Chamber and committees

No such information has been sought.

This is an operational matter for Scottish Enterprise (SE) and as such I have asked Adrian Gillespie, Chief Executive of SE to write to you with a full response.

Following the publication of the draft Scottish Budget, we have agreed funding to support an extension of the Investing in Communities Fund for the existing organisations supported by the Fund. This transition funding will provide support for 2026-27, and we are working with eligible organisations to assess their funding needs.

In 2025-26 we allocated £315,000 to FareShare to redistribute high quality surplus food to community organisations with an emphasis on shared meals and promoting cash-first.

We also allocated a total of almost £200,000 to the four established regional community food networks in Scotland, which are Community Food Initiatives North East, Lanarkshire Community Food and Health Partnership, Edinburgh Community Food and the Glasgow Community Food Network. This funding helps tackle food insecurity, promotes community food and supports improved health and wellbeing.

Through our Investing in Communities Fund, we have provided around £2.8 million of funding each year between 2023-26 to 32 organisations to enable them to provide holistic support services to address poverty and inequality, including activities to directly tackle food insecurity.

I opened an event with clinicians and third sector organisations on 25 February to set out the role and remit of the work on long term conditions going forward.

The opening Health Capital position in each year begins with a projected overcommitment that is then managed to arrive at a breakeven outturn position.

The following table provides a forecast of costs in 2026-27 under a breakeven assumption, but are subject to change as the year progresses.

The Young Patients Family Fund (YPFF) is designed to support the families of all babies, children and young people from birth to age 18 who require inpatient care in Scotland regardless of diagnosis.

Financial support for travel to hospital appointments is available through the patient travel expenses reimbursement schemes. Under these schemes, patients and authorised escorts may reclaim reasonable travel costs associated with attending hospital appointments, subject to eligibility criteria and clinical requirements. These arrangements apply across Scotland and provide support to eligible young people and their families irrespective of condition.

Scottish Government officials met with counterparts in the UK Department of Health and Social Care in March 2025 as part of wider engagement on the development of their National Cancer Plan for England. During this meeting, officials shared learning on the implementation and administration of the Young Patients Family Fund.

The Full Business Case for the Digital Front Door (DFD) programme has been approved and includes a range of financial projections over the five-year period, and delivery options. The wider DFD programme includes the delivery of the MyCare.scot app and all associated non-digital support that is required.

The Scottish Government published its Once for Scotland approach to rehabilitation on 21 June 2022: Rehabilitation and Recovery: A Person-centred Approach. This sets out the Six Principles of Good Rehabilitation, which set out our expectations for rehabilitation services in Scotland.

NHS Boards are encouraged to use these Six Principles as a benchmarking tool and to test and scale up improvements at a local level. We continue to work with Allied Health Profession leads in NHS Boards to refine the tool to best support local self-assessment of rehabilitation services in NHS Boards.

While the Scottish Government sets the strategic policy for the NHS in Scotland, it is NHS Boards and healthcare professionals locally who have responsibility for both service delivery and ensuring people receive the right care for them, taking into account relevant guidance and the needs of patients. The National Rehabilitation Network, established by the Scottish Government, brings together professionals working in rehabilitation services across NHS Boards to share good practice, to support learning and improvement.

The Scottish Government is delighted to be a member of the World Rehabilitation Alliance (WRA), which formally launched in July 2023. We are supportive of the principles underpinning the WRA’s work, which aligns with our existing policy, and are committed to improving and supporting rehabilitation services in Scotland and sharing our approach and learning internationally.

The draft Budget 2026-27 set out a further £160 million investment to enable the payment of the Real Living Wage to adult social care workers in commissioned services in the next financial year.