Chamber and committees

My visit to COP30 will include engagement with Regions4 and Under2. This will deliver on our Programme for Government commitment to lead on climate action internationally, using our leadership roles in Regions4 and Under2 to bring devolved governments together to agree ambitious actions.

The MyCare.Scot app is part of a programme of digital transformation for health and social care services. To support this transformation the Scottish Government is committed to ensuring that all staff are equipped with the right digital and data skills they require to effectively deliver digital services.

Support for staff to develop and maintain their digital and data skills is already underway as part of the wider Scottish Government and COSLA’s cross sector Digital Capabilities suite of resources and activities that are available on the Digitally Enabled Workforce TURAS site at https://learn.nes.nhs.scot/53956.

NHS Lanarkshire are currently working on training and support to staff for the launch of the MyCare.Scot app. Feedback from the evaluation of the launch in December 2025 will be a part of understanding any additional support needed for staff prior to MyCare.scot being made available to everyone across Scotland from April 2026.

The Scottish Government will be sending a delegation to Brazil led by myself, alongside three supporting officials. The Scottish Government’s key priorities include engaging with partners to strengthen subnational climate cooperation, promoting Scotland’s domestic climate and energy achievements as well as our successful climate justice and loss and damage programming and advocating for greater recognition of states, regions and devolved governments within global climate policies and processes and for the scaling up of good quality climate finance that meets the needs of the most vulnerable.

The Distress Brief Intervention (DBI) Programme is now live in all 31 HSCPs across Scotland. At end August 2025, over 97,000 people had been referred to the programme. We will shortly provide an update on our progress towards the significant milestone of 100,000 people referred.

Over the coming months, the Scottish Government will be working with our partners to review how well DBI has been embedded, and what else may be needed moving forward to strengthen it. Our focus will be on the sustainability of the programme, and maintaining the right level of support to frontline services.

The first step of this review will be considering the results of the evaluation of under 18s elements of the DBI programme, which we are due to publish in November 2025.

When corporate devices are no longer required for operational use, we follow a structured and secure disposal process to ensure data protection and environmental compliance. This includes:

• Assessment: Devices are reviewed to determine whether they are eligible for redeployment, reuse, or disposal.
• Data Sanitisation: All devices are securely wiped using industry-leading data erasure software that complies with internationally recognised standards, and UK-specific requirements such as GDPR and NCSC (National Cyber Security Council) guidance. This process ensures that all data is permanently and irreversibly removed from the device, with tamper-proof erasure certificates generated for audit and compliance purposes.

Reused or Recycled: Devices not fit for redeployment are either reused or recycled. Reused devices may be sold through approved channels or donated to approved third-sector organisations. Devices offered for sale are sold at auction by a contracted supplier. The specifics of each purchaser are not tracked. Donated devices are provided to third-sector organisations for continued use where possible, although supply chain constrictions following COVID-19 have interrupted donations in some years.

Remaining devices are recycled through certified e-waste partners. As noted above, whether resold, donated, or recycled devices are only ever disposed of after being fully wiped of all data.

The following table gives a breakdown of laptop and desktop devices disposed of since 2020. The first column displays the year while the next two differentiate between laptop and desktop devices. The remaining columns show the total number of both device types either resold, recycled, or donated. The donated column also indicates the recipients of devices for that year.

All mobile phones returned for disposal are not eligible for reuse, therefore no data is available.

Ministers will develop an implementation strategy including expected delivery dates, for bovine EID, once the outcomes of the UK Government/EU trade negotiations have concluded.

The Scottish Government has considered impacts on cross border trade and there is no evidence to suggest that there will be any significant impact if ultra-high frequency (UHF) cattle EID is introduced. Electronic reading will not be mandated, and the ability to visually read an ear tag will remain. A Partial Business and Regulatory Impact Assessment (BRIA) was published as part of the consultation on bovine EID.

Scotland is committed to being an international leader on climate justice: our £36 million Climate Justice Fund has demonstrated this commitment and supports those most affected by the climate crisis in ways that are participatory, rights-based and inclusive. We are currently considering options for Scottish Government attendance at and around COP 30 and we will announce plans in due course.

