Chamber and committees

As outlined in my response to question S6W-44015, audit recommendations regarding this decision will be implemented by Glasgow City Health & Social Care Partnership (HSCP) officers, who are accountable to the Glasgow City Integration Joint Board (IJB) Finance, Audit and Scrutiny Committee.

All of the audit recommendations were accepted by Glasgow City IJB management, with implementation completion dates of 31 January 2026 to 30 June 2026.

The HSCP has advised that wider organisational learning will also be applied as an outcome of this implementation process.

The Scottish Government provides funding to Health Boards and Local Authorities and it is ultimately for local partners to agree a joint, integrated budget which will enable them to meet the needs of local people in line with their Strategic Objectives. It would therefore not be appropriate for the Scottish Government to intervene in relation to specific local decisions.

While we cannot intervene in decisions made by IJBs, we have facilitated engagement between health boards and HSCPs around the commissioning of support services for Huntington’s Disease. We continue to encourage all partners to work together to find solutions that put the needs of local people at the centre of decision making.

As noted in my response to question S6W-43974 on 5 March 2026, the National Radiology Lead from the Centre for Sustainable Delivery meets regularly with Health Boards to discuss imaging performance, staffing levels and scanner stock. NHS Boards have been asked to provide plans to support delivery of the 95% target of patients seen within 6 weeks throughout 2026-27, which includes reporting of scans.

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 works with Health Boards through planning to make best use of existing NHS resources and capacity, it is for Health Boards locally to determine how they use the private sector and to agree any contractual arrangements. The Scottish Government no longer provides direct funding to private providers for planned care, therefore, this information is not held.

Since publication of the Diagnostic Imaging Workforce Plan in May 2023, the Scottish Government has continued to support education and training pathways for clinical radiologists. Over the past five years, 164 Clinical Radiology training posts have been advertised and all filled, strengthening future workforce supply.

We are progressing Phase 2 of the Future Medical Workforce Project to co-design solutions across medical education, workplace culture and long-term planning, including measures to support Consultant Clinical Radiology capacity, which underpins diagnostic imaging services.

NHS Boards are implementing service improvements, including pathway redesign and expanded advanced practice roles, supporting productivity gains under the NHS Scotland Operational Improvement Plan. Work also continues to introduce new technologies, including AI, to enhance reporting capacity and streamline workflows.

While the Scottish Government sets national policy, operational staffing matters rest with NHS Boards, and we have no plans to make a statement at this time. We will continue to work with Boards and national partners to ensure sustained progress in delivering the Plan’s recommendations and strengthening diagnostic capacity across Scotland.

Throughout 2025-26, all Boards were expected to incrementally ramp-up activity as the capacity provided by the £22 million additional funding operationalised, with some high volume initiatives commencing in the latter part of the year.

All Boards are making every effort to achieve this target.

The Scottish Government monitors wider trends across all sectors, including the print industry, through Skills Development Scotland (SDS) and the Scottish Funding Council (SFC).

As our national skills body, SDS has operational responsibility for managing apprenticeship funding and delivery, and regularly monitors demand across all sectors, including print related frameworks.

We will continue to work with key stakeholders to assess sectoral skill needs across the economy and ensure that all sectors, including those in the print industry, can access appropriate support where required.

The Scottish Government has made clear that it stands in solidarity with the Ukrainian government and its people and resolutely condemns Russia’s illegal war against Ukraine.

Putting real pressure on Russia relies on the effectiveness of the international sanctions regime.

The Scottish Government fully supports the UK Government’s sanctions regime against Russia, and has urged the UK Government to take all possible action to ensure the effectiveness of its sanctions regime in exerting pressure on the Russian regime.

I refer the member to the answers to questions S6W-43500 on 12 February 2026 and S6W-35994 28 March 2025. 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 were approached by Glasgow Life for £4.5m funding towards the refurbishment. The request was flexible and could be split across multiple financial years with the majority of funding coming in 2027-28. The culture capital allocation is primarily focused on supporting the culture bodies which refers to Scottish Government directly funded culture and historic environment public bodies, including the care and maintenance of their historic estates. Officials will continue dialogue with Glasgow Life about the project.

I am aware of Print Scotland’s concerns over the funding differences in training contributions between England and Scotland. Print Scotland have written to Skills Development Scotland (SDS) and will meet to discuss this further.

Apprenticeship funding in Scotland follows a contribution model that differs from England, alongside often differing training and assessment requirements, so cannot be directly compared.

We have committed to reviewing apprenticeship contribution rates and published the scope of this review on Friday 13 March as part of wider work on Modern Apprenticeship (MA) reform. The scope and terms of reference can be found here: Modern apprenticeship contribution rates review: terms of reference - gov.scot

The review will be in two stages. The first stage has already started and this will include working with our delivery partners to gather the necessary evidence. We expect the second stage of this review to be undertaken from February 2027 and we intend to publish a report following the outcome of the review.