Current status: Answered by Neil Gray on 5 December 2025
To ask the Scottish Government, further to the statement on 2025-26 Winter Preparedness by the Cabinet Secretary for Health and Social Care on 13 November 2025, for what reason this statement was made at a later point in the year than the similar statement for 2024-25, which was delivered on 24 September 2024.
The statement on 13 November covered both winter preparedness and the broader work we have been undertaking on national planning. The timing reflects the Scottish Government’s strategic shift toward embedding surge and winter planning as a core year-round operational priority, rather than a discrete seasonal exercise.
It is important to recognise that the statement did not mark the start of the winter planning process, but rather was an opportunity to communicate to Parliament the work being undertaken within the context of national planning. Planning for winter pressures began immediately after last winter, informed by lessons learned from last year.