Chamber and committees

The Scottish Government has supported the development of Men’s Sheds across Scotland for over a decade, recognising their important role in improving health, wellbeing and social connection. We have invested more than £1 million in the Scottish Men’s Sheds Association (SMSA) to support the growth and sustainability of the movement, which has helped expand the network from a small number of Sheds to over 200 groups across all 32 local authority areas, with new Sheds continuing to form.

As part of this overall investment, the SMSA received £72,264 from the Social Isolation and Loneliness Fund to support the development of Sheds in the Highland area.

The SMSA provides guidance, and advice on all governance and infrastructure matters to both new and existing Sheds. The SMSA also helps Sheds secure appropriate insurance, health and safety compliance, develop sustainable funding models, and access training, resources and peer support networks. In addition, it offers practical assistance to allow Sheds to operate effectively and remain viable over time.

Individual Sheds are however responsible for securing their own funding and, collectively, have received £452,819 through the Communities Mental Health and Wellbeing Fund for adults in the first four years of the Fund.

The Scottish Government has confirmed funding of £75,000 for financial year 2026-27 to the Scottish Men’s Sheds Association in Scotland.

The Scottish Government does not hold information on the lease arrangements for Shettleston Police Station.

The management of the Police Scotland estate is an operational matter, and is the responsibility of the Chief Constable under the scrutiny of the Scottish Police Authority.

The 2026-27 Scottish Police Authority budget is over £1.7 billion. This includes £86.3 million capital budget, an uplift of £16.3 million compared to the published 2025-26 Autumn Budget Revision budget, which will ensure that Police Scotland can continue to invest in essential infrastructure and to deliver its Estates Masterplan.

The 2025-26 budget and Programme for Government set out current infrastructure investment commitments for acute sites, and this was reconfirmed in the Infrastructure Delivery Pipeline published on 13 January.

The financial position is expected to remain challenging and to ensure that available capital funding can be directed to best effect, we are currently working with all health boards to develop an NHS whole system infrastructure plan for Scotland. This will support continued safe and effective use of existing facilities as well as informing future investment priorities based on assessment of need across the whole of Scotland.

The first phase, Business Continuity Planning, is focussed on priority investment in the existing estate to support service continuity. Boards have already completed their risk-based assessments and received confirmation of items which can be progressed with additional funding from the Scottish Government.

The second phase is focussed on the longer-term development of the estate to meet national, regional and local needs. All health boards have been asked to undertake strategic needs assessments for three local investment priorities. Returns will then be considered on a whole of Scotland basis.

This approach aligns with the Scottish Government’s Health and Social Care Service Renewal Framework, which was published in June. You may also find DL(2025) 15 helpful, which provides further information on NHS whole system infrastructure planning (DL 2025-15).

In addition, NHS Boards have full delegated authority to allocate funding from within their annual capital allocation budget towards maintenance, equipment and other items of capital outlay. Any requests for capital funding outwith their annual capital allocation must follow the governance process and be approved by the appropriate Scottish Government official as outlined in the Annex to DL (2025) 15.

From April 2007 to December 2025, the Affordable Housing Supply Programme has supported the delivery of 23,634 homes in Glasgow City Council area with 16,237 being for social rent.

A table showing the number of social and affordable approvals, starts and completions by local authority area can be accessed using the following link (note: this will be updated shortly with latest housing statistics up to 31 December 2025):

Affordable Housing Supply Programme: quarterly updates on approvals, site starts and completions by local authority

Homes delivered through the Affordable Housing Supply Programme comprise homes for social rent, for mid-market rent and for low cost home ownership. These homes take various forms including; new build homes, rehabilitation projects, conversions and off-the-shelf purchases of both new and second hand homes.

The full PEF allocations for Glasgow schools in the last five years are set out in the following table. 2026-27 PEF allocations will be published in due course.

This is an operational matter for ScotRail. The Member may wish to contact ScotRail directly for the information.

In addition, the Office for Rail and Road (ORR) publishes statistical information on station usage on its website, which can be accessed here: Estimates of station usage | ORR Data Portal.

The provision of allotments is the responsibility of local authorities as set out in the Community Empowerment (Scotland) Act 2015 (“the 2015 Act”), Part 9.

