The NHS Scotland Support and Intervention Framework is one of the key elements of the evidence-based approach to monitoring performance and managing risk across the NHS in Scotland.

In 2025-26 NHS Boards received increased investment in their baseline funding, bringing total investment to over £16.2 billion, with NHS Dumfries and Galloway receiving over £425 million. This represents increased investment of £60.7 million from 2024-25, including additional funding to provide for prior year pay deals, as well as a range of funding to support vital frontline services.

NHS Dumfries and Galloway’s resource budget has increased by 22.3% in real terms between 2010-11 and 2025-26, and in cash terms has increased by £218 million, 105.1%, from 2006-07 to 2025-26.

NHS Dumfries and Galloway are currently at Stage Two of the Framework for finance and all NHS Boards are continuously reviewed against the framework based on their financial position.

Following this review the decision was made for NHS Dumfries and Galloway to be escalated to Stage Three of the Framework for finance. This is based upon an assessment of the financial sustainability of the Board, and the level of support required to deliver a return to financial stability.

Stage Three escalation comes into effect from 7th August 2025 and involves enhanced monitoring and support from Scottish Government. This includes increased oversight and coordinated engagement to ensure the Board is provided the appropriate support and return to financial sustainability. This will include increased oversight from the Chief Finance Officer of Health and Social Care.

The Scottish Government will continue to work with NHS Dumfries and Galloway to monitor their financial position and assist with longer term financial planning and improvement. Regular updates will be provided to Ministers on the financial position of NHS Dumfries and Galloway following this escalation.

The Scottish Government recognises the importance of raising awareness of conditions such as pulmonary fibrosis and welcome the work of third sector organisations in raising awareness.

We currently have no events planned for Pulmonary Fibrosis Awareness month in September.

No. It is the Scottish Government’s view that both parents should be fully involved in their child’s life, as long as this is practical and in the child’s best interests.

There is no legal presumption in favour of shared parenting in section 11 of the Children (Scotland) Act 1995, which is the key legislation in relation to contact, residence and parental responsibilities and rights. When deciding whether to make an order under section 11 (e.g. a contact or residence order) the welfare of the child must be the court’s paramount consideration.

The Scottish Government has no plans to change the law to introduce a presumption of shared parenting, as this could cut across the driving principle of the legislation that the welfare of the child is paramount.

However, section 16 of the Children (Scotland) Act 2020, once in force, will require the court to consider the effect of any order under section 11 of the 1995 Act on the involvement of the child's parents in bringing the child up. We plan to make further commencement regulations later this year to bring provisions, including section 16, into force in October 2026.

Statistics relating to the waits patients experience for inpatient or day case treatment at specialty level are published up to 31 March 2025 and can be found using the following link: https://publichealthscotland.scot/media/32913/ipdc_may25.xlsx.

The latest statistics for ongoing gynaecology waits for inpatient or day case treatment within each NHS board is presented in sheet 2.2 Table. The next release of this publication, covering statistics up to 30 June 2025 will be on 26 August 2025.

Public Health Scotland (PHS) does not hold the required information relating to waiting times for gynaecological biopsies. This is due to two reasons:

• PHS understands that most gynaecological biopsies are carried out in an outpatient setting. Whilst biopsies that are carried out in a consultant-led new outpatient clinic are subject to the 12-week national standard and will be included in the data supplied by NHS boards, detail on new outpatient procedures are not routinely captured. Therefore, the corresponding waits cannot be identified nationally.
• Some gynaecological biopsies will be carried out in a day case setting. However, diagnostics tests and investigations are not reportable under the 12-week Treatment Time Guarantee. Therefore, the corresponding waiting times data is not held centrally.

More detailed information on the gynaecological biopsies that are planned or undertaken for a patient will be held locally by NHS boards.

The Scottish Government is aware that supplies of some attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) medicines continue to be intermittent. The supply of medicines, including those for the treatment of ADHD, and the associated legislation are a reserved matter for the UK Government, and we continue to engage with them on these supply issues.

