Chamber and committees

I refer the member to the answer to question S7W-02259 on 20 August 2026. 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 following table sets out the Environment and Forestry Directorate, Strategic Research Programme funding provided annually by Scottish Government for the period 2016-22:

Of the organisations mentioned, the Scottish Government has engaged with the UK Government’s Advanced Research and Innovation Agency (ARIA) on the issues noted. The engagement, in May 2025 and January 2026, focussed on geo-engineering practices following media coverage highlighting ARIA’s launch of outdoor geoengineering experiments as part of a UK government-funded programme. ARIA confirmed that no projects or outdoor experiments were planned to take place in Scotland.

Public Services Delivery Scotland has maintained regular engagement and planning discussions with representatives from NHS Dumfries and Galloway throughout the implementation programme. Communication and coordination have been undertaken through established governance and project management arrangements to support rollout planning and delivery.

The GPIT procurement was undertaken through a formal, competitive procurement process led by National Services Scotland (now Public Services Delivery Scotland), in line with European Single Procurement Document (ESPD) requirements. The process was supported by a wide range of Subject Matter Experts, including GPs, nurses, pharmacists, practice managers, health board facilitators, IT specialists and information governance experts, who helped develop and assess the system requirements.

The Scottish Government has no plans to pause the rollout of the Vision hosted system. EMIS PCS is due to reach end of life in June 2027, and Vision is currently the only GP clinical system available through the national framework for practices requiring a replacement system.

As with all major digital programmes, risks relating to patient safety, system integration, access to clinical information and administrative impacts are assessed and actively managed throughout the programme lifecycle.

During the procurement process, supplier responses were assessed through a series of scoring exercises involving Subject Matter Experts (SMEs), including GPs, nurses, pharmacists, practice managers, health board facilitators, IT specialists and information governance experts. Functional and non-functional requirements were reviewed, tested and validated by both clinical and administrative users to ensure they met the agreed specification. Evidence of compliance was assessed and approved by relevant experts, and all requirements were accredited before migrations commenced.

A contract was signed in 2022, its Initial Term ends in August 2029 and appropriate governance (Public Services Delivery Scotland Contract Approval Board) will consider extending or replacing at that time. In the meantime, the functional specifications and Service Levels achievements continue to be monitored, and the KPIs reviewed, by existing governance groups to ensure that the Vision system is managed and maintained efficiently and safely.

Scottish Government do not hold records of the number of reports of concerns, complaints or incidents regarding the rollout or operation of the Vision 3 system broken down by health board area.