- Asked by: Ross Greer, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Green Party
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Date lodged: Monday, 29 June 2026
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Current Status:
Answered by Jenny Gilruth on 3 August 2026
To ask the Scottish Government what action it has taken to ensure that the selection of financial institutions to advise on and support its forthcoming bond-issuance scheme is consistent with motion S6M-18686, which was passed by the Parliament on 3 September 2025, particularly the call for "the Scottish and UK governments to immediately impose a package of boycotts, divestment and sanctions targeted at the State of Israel and at companies complicit in its military operations and its occupation of Palestine".
Answer
The appointment of financial institutions to the framework supporting the Scottish Government’s multi-year bond programme marks an important milestone as the programme moves into its next phase.
All appointments were made through a procurement process conducted in line with procurement regulations, policy and law. On 25 June 2026, the Scottish Government announced the appointment of nine banks to a framework that will support delivery of its bond programme during this parliamentary term. HSBC, Bank of America, NatWest, and RBC were appointed as joint bookrunners for the inaugural bond issuance.
In response to the situation in Gaza, the Scottish Government has consistently advocated for peace, justice, and human rights, and will continue to do what it can to support a rapid resolution to the conflict and to alleviate the suffering of the most vulnerable. The First Minister met Palestinian Ambassador to the UK, Dr Husam Zomlot, on 27 July and discussed the situation in Gaza and the West Bank. During the meeting, the First Minister announced a further £500,000 funding to support access to food, healthcare, clean water and shelter.
- Asked by: Paul McLennan, MSP for East Lothian Coast and Lammermuirs, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 22 July 2026
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Current Status:
Answered by Gillian Martin on 3 August 2026
To ask the Scottish Government, in light of reports that Scottish Water's real-time monitoring covers no more than around 30% of overflows, what plans it has to require Scottish Water to deliver 100% real-time event duration monitoring coverage across all combined sewer overflows; what timescale has been set for achieving this, and how it ensures that the public has access to comprehensive information on sewage pollution risks before entering waters.
Answer
As set out in our recent consultation, Water services: investing in and paying from 2027, the Objectives for Scottish Water for 2027-33 require it to provide public-facing access to data on overflows from all intermittent discharges in its network, taken from monitors and supplemented by hydraulic modelling, by 2033.
Scottish Water has co-created a monitoring prioritisation methodology with the Scottish Environment Protection Agency (SEPA) which can be found at https://www.scottishwater.co.uk/-/media/scottishwater/document-hub/key-publications/improving-urban-waters/edmmethodology.pdf.
Scottish Water currently has over 2,000 overflow monitors in place (some 50% of overflows). It publishes near real-time spill data online and has provided monitors on all its sewer overflows within 2km of a designated bathing water. During the bathing season SEPA makes daily bathing water quality predictions at selected bathing waters across Scotland. These are available online and from electronic information signs at certain bathing waters. There is also advice on How to Swim Safely in Scotland’s Outdoor Waters on NHS inform.
- Asked by: Martyn Day, MSP for Falkirk East and Linlithgow, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Monday, 20 July 2026
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Current Status:
Answered by Angela Constance on 3 August 2026
To ask the Scottish Government what the timeline is for publishing transparent data on referral pathways and routes to diagnosis for brain tumour patients so that any inequalities in access and diagnostic delays can be identified, monitored and addressed.
Answer
Public Health Scotland (PHS) publishes information on routes to cancer diagnosis, which includes emergency presentations for brain and other central nervous system (CNS) cancers: Routes to Cancer Diagnosis, Cancer Stage and Curative Treatment for Cancer Information to Support Visions from the Cancer Strategy 26 August 2026 - Routes to Cancer Diagnosis, Cancer Stage and Curative Treatment for Cancer Information to Support Visions from the Cancer Strategy - Publications - Public Health Scotland.
Given the relatively small number of brain tumour diagnoses in Scotland, publication of more detailed tumour-specific data may not be possible due to statistical disclosure risks.
Through the Cancer Strategy for Scotland 2023-2033 and accompanying Cancer Action Plan for Scotland 2023 – 2026, the Scottish Government is working to improve outcomes for brain tumours and other less survivable cancers.