The Chief Pharmaceutical Officer (CPO) for Scotland is a member of the UK-wide Medicines Shortage Response Group (MSRG). The MSRG has been set up to identify and co-ordinate responses to medicines shortages across the UK and provides advice to clinicians on alternative therapeutic options as appropriate. Prescribers and pharmacists have access to a medicines supply tracking tool which provides advice on each shortage, including alternative treatment options.

The NHS in Scotland has robust processes in place to manage supply issues when they do arise and normally there are alternative products which can be prescribed and dispensed. Scottish Government officials are working closely with all Health Boards and other stakeholders to help manage the supply disruptions with ADHD medicines and provide support when needed.

The CPO held a roundtable meeting with key stakeholders in Scotland in November 2024 to better understand the impact of ADHD medicine shortages locally and to determine if there is any further action that can be taken to strengthen our response. Following the meeting the CPO wrote to Health Boards to provide further background on medicines shortages more generally, how they are managed, and to clarify the current position on ADHD prescribing.

The Scottish Government remains committed to implementing a high quality and clinically safe thrombectomy service that is available across Scotland whenever people need it. The majority of NHS Boards can now refer to thrombectomy Hub centres, increasing geographical access to thrombectomy procedures.

Scottish Government officials and NHS planners have been asked to work at pace on developing a plan for the next steps for service expansion. While there is not a specific date for publication, we expect the next steps for service expansion to reflect work to align the governance and delivery of thrombectomy with similar national programmes. This alignment with wider health service planning aims to support oversight of thrombectomy planning for the NHS Chief Executive Group and encourage greater collaboration between NHS Boards in delivering this vital service.

The Scottish Government has committed to refresh the Additional Support for Learning Statutory Code of Practice Guidance as part of the delivery of the Additional Support for Learning Action Plan. We have been working collaboratively with a range of education partners and policy areas, including those with a focus on transitions, to ensure it continues to fully support schools and local authorities to fulfil their duties under the Additional Support for Learning Act 2004.

A public consultation will be undertaken in the Autumn of 2025, providing an opportunity for wider stakeholders with an interest in the Code of Practice to share their views.

The number of fishers working on Scottish registered vessels on 31 December 2024, whose main gear in 2024 was a towed gear (trawl or dredge), was 1,761. This includes 1,708 regular fishers and 53 irregular fishers. This information is provisional and may be revised when the final Sea Fisheries Statistics publication is released in October 2025.

Today I have published the Cladding Remediation Programme: Next Phase Plan of Action which can be found here: www.gov.scot/isbn/9781836919636.

There has been significant and measurable progress in expansion and pace since the publication of Plan of Action for Cladding Remediation in March 2025. Notable progress has been seen with the Single Open Call, priority Single Building Assessments, and continuing information-gathering.

• 600 Expressions of Interest have been submitted via the Single Open Call as of 30 June 2025, reflecting significant demand. All submitted Expressions of Interest are being processed at pace, with 258 initial grant funding offers already issued by the Scottish Government as of 24 July 2025.
• All priority Single Building Assessments via the Scottish Government-led assessment process remain on track to be returned by end of August.
• The ongoing information-gathering exercise to verify the status of buildings over 18 metres in height has now commenced a second phase, to capture buildings between 11 – 18 metres. I expect to be able to confirm the status of all high- rise buildings with known cladding by end of October 2025.

Notwithstanding this considerable increase in pace and progress, there remains an urgent need to speed up the process of assessment, mitigation and remediation. This next phase, August 2025 - March 2026, is defined by key deliverables and supported by a clear model for delivery. The plan I am publishing today aims to ensure this phase moves decisively from identification to resolution and will lay the foundation towards long-term targets. To ensure the success of this phase:

