Chamber and committees

We are focusing care for the smallest and sickest babies in three neonatal intensive care units in Scotland. This decision is based on clear evidence that that the outcomes for these babies, who are born at less than 27 weeks gestation, or who need multiple complex life support interventions or surgery, are improved when they are born and cared for in a unit where that specialist care is concentrated, with a high throughput of cases, and where support services are co-located. The vast majority of sick babies will continue to be cared for in local neonatal units, and these units will continue to provide a level of intensive care. It is important that we continue to move forward with implementation of this change, it is what families would expect us to do.

The Taskforce has met three times. A paper on neonatal priorities was shared at the third meeting, however that paper did not propose reconsideration of the location of neonatal intensive care units in Scotland.

Scottish Ministers are assured that the Scottish Fire and Rescue Service (SFRS) has the appropriate governance, assurance and decision-making arrangements in place for the management of its resources and assets, consistent with its statutory responsibilities and the ministerial expectations set out in the Fire and Rescue Framework for Scotland 2022.

The Scottish Government maintains regular engagement with SFRS on a range of strategic, operational and corporate matters. These meetings provide an opportunity to discuss issues relating to service delivery, performance, governance and organisational assurance as appropriate. Responsibility for the governance, approval and delivery arrangements for individual procurements rests with SFRS, who follow the Scottish Procurement Journey to ensure best practice.

The latest Public Health Scotland statistics show that 4.4 million courses of treatment were delivered under the new dental payment system in the year up to 31 March 2026, highlighting that our significant and continuing investment in NHS dentistry is supporting access at a national level. However, we recognise areas of challenge remain, including rural and island areas such as Shetland. The 2025 NHS Scotland Operational Improvement Plan therefore committed to reviewing and refreshing existing financial incentives for the dental sector, to better support patient access in areas like Shetland, and this work is progressing well. The Scottish Government’s National Islands Plan also includes a commitment to explore alternative models of care and workforce incentives to further support the role of the Public Dental Service (PDS) in island areas. Additionally, in 2025-26, the Scottish Government provided £265,000 of extra funding to NHS Shetland to provide a temporary dental therapist and locum dentist support.

CAMHS is a specialist service for children and young people with acute mental health needs, and referrals are based on clinical judgement.

Our CAMHS Service specification, published in 2020, highlights that all children and young people should receive support that is appropriate to their individual needs. For many children and young people, such support is likely to be community based, and should be easily and quickly accessible.

Sustained improvements in CAMHS performance mean that the national 18-week standard has been met for over a year. 91% of children and young people start treatment within 18 weeks of referral, with one in two beginning treatment within six weeks.

We are working with Health Boards to ensure that there is compliance with the specification and that they are delivering timely access to appropriate support for children, young people and their families.

The Scottish Government recognises the importance of supporting children and families where a parent is recovering from substance use and where reunification is in the best interests of the child. Support is available through a range of national and local services, including alcohol and drug treatment and recovery services, family support organisations, and children and family social work services. These services can help parents sustain recovery, strengthen family relationships and address any practical or emotional challenges that may arise during the reunification process.

Through the Children, Young People and Families Early Intervention Fund and Adult Learning and Empowering Communities Fund the Scottish Government is supporting organisations such as Scottish Families Affected by Alcohol and Drugs, Relationships Scotland and The Spark. These organisations deliver services such as family mediation, relationship counselling, and family support, which can help families strengthen relationships and navigate challenges that may arise during recovery and reunification. We also provide funding to Shared Parenting Scotland, who provide advice, assistance and other support to separated parents experiencing difficulties in having contact with their children.

In Partnership with NHS Scotland, the Scottish Government produce regularly reviewed condition focused Quality Prescribing Guides to support prescribers in their decision making.

We have recently published our updated Polypharmacy Guidance: appropriate prescribing, making medicines safe, effective and sustainable 2026 - 2029, which contains a series of recommendations for medication review for people receiving care at home and in care homes.

