Chamber and committees

The Scottish Government acknowledges the Scottish Health Technologies Group recommendations regarding specialist interventions for managing chronic non-malignant pain in adults. NHS Scotland is required to consider SHTG recommendations and discussions are underway to understand how those recommendations can inform sustainable, consistent and effective service delivery across Scotland.

We will continue to engage with a wide range of stakeholders including clinical professionals, third sector organisations and those with lived experience of chronic pain as we progress ongoing delivery of the actions in our Pain Management Service Delivery Framework.

We have set out the wider policy within which NHS Scotland is expected to deliver services and expect all NHS Boards, including NHS Highland, to provide high quality care that is safe, effective and person-centred. We expect that decisions about the appropriateness of treatment for chronic pain, or specific medications for pain management, will be made by the clinician in discussion with the patient to ensure the most suitable treatment is made available based on their medical history.

Scottish domiciled students studying higher education courses in the rest of the UK can access a tuition fee loan of up to £9,535 (rising to £9,790 in academic year 2026-27) a year to cover their tuition fee costs. These students are also eligible to receive the same living cost support package that Scottish domiciled students studying in Scotland can access. This provides a maximum support of £11,400 through a combination of bursaries and student loans for the most vulnerable students. Full details of the funding available can be found on the Student Awards Agency Scotland (SAAS) website - Undergrad Funding - SAAS - Higher Education - Student Loan - Bursary.

The Scottish Government does not generally provide support for Scottish domiciled students studying outside of the UK. However, Scottish domiciled students who study abroad for a year as part of their degree are eligible to access the same living cost support package as students studying in Scotland. Eligible students can also apply for the Study Abroad Grant if the study abroad year is a compulsory part of the course. Further information on this can be found on the SAAS website - Study Abroad Grant.

The Scottish Government is committed to ensuring that people with respiratory conditions receive the best possible care and treatment to enable them to live longer, healthier, and more independent lives. Through our Respiratory Care Action Plan for Scotland, we have supported national work to strengthen prevention, diagnosis, care and support for people living with respiratory conditions.

The Scottish Government has embedded the prevention of respiratory disease into wider policy through the launch of the Cleaner Air for Scotland Strategy, Warmer Homes Scotland Scheme and the refreshed Tobacco Action Plan.

National clinical pathways for severe asthma, Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD) and interstitial lung disease are being developed through the Centre for Sustainable Delivery. This work includes enhanced referral triage and innovations in the diagnosis and management of sleep apnoea, helping to ensure that people receive the right care at the right time.

We also published the Quality Prescribing Guide for Improvement, which aims to keep people at the centre of their treatment, and promote safe, evidenced based, sustainable prescribing. A core component of this has been to create user friendly digital tools for both people living with lung conditions and healthcare professionals

To improve access to pulmonary rehabilitation, a key intervention for people with chronic respiratory conditions, we are working in partnership with Chest Heart and Stroke Scotland to develop a digital first model. This will provide self-management tools, resources and videos that can be accessed anywhere in Scotland and will be hosted on the My Lungs My Life platform.

We recently published the Scotland's Population Health Framework and the Health and Social Care Service Renewal Framework in which we outline our shared, long-term vision for reforming and renewing health and social care services to ensure they are more sustainable, preventative, and equitable.

We are exploring a Long-Term Conditions Framework to ensure equitable and sustainable access to services that everyone with long term conditions needs, such as those living with a respiratory condition. A series of advisory groups, including respiratory, will be established to make initial recommendations to the Scottish Government and these will produce an authoritative set of recommendations to inform the new government’s work on long-term conditions.

We will continue to work with clinicians, NHS, Boards, and national delivery partners and the third sector to ensure that people with lung conditions can access timely diagnosis, effective treatment and ongoing support as part of safe, high quality respiratory care.

The following table sets out the total number of premises currently contracted to receive connections through the R100 North contract by 2028, the number of premises connected as of 31 January 2026 and the number of premises yet to be connected as of the same date. Further information can be found on the Scottish Government’s Data Insights webpage at https://digitalconnectivity.campaign.gov.scot/data-insights.