• I am providing equal access to Government funding for mitigation and remediation works for both private residential properties and social housing, ensuring access to support for mitigation and remediation of cladding-related risks.
• I am allocating a further £10 million funding to accelerate mitigation efforts, prioritising buildings flagged by Single Building Assessments as posing immediate risks. This includes the proactive use of mitigation measures, and the installation of interlinked fire alarm systems where appropriate, because protecting people’s lives cannot wait.
• I am increasing funding for the Stage One of the Single Open Call to £20 million, meaning every eligible application received before the end of 2025 will be able to move forward without hesitation.
• I am launching Stage Two of the Single Open Call, providing owners with a pathway to be considered for further government support for any required mitigation and/or essential cladding remediation works identified through a Single Building Assessment funded through Stage One. Funding will be made available, with applications prioritised against risk.
• I will ensure the comprehensive data-gathering and assurance exercises include working directly with owners to ensure that buildings are not overlooked and that all data is accurate. Data collection and assurance will continue throughout the lifespan of the programme.
• I have set a deadline of 31 October 2025 for developers to sign the Developer Remediation Contract, which will hold developers formally accountable to fully fund and deliver remediation on the buildings they are responsible for.

Finally, I have committed the Scottish Government to a long-term strategic goal:

• By 2029 every high-risk residential building over 18 metres in Scotland will have been resolved - whether made safe, decommissioned or replaced - and every building between 11 and 18 metres will be on a defined pathway to resolution — supported by robust assessment, planning and funding for essential cladding remediation.

There remains a multiplicity of issues and challenges in Scotland, and it is our role to ensure that despite the challenges we provide clear and supported pathways for those responsible to take swift action. I want to assure residents and owners that we are committed to working with all stakeholders to deliver a built environment where unsafe cladding no longer poses a risk to life.

Established in 2014, the National Eyecare Workstream was set up to influence and embed change in the way that eyecare services are delivered in Scotland. The workstream focuses on using capacity and capabilities differently within and across Primary and Secondary Care, drawing together the different strands of work that contribute to building a sustainable service.

Throughout its duration, the National Eyecare Workstream has supported extensive data collection and analysis of hospital eyecare services, including future capacity and demand for cataract surgery. In 2018, taking into account population growth and demographic change, demand for cataract surgery was forecast to grow by up to 47% to 2035.

More recently the Royal College of Ophthalmologists has projected an increase in demand of 25% in the next 10 years and 50% over the next 20 years.

The National Eyecare Workstream has been working with Health Boards to streamline each stage in the cataract pathway to ensure maximisation of all available resources across the country.

In May 2021, the National Eyecare Workstream commissioned the Centre for Sustainable Delivery (CfSD) to deliver a Short Life Working Group (SLWG) to focus on improving efficiency and productivity within cataract only theatre sessions in line with the latest guidance from the Royal College of Ophthalmologists. This SLWG has supported several new and innovative pathway developments, including high volume cataract surgery in ring-fenced sessions and delivering one cataract every 30 mins. In parallel with this, the National Eyecare Workstream is undertaking clinically-led peer reviews which supports new and efficient ways of working and shares best practices across the country across a number of ocular sub-specialties, including cataracts.

A number of ophthalmic surgeons are now undertaking immediate sequential bilateral cataract surgery to prevent patients having to travel twice for surgical intervention enabling both cataract surgeries to be performed on the same day, one after the other. In a number of Health Board areas, non-medical staff have been upskilled to pre-assess and list patients for cataract surgery freeing-up ophthalmologists’ time to undertake duties only they are qualified to do e.g. perform cataract surgery.

The National Eyecare Workstream has also undertaken a workforce review across the entirety of NHS eye care services in Scotland. This was required to support workforce and service planning, and to ensure ongoing workforce sustainability. The final report, published in 2023, is available here: https://www.nhscfsd.co.uk/media/pjwntap4/national-ophthalmic-workforce-review-may-2023.pdf

In addition, our National Treatment Centres (NTC) programme provides additional protected elective capacity and infrastructure to meet the needs of the aging population, which is projected to grow by 25-30% between 2015 - 2035. We have allocated an additional £2.6 million to National Treatment Centre (NTC) Highland to deliver thousands of additional orthopaedic and ophthalmic operations every year, with approximately 61% of the additional funding intended to support ophthalmic procedures.

This is part of our wider investment of £110 million to address long waits for planned care, which includes over £12 million funding for ophthalmology services.

A number of Health Boards also have additional cataract slots at Golden Jubilee National Hospital.