We know that the earlier cancer is diagnosed the easier it is to treat, and that early diagnosis is particularly crucial for people with pancreatic cancer due to known poor outcomes for this devastating disease. This is why we continue to invest in our Detect Cancer Earlier (DCE) Programme. Detect Cancer Earlier’s ‘Be The Early Bird’ campaign aiming to reduce fear of cancer and empower those with possible symptoms to act early. This re-ran in September 2025 to prompt health-seeking behaviour.

We published clinically refreshed Scottish Referral Guidelines (SRGs) for Suspected Cancer, including pancreatic, on 6 August 2025. These support primary care clinicians to identify those with symptoms suspicious of cancer and identify those who require urgent assessment by a specialist. This will ensure that people are on the right pathway at the right time. Furthermore, I joined the First Minister at a roundtable held with key stakeholders , including Sir Chris Hoy and Lady Sarra Hoy, in August to discuss what more needs to be done in Scotland, specifically to ensure those groups of men most at risk can access the diagnosis and support they need.

We have also launched six Rapid Cancer Diagnostic Services (RCDSs) across Scotland. These are ruling cancer in or out faster for those with non-specific symptoms, supporting our Earlier Cancer Diagnosis Vision. Hepatopancreatobiliary (HPB) cancers, including pancreatic cancer, are among the most common cancers found through the RCDSs. Independent evaluation in 2024 found that HPB cancers made up 17% of the cancers found.

Further to this, we have committed in the Cancer Action Plan 2023-2026 to invest in improving the pathways of less survivable cancers, particularly hepatocellular carcinoma and pancreatic cancer, aiming to shorten the time to staging and agreeing treatment options.

To that end, the Scottish Government commissioned the Scottish Hepato-Pancreato-Biliary Network (SHPBN) to develop standardised pathways that improve outcomes for people with HPB cancers, working with NHS Boards, third sector organisations and patients where most appropriate.

I will continue to keep Parliament updated as this work progresses.

The Scottish Government is committed to ensuring all children and young people receive high quality relationships, sexual health and parenthood (RSHP) education, which is an integral part of the health and wellbeing area of the Scottish curriculum. Curriculum for Excellence is the national approach to learning and teaching providing flexibility for teachers to deliver a curriculum tailored to local needs within an overarching framework.

The RSHP experiences and outcomes specify the need for children and young people to gain knowledge appropriate to their age and stage of education. RSHP education is intended to help children and young people build positive relationships while requiring that key aspects are presented in an objective, balanced and sensitive manner including in respect of the law on sexual behaviour. Teachers therefore have the flexibility to include content on consent and digital harm if they feel it appropriate to a RSHP lesson.

There are many resources available to teachers to help them deliver meaningful RSHP learning and these are summarised on Education Scotland’s website. One of these resources, www.rshp.scot, was includes learning activities on consent and how children and young people can learn to be safe and happy online. In addition, the Scottish Government also published a resource for professionals to help them support young people aged 11 to 18 in their understanding of healthy relationships and consent. The Key Messages for Young People on Healthy Relationships and Consent reiterate age-appropriate messages on the themes of consent, bodily autonomy and mutual respect.

The Scottish Government has also provided support for the development of the Digital Discourse Initiative (DDI) by Time for Inclusive Education and the Institute for Strategic Dialogue (ISD). The DDI online learning provides teachers and school staff with an improved knowledge and understanding of how modern social media platforms work and their role in facilitating online disinformation and prejudicial content. We have also published a national framework for schools to help tackle sexual harassment and gender based violence. Misogynistic behaviour has been identified as an emerging concern within schools. The publication of this framework demonstrates our commitment to take swift action to respond to current concerns and ensure pupils and staff are properly supported. We are in the process of commissioning an independent review to establish further areas for improvement. We continue to take forward a range of additional actions in schools to address gender based violence and sexual harassment. Our Mentors in Violence Prevention (MVP) Scotland Programme is working to tackle gender stereotyping and attitudes that condone violence against women and girls. We also continue to implement ‘Equally Safe’, Scotland’s strategy to prevent and eradicate all forms of violence against women and girls.