Chamber and committees

I refer the member to the answer to question S7W-02259 on 20 August 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/written-questions-and-answers.

The Scottish Government has supported and used modelling to inform planning across the wider Trauma and Orthopaedic specialty.

This includes modelling undertaken through the Performance Management and Assessment Tool (PMAT), which considers demand and capacity across the full Trauma & Orthopaedic waiting list to support delivery planning and Scottish Government targets. However, this modelling is not undertaken specifically for hip and knee replacement services.

In addition, work has been undertaken with the University of Strathclyde through the Centre for Sustainable Delivery to model aspects of orthopaedic demand and capacity. This work was conducted at whole-specialty level rather than at the level of individual sub-specialties such as hip and knee replacement surgery.

Separately, the Golden Jubilee National Hospital, which is the largest hip and knee replacement centre in the UK, employs a Clinical Fellow who undertakes modelling relating to arthroplasty demand through the Scottish Arthroplasty Project.

Part a) From the announced £12.5m, approximately £5.1m has been paid to date across the financial years of 2024-25, 2025-26 and in the first quarter of 2026-27.

Table 1 below breaks down the payments made to date, broken down by i) financial year ii) per project iii) per partner country. Note that the partner country allocations may not sum to total of grant in that year due to routine over- or underspend in the previous year.

TABLE 1

Part (a) In relation to expenditure on programme delivery, administration, monitoring and evaluation and other overhead costs, the following proportions and values apply concerning the project to date. These are estimates relating to approximately £3m of spend for Link Education International (RISE project) and approximately £2m of expenditure for OXFAM GB (GIRLS project) incurred to date.

A. Programme Delivery

1.RISE project: 69%of budget spent on programme outputs and delivery: £1,888,000 to date

2.GIRLS project: 68% of budget spent on programme outputs and delivery: £1,234,712

B. Administration

1.RISE project: 14% of budget spent on management, technical leadership and reporting: £741,000 to date

2.GIRLS project: 29% of budget spent on administrative costs: £528,418 to date.

C. Monitoring and Evaluation

1.RISE project: Approximately 12% of budget spent on Monitoring, Evaluation and Learning: £324,000 to date

2.GIRLS project: Approximately 1.6% of budget spent on Monitoring, Evaluation and Learning: £29,973 to date

D. Other overhead costs

1.RISE project: Approximately 5% of budget spent on equipment, safeguarding and other overhead costs: £139,000

2.GIRLS project: Approximately 0.75%% of budget spent on other overhead costs, including equipment: £13,572

Part (b)
The number of children and young people which have been directly supported since the programme's commencement:

A. Enrolment

1.RISE project: Link Education International, with its partners in Malawi, Rwanda and Zambia, have screened around 360,000 children with disabilities or additional needs prior to enrolment in school. The project has also provided around 1,000 assistive devices to children with disabilities, and has supported communities, teachers and parents to engage and support those children.

2.GIRLS project: Oxfam, with its partners in Malawi, Rwanda and Zambia, have supported 3,523 scholarships for girls from marginalised backgrounds to enrol in secondary school and TVET courses.

B, C, D.

Concerning attendance, retention and educational attainment: For both the RISE and GIRLS projects, midline assessments are planned for 2027 to assess the effect of both projects in improving attendance and retention, and for GIRLS only, the effect of the project on improving performance.

Part (a): In February 2024, the Scottish Government launched a 'Call for Proposals' process (see website page https://www.gov.scot/publications/call-proposals-inclusive-education-programme/), which invited qualified organisations to submit proposals for the competitive award of grants supporting the design, implementation and management of the Scottish Government’s International Development Inclusive Education Programme in Malawi, Rwanda and Zambia.

An internal Scottish Government panel, together with input from Zambia's Ministry of Education on behalf of all three partner countries, scored the applications. The highest-scoring proposals led to a grant award to Link Education International (for Strand 1, which became the RISE project), and OXFAM GB (for Strand 2, which become the GIRLS project).

Part (b)

RISE Project: The lead implementing organisation is Link Education International, who implement the project through three local organisations: Link Community Development Malawi, Chance for Childhood in Rwanda, and School to School Zambia.