In addition to the recommendations, the guidance includes practical advice and options for tailoring care for specific conditions which may affect people in care homes. This includes hot topics on Parkinson’s disease and on managing dementia and cognitive enhancers, as well as case studies produced in collaboration with care home providers on addressing the use of psychoactive medication for people living with dementia through non-pharmacological techniques.

New tailored indicators for care homes have been developed within the updated suite of National Therapeutic Indicators (NTIs) accompanying this guidance. These open access NTIs support boards and practices with identifying appropriate areas to target for patient review and benchmarking at local and national level.

We are continuing to work with NHS Boards, local authorities, COSLA, the third sector and other delivery partners to improve access to neurodevelopmental support for children, young people and adults across Scotland, including in the Highlands and Islands parliamentary region.

For children and young people, this includes delivering the actions set out in the implementation review of the National Neurodevelopmental Specification for Children and Young People through our work with COSLA and the Children and Young People’s Neurodevelopmental Taskforce.

For adults, we are working with partners to take forward the Royal College of Psychiatrists in Scotland’s four-tier national pathway for neurodevelopmental conditions, helping ensure people can access support based on need, whether or not they have a formal diagnosis.

Over £2.9 million of funding in 2025-26 is supporting projects to improve access to neurodevelopmental support across Scotland, while the £2.5 million Autistic Adult Support Fund continues to support autistic adults in communities across the country. The 2026-27 Budget includes additional investment of £7.6 million to enable improvements in neurodevelopmental support for children and young people.

The Scottish Government recognises the importance of understanding the factors that can affect men's health and wellbeing, including depression, separation from family and substance use. These issues can be complex and interconnected, and we continue to support research and evidence-gathering activity through collaboration with Public Health Scotland, academic institutions and other partners to improve understanding of their causes and impacts.

The Scottish Government invests in a range of services that support mental health, recovery from substance use, and people experiencing adverse life circumstances and trauma. This includes working with partners across the public and third sectors to improve outcomes for men.

Through the Delivering Equally Safe Fund, we are supporting the Men’s Advice Line, which provides practical advice and emotional support to men experiencing domestic abuse. More broadly, community-based organisations across Scotland provide targeted mental health and wellbeing support for men, including peer-support and suicide-prevention services. This includes funding the Changing Room: Extra Time programme, which uses football as a hook to help men learn about and understand their mental health and wellbeing together with their peers.

The Scottish Government recognises that alcohol-specific deaths and drug related deaths can share a range of underlying social, behavioural and health-related risk factors. Understanding these interconnected factors is important to informing effective prevention, treatment and support services.

We continue to support and commission research and analysis on the causes and drivers of alcohol and drug-related harms through a range of programmes and partnerships with academic institutions, Public Health Scotland, Scottish Alcohol Research Network, Drug Research Network Scotland and other public sector organisations. This includes research examining severe and multiple disadvantages and the links between substance use, mental health, deprivation, trauma, social isolation, and patterns of help-seeking behaviour among different population groups, including men.

There are currently no specific plans for a standalone research programme focused exclusively on the interlinked sociobehavioural factors associated with male alcohol and drug deaths. We will, however, continue to support and encourage research that improves understanding of the complex and overlapping factors contributing to substance-related deaths and informs actions to reduce harm and save lives.

The provision of Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) for firefighters is an operational matter for the Scottish Fire and Rescue Service (SFRS). SFRS is responsible for ensuring that appropriate PPE is available to support firefighters in carrying out their duties safely, including when responding to wildfire incidents.

The Chief Fire Officer has provided assurances to the Scottish Government that firefighter safety is an absolute priority and that both the specialist wildfire PPE and the existing standard PPE available to firefighters are safe for operational use when responding to wildfires.

Scottish Ministers expect SFRS to keep its operational equipment and PPE requirements under review and to have appropriate arrangements in place to assess the suitability of equipment for the risks faced by its workforce. This includes considering any requirement for additional or enhanced PPE in response to emerging operational risks such as wildfires.

Launched in 2023, SFRS’s wildfire strategy is supported by a £1.6 million investment in vehicles, equipment, and training to help respond to wildfire incidents around the country. SFRS remains committed to continual improvement of wildfire capability, informed by operational learning, staff feedback, evolving risk and technological development.