2024, aims to improve access to genomic testing and build the foundations needed to allow Scotland to take full advantage of developments in genomic medicine, including data and digital infrastructure and skilled workforce requirements.

Work is ongoing in collaboration with NHS Boards in Scotland, and with academic and commercial partners on the delivery and implementation of the strategy. We will consider the publication of an interim progress report against the Genomics in Scotland strategy following publication of the 2026 Programme for Government.

There are currently no plans to convene a meeting on measles preparedness.

The Scottish Government continues to monitor the situation with Public Health Scotland, NHS Boards and other relevant partners. Should circumstances indicate that additional national coordination is required, appropriate arrangements will be put in place and follow the Management of Public Health Incident Guidance.

The Scottish Government recognise the harms that can be caused by gambling. As set out in our Population Health Framework, we are taking a Public Health approach to tackle these harms and improve the treatment services.

Through the Gambling Levy funds, the Scottish Government has announced funding of £7.9 million to a wide range of public sector, third sector and academic organisations in 2026-27. The funding is being used to increase access to prevention and treatment services to support individuals and families affected by gambling related harms across all of Scotland.

We are working closely with our delivery partners to support them to progress this work.