GIRLS Project: The lead implementing organisation is Oxfam GB, who implement the project through three local organisations: Concerned Youth Organisation in Malawi, Young Women’s Christian Association in Rwanda and Young Women’s Christian Association in Zambia.

Part c). As set out in the answer to S7W-01962 on 20 August 2026, to date Oxfam GB has been paid £2,052,862, and Link Education International has been paid £3,086,573. The partner organisations working with each project are listed below, with estimate amounts paid to each for the purposes of implementing the contract, to date since commencement of the projects

1. RISE project

Link Education International (grant-holder): £211,885

Link Community Development Malawi: £937,901

Chance for Childhood Rwanda: £949,875

School to School Zambia: £986,912

2. GIRLS project

Oxfam £922,871

Concerned Youth Organisation Malawi: £285,000

Young Women’s Christian Association in Rwanda: £600,957

Young Women’s Christian Association in Zambia: £244,034

Part d). The following outputs and outcomes were set for delivery partners at the commencement of the programme, as set out in the logical framework documents maintained by each project, with targets set for each project.

1. RISE project outcomes

1.Access, enrolment and attendance: Children with disabilities attend school regularly

2.Retention: Children with disabilities, particularly girls, are retained throughout the course of the programme

3.Perception: There is a positive change in the perception of children with disabilities, particularly girls, and their families

4.Wellbeing: Children with disabilities, particularly girls, have more confidence

2. RISE outputs

1.Children with disabilities' access to screening, assessment, referrals and assistive devices is available and improved

2.Inclusive education is included in the day to day operations of schools

3.Community and school staff are orientated to CWD safety and wellbeing needs

3. GIRLS project outcomes

1.Increased provision of scholarships and other supportive interventions to remove barriers for young women to access and complete secondary education and transition from secondary to tertiary education and TVET.

2.Increased girls and women’s enrolment, retention, participation and performance in Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) and science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) subjects.

4. GIRLS project outputs

1.Increased bursaries to girls and young women at secondary education, tertiary and TVET institutions, within the impact areas.

2.Improved access to schools by girls and other vulnerable children, within the project localities.

3.Improved access to safe learning environments at secondary, TVET, and tertiary schools and safe working environment for targeted female learners

4.Increased knowledge of STEM and TVET opportunities for targeted girls and young women localities.

5.Improved provision and access to counselling, career guidance, mentorship and role models for program participants

6.Improved capacity of teachers in pedagogy, STEM and TVET, within the project impact schools

Part e)

The outputs and outcomes are expected to be achieved by the end of the programme, and will be assessed through project monitoring and evaluation activities.

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/written-questions-and-answers.

In 2025-2026 a total of £118.426 million was spent and a total of 1,683 affordable homes were delivered through acquisitions. The following table provides a breakdown of these figures by local authority area.

Table 1: Acquisition Funding

Information about how the Apprenticeship Accelerator Grant scheme will operate will be set out in due course. Funding for the Apprenticeship Accelerator Grant will be considered as part of preparation for the Scottish Budget 2027-28.

The following table sets out the Environment and Forestry Directorate, Strategic Research Funding provided by Scottish Government to our Main Research Providers, The James Hutton Institute, Moredun Research Institute, Scotlands Rural College and The Rowett Institute by theme for the period 2022-27:

In 2024-25 the Scottish Government announced £40 million for acquisitions and voids, followed by a further £80 million in 2025-26, bringing the total funding commitment to £120 million. This funding is being delivered through local authority Resource Planning Assumptions (RPAs). No separate allocation was made specifically for voids.

The following tables provides details on how much funding was spent on voids in each local authority area in (i) 2024 and (ii) 2025-26.

Table 1: Voids 2024-2025

The Scottish Government remains committed to supporting the development of sustainable planned care services across Scotland.

As set out in the answer to question S7W-00352 on 8 June 2026, NHS Grampian and NHS Tayside have a joint intention to develop high-volume, single-procedure lists at Stracathro Hospital, although these arrangements are not yet in place.

In 2025, the Sub-National Planning and Delivery Committees (SPDCs) for Scotland East and Scotland West were established under ministerial direction to strengthen regional planning and improve integration of services around the needs of local populations.

SPDCs East and West will work collaboratively with NHS Grampian and NHS Tayside to optimise capacity across all NHS estates, including the Stracathro Regional Treatment Centre

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/written-questions-and-answers.