Section 111 of the 2015 Act requires local authorities to maintain a waiting list of persons who ask to lease or sublease an allotment. Section 112 then requires local authorities to take steps to manage the number of persons on that list.

In accordance with section 121 of the 2015 Act, local authorities report annually on the provision of allotments in their areas. The legislation clearly defines the mandatory information to be included in the annual allotment reports which includes;

• the location and size of each allotment site,
• the number of allotments on each allotment site,
• the rent payable,
• the number of people on the waiting list and how many have been waiting 5 years or more,
• the number of allotments on each allotment site that are accessible by a disabled person,
• the number of allotments adjusted to meet the needs of a tenant who is a disabled person,
• the income received, and expenditure incurred, by the authority in connection with allotment sites,
• such other information as may be prescribed.

Annual Allotment Reports are available online from the Glasgow City Council website. Those reports are required to include information on the demand for and supply of allotments in Glasgow. The Scottish Government does not collect this information centrally and does not hold historic data on allotment provision.

The Scottish Government’s role is to provide strategic leadership for NHS Scotland to ensure a sustainable NHS workforce. Operational matters relating to workforce recruitment and retention, including the neonatal workforce, are the responsibility of individual NHS Boards as employers, and are determined by service needs in line with national, regional and local priorities.

Our Nursing and Midwifery Taskforce was established to help identify gaps and prioritise measures to futureproof our workforce. The Taskforce has agreed a number of recommended actions to ensure nursing and midwifery remain attractive careers and we are working with key stakeholders to implement these. We are also progressing phase 2 of the Future Medical Workforce programme, following publication of the report earlier this year, to help shape the medical workforce going forward.

In addition, the Maternity and Neonatal Taskforce, launched by the Scottish Government in January 2026, provides system-wide strategic oversight of maternity and neonatal services, including workforce concerns.

The Centre for Workforce Supply (CWS) within Public Services Delivery Scotland (PSDS) supports NHS Boards by providing advice and guidance on workforce attraction, recruitment and retention, and by facilitating the sharing of best practice across Boards. In addition, PSDS, in collaboration with the Scottish Neonatal Nurses Group, has developed a national ‘Once for Scotland’ induction and preceptorship package for newly qualified and new-to-specialty neonatal nurses and midwives supporting workforce retention by ensuring consistent skills and knowledge development.

The Scottish Government recognises the importance of Financial Education in equipping learners with key life skills. Financial Education is embedded in the curriculum in Scotland through numeracy and mathematics, business studies and personal and social education classes. Financial Education is a key feature of Curriculum for Excellence Experiences and Outcomes for Numeracy and Mathematics, supporting learners to understand concepts including credit, debt, earnings and deductions alongside effective financial management, making appropriate use of technology and understanding the importance of budgeting.

The Money and Pensions Service report in 2023 - UK Children and Young People’s Financial Wellbeing Survey: Financial Foundations | Money and Pensions Service found that children in Scotland were more likely to have received a meaningful financial education than those living in the UK as a whole.

Education Scotland (ES) is currently reviewing the curriculum in line with the Curriculum Improvement Cycle. This work includes reviewing the place of Financial Education within the curriculum. ES are engaging with teachers, academics and a range of stakeholders including representatives from the Money and Pensions Service, Qualifications Scotland, the National Association of Student Money Advisers and Money Ready. As part of this work ES are examining the current landscape of financial education with the aim of supporting a coherent and equitable approach to the subject across Scotland’s schools.

The Scottish Government has accepted the findings of an Independent Review of Audiology Services in Scotland and we published our response to implementing the recommendations of the review in May 2025, which can be found here: Independent Review: Scottish Government report on implementation of recommendations – Audiology Services in NHS Scotland- all-ears.nhs.scot –

NHS Audiology has been re-categorised as a clinical priority area, and work to implement change is being progressed through National Planning and Delivery arrangements. While management of audiology services are the responsibility health boards, the Scottish Government remains focused on bringing down long waits and the 2026-27 Budget provides a record £22.5 billion for Health and Social Care.

As indicated in our 100 days prospectus, the Scottish Government also remains committed to working with its partners to determine how best to shift care into the community, alleviating hospital pressures and better supporting the people of Scotland through development of an integrated and community-based hearing service.