Chamber and committees

We recognise that diabetic foot screening is a proven way to determine the chance of an individual with diabetes has of developing a future foot ulcer that may lead to amputation. Foot screening is also one of the key processes for good diabetes care.

Clinical guidance recommends that people who are deemed to be at low risk from diabetic foot complications are reviewed every two years whereas those who are deemed to be at medium or high risk should be referred immediately to podiatry services for assessment. Our expectation is that clinicians and GPs consult all relevant clinical guidelines when assessing someone with diabetes and refer for most appropriate treatment.

The Scottish Government remains intensely focussed on reducing waiting times. In 2025-26, we allocated more than £150 million additional funding to health boards to help tackle the longest waits for planned care. This funding delivered thousands more appointments, operations and procedures in 2025-26 compared to 2024-25. We are working with Health Boards to support the continuation of this progress in 2026-27.

The Scottish Government recognises that reform of the legal aid system is needed, which is why we have committed to launching a consultation on a Legal Aid Reform Bill within our first 100 days.

Work continues at pace, including engagement with key stakeholders and consideration of options for reform.

The consultation will explore how the system could be more responsive and user-centred, while ensuring transparency and accountability in the use of publicly funded legal assistance.

We will carefully consider the responses to ensure we deliver an adaptable, flexible, affordable and sustainable legal aid system in Scotland that supports people who are facing challenging issues and problems.

That process will shape the content of the Bill and inform when it can be introduced to Parliament.

Transport Scotland officials engage regularly with Network Rail Scotland to ensure that Scottish Minister’s requirements as specified here: Scottish Ministers’ High Level Output Specification (HLOS) - Control Period 7 - 2024 – 2029 | Transport Scotland are met by Network Rail.

Transport Scotland works with Network Rail to review and revise its programme of works against priorities in the context of available funding. This ensures Transport Scotland can deliver the right projects at the right time as it seeks to progress its rolling programme of decarbonisation, whilst also delivering rail passenger and freight services that meet user expectations.

The railway delivery partners will continue to review and assess suitability of railway infrastructure to ensure it continues to meet the current and future passenger demand, as much as possible and in the context of the available funding.

The information requested is not held centrally by the Scottish Government. In 2026-27 we have added £14.4 million to the record £17.6 billion of core funding to Health Boards to ensure that the ongoing costs of consumables for people currently using closed loop systems continue to be met.

The Cabinet Secretary for Health and Care wrote to Board Chief Executives on 29 May 2026 stating her expectation that this funding is spent on closed loop system consumables as intended and asking them to confirm the steps being taken in their Boards to ensure this happens.

The safety of our maternity services is a priority to this government, which is why we have committed to undertake an independent review of maternity services in Scotland. I will shortly be setting out a statement to Parliament detailing what the review will consider, when it will be delivered, how it will engage with stakeholders, how it will be led and the timeframe it will operate in.

The Scottish Government, along with the other nations of the UK, follows the advice of the UK National Screening Committee (UK NSC), an independent expert advisory group, when setting screening policy.

The UK NSC does not currently recommend a universal screening programme for prostate cancer. However, on 28 May, the Committee recommended two yearly screening for men aged 45-61 who have both a BRCA2 gene variant and a family history of breast, ovarian, pancreatic or prostate cancer. The Committee concluded that there is sufficient evidence in this group to determine that the benefits of screening outweigh potential harms. The Scottish Government will set out how we will implement this recommendation in due course.

The UK NSC did not recommend screening more widely because they have concluded that there is not yet sufficient evidence to show that the benefits for other men would outweigh the risks. Evidence shows that current methods of screening can miss some cancers and are not accurate enough at identifying which men with prostate cancer will require treatment. This can lead to the detection of cancers that would not have caused harm in a person’s lifetime, resulting in unnecessary tests and treatments with potentially serious, long term side effects.

Research into alternative screening methods is ongoing, including the use of MRI and blood tests. Of particular note is the TRANSFORM study, funded by the National Institute for Health and Care Research and Prostate Cancer UK, which will run over ten years and recruit hundreds of thousands of men. Early findings will be shared with the UK NSC to inform future decisions, and the Scottish Government will monitor progress of the trial closely.

I refer the member to the answer to question S7W-00228 on 1 June 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 provides baseline funding to NHS Dumfries and Galloway which is used to best meet the healthcare needs of their resident population. Funding is not ring-fenced for the provision of NHS Dentistry and it is not therefore possible to provide this figure.

The Scottish Government does not hold this information centrally.

The Scottish Government recognises the challenges faced for patients accessing NHS dentistry in rural and island areas, which is why we have provided an additional £437k of recurring funding from 2025-26 to support access to dental services in NHS Dumfries and Galloway.