Chamber and committees

Following the launch of a new national evidence-based pathway for coeliac disease in 2018, we expect all Health Boards to fully implement the Coeliac Disease Pathway in Scotland to improve under diagnosis, time to diagnosis and to ensure dietetic person-centred support for people living with this condition so that they can take control and manage its impact on their health and quality of life.

Our £70 million Endoscopy and Urology Diagnostic Recovery and Renewal Plan is increasing capacity and supporting workforce training. This also includes a commitment to promote and implement guidelines for non-biopsy diagnosis for coeliac disease, which is expected to reduce waiting times for diagnosis for this condition.

Upper gastrointestinal endoscopy is invasive and often requires sedation or anaesthesia. A no-biopsy approach, now fully adopted across adult services in Scotland, reduces the need for endoscopy and speeds up diagnosis for eligible patients.

We intend to report annually on the progress of the Service Renewal Framework (SRF). Implementation is well under way to deliver the stated actions in the SRF, with a particular focus on the Year One actions published.

With regard to resourcing, the SRF is designed to make better use of the resources we already have — not to rely on new funding. It is about doing things differently, not doing more with less. It is a ten-year plan to make health and care services more sustainable, effective, and person-centred.

By aligning efforts and promoting collaboration, the SRF will support partners to get the most value from the totality of public investment. As financial sustainability is key to the SRF, financial implications will be considered in parallel with the refinement of actions, including understanding the investment required and development of cost/benefits calculations.

The Modernising Patient Pathway Programme - Coeliac Disease test of change report - October 2020 | Turas | Learn estimates that the incidence of diagnosed Coeliac Disease is 1% of the population in Scotland with 7-8 people remaining undiagnosed for every person diagnosed.

The Scottish Government is committed to ensuring that all people living in Scotland with long term conditions such as coeliac disease are able to access the best possible care and support, and benefit from healthcare services that are safe, effective and put the person at the centre of their care.

We expect all Health Boards to fully implement the Coeliac Disease Pathway in Scotland to improve under diagnosis and improve time to diagnosis for those with coeliac disease. Our £70 million Endoscopy and Urology Diagnostic Recovery and Renewal Plan is increasing capacity and supporting workforce training. This also includes a commitment to promote and implement guidelines for non-biopsy diagnosis for coeliac disease, which is expected to reduce waiting times for diagnosis for this condition.

The Scottish Government published revised guidance for education authorities and schools in November 2024. This guidance includes advice on prejudice-based bullying and is available from Anti-bullying guidance for adults working with children and young people - gov.scot. In addition, in 2025/26 we are providing £298,480 to respectme, Scotland’s national anti-bullying service, to provide advice and resources to schools, parents and carers to support and educate young people on the impact of bullying and build confidence and capacity to address bullying.

Since 2021, Scotland has led globally on embedding LGBT inclusive education across the curriculum, providing online resources, staff training modules, teaching toolkits, and creative materials like Scots-language poetry, all aimed at helping schools integrate LGBT+ themes and foster equality. In December 2024, the Scottish Government published the National Approach to LGBT inclusive education guidance for Scottish schools and teachers, which sets out the steps we have put in place to ensure LGBT inclusive education can be delivered consistently in schools across Scotland. The Scottish Government also continues to support LGBT and other organisations to help address concerns about bullying in schools. This includes support for LGBTQI+ equality by funding organisations such as respectme, LGBT Youth Scotland and Time for Inclusive Education (TIE).

LGBT Youth Scotland’s Charter Programme also helps schools, colleges, and universities create safe, inclusive environments for LGBTQ+ learners and staff, an effort made more urgent by rising attacks on the community.

The Scottish Government is committed to ensuring that the Supporting Transgender Young People in Schools guidance remains up to date and fit for purpose. As with any significant legal or policy developments, we are considering whether the guidance requires to be updated to reflect these. That consideration is ongoing.

The Scottish Government will engage with organisations representing a range of interests, as appropriate.

The Scottish Government is committed to ensuring that the Supporting Transgender Young People in Schools guidance remains up to date and fit for purpose. As with any significant legal or policy developments, we are considering whether the guidance requires to be updated to reflect these.

In the meantime, the Scottish Government has ensured that education authorities and schools have been made aware of the interim update provided by the EHRC, the regulatory body for the Equality Act 2010.

The Scottish Government recognises that this will be a worrying time for transgender young people and their families.

Education authorities and schools provide a range of wellbeing support to children and young people which is planned and provided using the Getting it right for every child approach, ranging from pastoral care and support to targeted support, such as counselling provided through schools.

The approaches to provision of support will be tailored to the individual needs of the young person concerned.

The Wellbeing Economy Monitor will be published on the Scottish Government webpages and can be found using the site search facility when searching for the terms “Wellbeing Economy Monitor” or “Wellbeing Economy”. We intend to bring together the Wellbeing Economy material as a collection on our webpages including previously published monitors which should add to its prominence.

The Wellbeing Economy Monitor is being published slightly later than planned owing to a review of the data and in order to make further improvements to the reporting. The updated monitor will be published in week commencing 14 July 2025. In addition to the Wellbeing Economy Monitor we will publish a data toolkit containing national and local data and a short report summarising wellbeing economy policy approaches in Scotland and internationally.

Our palliative care strategy – Palliative Care Matters for All – which is due to be published later this summer, focuses on resources to support programmes of work such as data collection, staff education and future care planning, to support organisations responsible for delivering palliative care services across Scotland. The palliative care strategy is supported by a budget of £2.05 million for 2025-26. This will support Integration Joint Boards, Health Boards, and third sector organisations such as independent hospices and care homes, to deliver high quality palliative care.