Our demand-led R100 Scottish Broadband Voucher Scheme (SBVS) remains available for those not expected to benefit from superfast broadband through R100 contract or commercial build plans.

The Scottish Government wants people to be treated as close to home as clinically possible. However, it may not always be possible for Health Boards to provide access locally for all patients and for all services where Health Boards are, for example, constrained by geography or specialist services. In addition, some patients may be offered alternatives out with their local health board area to reduce their waiting time.

We continue to work with NHS Boards to limit the need for travel where possible and clinically appropriate. This includes through increased use of digital and technological solutions, such as Near Me, to improve flexibility of care.

Where travel is necessary, the Scottish Government expects local Health Boards to work collaboratively with each other and transport providers to make suitable arrangements to ensure that the necessary treatment can be provided in a patient-centred way and that disruption to key appointments is kept to a minimum.

Financial support for travel is available for patients and authorised escorts, according to eligibility criteria and medical requirements.

All Boards are expected to support patients and their families in identifying and accessing available support and Board patient travel contacts can provide advice on eligibility and assistance available with bookings and advance payments, where necessary.

Since 2020, the Scottish Government has awarded over £150 million to support the bus sector transition to zero-emission fleets. This is comprised of:

• £50 million through the Scottish Ultra Low Emission Bus Scheme (SULEBS) to deliver 272 ultra-low emission buses and associated infrastructure.
• £62 million through the first phase of the Scottish Zero Emission Bus Challenge Fund (ScotZEB1) supporting delivery of 276 zero-emission buses and associated infrastructure.
• £368,000 through the Market Transition Scheme to help SME operators plan their transition to zero-emission fleets; and,
• £41.7 million through ScotZEB2 to support delivery of around 252 zero-emission buses and associated infrastructure

Up to £45 million through ScotZEB3 has been made available over the next two financial years to continue this progress and support the sector ahead of new zero-emission requirements under the UK Bus Services Act 2025.

In addition, the Scottish Government is supporting a just transition through targeted investment in workforce skills, including £400,000 through the Zero Emission HDV Skills Challenge Fund to help operators and supply-chain staff prepare for zero-emission technologies.

We are also supporting community-based transport providers through the Plugged-in Communities fund, which has made £4 million available in its latest round, building on over £4.2 million already awarded to support zero-emission vehicles and charging infrastructure for community operators.

Decisions on any future national strategy will be for the new administration to consider after the Scottish Parliament election in May.

Under the current administration, we have been working to improve prevention of young sudden cardiac death (SCD) through delivery of the Heart Disease Action Plan (2021) and the Out-of-Hospital Cardiac Arrest Strategy (2021-2026).

We funded the West of Scotland Inherited Cardiac Conditions Service to strengthen the SCD pathway, including screening first-degree relatives affected by SCD. This project has received national scale-up funding from the British Heart Foundation.

Health Boards might arrange treatment for some patients outwith NHS Scotland in exceptional circumstances. In all cases, the originating Health Board retains responsibility for funding consultation, diagnosis and treatment for their patients and we expect Scottish NHS Boards to have appropriate processes in place to enable this access.

The information requested is not held centrally by the Scottish Government. The Scottish Ambulance Service, which holds the licence for the GoodSAM app in Scotland may be able to provide this information.

The Scottish Zero Emission Bus Challenge Fund (ScotZEB) contributes to Scotland's Net Zero transport targets by supporting the bus sector to transition to zero emissions. To date, £104 million has been awarded through ScotZEB to support delivery of 528 zero-emission buses and associated charging infrastructure, reduce greenhouse gas emissions and improve air quality across Scotland. A further £45 million is being invested through the third and final phase of the scheme (ScotZEB3) over the next two financial years.

Through encouraging investment, building skills, and providing long-term certainty to operators, ScotZEB supports immediate emission-reduction milestones and the broader shift to a cleaner, more sustainable public transport system.