Chamber and committees

The Scottish Government Resilience Room (SGORR) is the Scottish Government’s central co-ordination mechanism for responding to civil contingencies emergencies. SGORR activates when and for as long as the severity and complexity of an emergency is such that urgent co-ordination, support or strategic direction from or within the Scottish Government is required and cannot be provided effectively through business-as-usual structures or other Scottish Government response mechanisms. Incidents which may meet this threshold include but are not restricted to severe weather events; terrorist attacks; pandemics; significant disruption to the supply of essential services/utilities or large-scale public disorder.

During the response to a civil contingencies emergency, the Scottish Government Resilience Room (SGORR) will usually engage with resilience partnerships formed by relevant categorised responder agencies (e.g. local authorities and other public bodies relevant to the response). SGORR engages with these resilience partnerships via liaison officers and/or through direct engagement with responders. Members of the Civil Contingencies Division Civil Contingencies Liaison Team and/or SGORR may deploy as Scottish Government Liaison Officers (SGLOs) to the partnerships, supporting the two-way flow of information and situational awareness so that emerging issues and trends are quickly identified and handled as appropriate.

The Scottish Government Resilience Room (SGORR) takes part in a number of exercises every year to test its response protocols and overall effectiveness, train its staff and ensure a shared understanding of roles and responsibilities with partners. These exercises range from Tier 1 exercises (organised by UK Government and simulating a UK-level response) to SGORR-internal training exercises. The number of exercises SGORR participates in varies from year to year. To date in 2025, SGORR has completed six SGORR training exercises, and is currently planning to participate in a Tier 1 exercise later this year.

Each territorial Health Board across Scotland has agreed performance improvement plans in place, detailing what is being done at local level to drive improvements. The Scottish Government has a sustained focus on the delivery of these plans and meet with Cancer Management Teams in all Health Boards across Scotland frequently, including NHS Grampian, to identify challenges, explore solutions, and share best practice.

This year we have allocated an additional £30 million funding to reduce waiting times across a range of specialities, including diagnostics and cancer. As part of this, NHS Grampian were allocated almost £200,000 for the treatment of skin cancer.

If approved by Parliament, the Scottish Government’s budget for the coming year will invest a record £21.7 billion in Scotland’s health and social care services, including £200 million to reduce waiting lists and improve capacity.

In addition, our National Digital Dermatology Programme, backed by £1.8 million funding, will help to reduce long waits for outpatient dermatology appointments across Scotland’s NHS. This allows for images of skin conditions to be captured in Primary Care and securely transferred to clinicians so diagnoses and follow-up appointments can be arranged. This leads to a better and quicker service for patients – allowing clinicians to see patients in the right place sooner - and could potentially reduce demand for outpatient dermatology appointments by up to 50 per cent.

The Digital Dermatology Programme was launched in November 2024, with patients in Dumfries and Galloway and Greater Glasgow and Clyde the first to benefit from this new pathway, and is due to be deployed to all Health Boards, including NHS Grampian, by Spring 2025.

Further information on the approach to social housing will be set out in in the renewed plan of action for cladding remediation to be published in March.

Food Standards Scotland (FSS) manages talent strategically to build a high performing workplace and commitment within the People Strategy 2022 - 2026 to build a high performing workforce and foster a climate of learning. FSS has demonstrated a commitment to investing in its people through offering a diverse range of learning activities. Employees and Line Managers are encouraged to make effective use of Personal Development Planning by utilising personal learning plans. FSS offers mandatory learning for all staff across a broad range of topics including HSE, Data Protection, Inclusive Culture, Diversity and Inclusion and learning is accessed across a range of available platforms including SG Pathways, Civil Service Learning and Essential Skills. A range of inhouse learning has been developed including face to face and e-learning packages. In 2024, FSS undertook a skills audit to support in identifying skills gaps and to ensure that our staff are offered the opportunity engage in activities to enhance their own development including job shadowing, project work and to work with new colleagues to gain new experiences. Leadership and Management Development opportunities have also been offered to our staff to ensure that we develop our talent and equip managers with the right skills and experience to effectively lead and manage their teams.

The Food Crime and Incidents Unit currently have 23 members of staff compared to 14 members of staff in 2018.

The average length of time between the date of alleged commission of a criminal offence and the date of a final court verdict increased considerably as a consequence of the coronavirus pandemic and restrictions brought in to try to limit the spread of coronavirus.

This affected the prosecution of all types of offences, including speeding offences. Scottish Government investment has helped aid the recovery of the summary courts from the effects of the pandemic.

(a) The Scottish Government does not hold information on the number of penalties issued for speeding offences by specific trunk road location or road number. This level of detail is not recorded in the Criminal Proceedings database.

(b) The latest available information on convictions is for the financial year 2022-23.

Number of people convicted for speeding offences (regardless of location), where main crime, by result, 2018-19 to 2022-23.

The Scottish Government Resilience Room (SGORR), like any other part of Scotland’s resilience system, conducts regular debriefs following activations, gathers feedback from stakeholders on its effectiveness, and works with partners to identify notable practice. This regular identification and implementation of lessons ensures the continuous improvement of the SGORR function. Numerous improvements have been implemented in the past 10 years, including a comprehensive review of standard operating procedures, the updating of technology, and initiatives to secure more strategic, regular engagement with partners, e.g. a meeting series held during the winter season to review collective preparedness for winter hazards.