Scotland's Earlier Cancer Diagnosis Vision aims to reduce later-stage disease and health inequalities, and recognises that alternative measures, such as emergency presentations, are needed to monitor progress for cancers that cannot be conventionally staged.
Earlier and more equitable diagnosis is also supported through national clinical pathways, improved access to diagnostic imaging, the Brain Tumour Pathway within the Managed Service Network for Neurosurgery, and the National Headache Pathway.
- Asked by: Martyn Day, MSP for Falkirk East and Linlithgow, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Thursday, 16 July 2026
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Current Status:
Answered by Angela Constance on 3 August 2026
To ask the Scottish Government what support is available to children and young people with cancer, and their families, to meet the cost of travelling to and from treatment; what assessment it has made of the adequacy of this support and, in light of recent commitments by the UK and Welsh governments to introduce dedicated travel funds, how such support provided in Scotland compares with the support available elsewhere in the UK.
Answer
Scotland is the only UK-nation that currently has an active Young Patient Family Fund (YPFF). The fund provides support to the families of all babies, children and young people from birth to age 18 who require inpatient care, regardless of their health 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.
NHS Boards are responsible for assessing eligibility and have the flexibility to consider individual circumstances and make decisions in the best interests of patient care and wellbeing.
The Scottish Government has committed to a review of the patient travel reimbursement schemes guidance; however, a start date for the review is not confirmed at this time. It is important that the review is considered within the context of wider reform on access to health care, rather than as a standalone exercise to consider and address the wider and underlying issues relating to the travel itself.
- Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Monday, 20 July 2026
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Current Status:
Answered by Angela Constance on 3 August 2026
To ask the Scottish Government, since May 2024, how many clinical breast cancer patients are estimated to have undergone chemotherapy from which they derived no clinical benefit, and what steps it is taking to prevent such treatment that would be determined to be of no clinical benefit and to protect resources through the immediate expansion of genomic testing.
Answer
The Scottish Government does not hold an estimate of how many clinical breast cancer patients have undergone chemotherapy from which they derived no clinical benefit.
We are committed to ensuring that people with cancer receive the treatment most appropriate to their individual circumstances. The Scottish Government has commissioned the NHS Scotland Cancer Collaborative (NSCC) to develop National Clinical Management Pathways (CMPs). CMPs outline the patient with cancer journey from diagnosis onwards and support consistent decision-making across Scotland on optimal treatment options at the various points in a patient’s pathway. They help clinicians and patients to work in partnership to consider the likely benefits and risks of treatment options and allow people to make an informed choice about their care, as well as reducing waste, potential harm and regret about treatment decisions, in line with the principles of Realistic Medicine.
The process for the development and review of CMPs has been previously described in S6W-42977 on 20 January 2026.
The Scottish Government is committed to delivering equitable access to genomic testing and precision medicines and continue to work with NHS Scotland partners to explore opportunities to expand our genomic testing provision in Scotland, in line with our strategy and resources.
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.
- Asked by: Julie MacDougall, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Reform UK
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Date lodged: Thursday, 16 July 2026
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Current Status:
Answered by Jenny Gilruth on 3 August 2026
To ask the Scottish Government, in light of the Accounts Commission report of 1 July 2026, The 2023/24 audit of Clackmannanshire Council, Continued late reporting of audited accounts, and the accompanying Audit Scotland news release, Collective leadership needed to tackle significant audit delays at Clackmannanshire Council, which stated that “for the last five years, unaudited accounts have not been presented to the council on time, and the delays have been worsening. This means the council is making significant choices, including setting budgets and agreeing council tax levels, without the most up to date financial information. This is critical, especially at a time when all councils must make significant savings, with the cost of delivering services rising faster than available funding”, what its response is to the report; how it will ensure that (a) Clackmannanshire and (b) other local authorities now meet their audit deadlines; what consultation it plans with (i) COSLA and (ii) other relevant stakeholders regarding implementing the report’s findings, and whether it is aware of other local authorities in a similar position and if so, (A) which authorities and (B) what action it is taking.
Answer
The Accounts Commission is appointed by Parliament and has statutory responsibility to secure the audit of local authorities, evaluate Best Value and oversee public financial transparency. In particular the Accounts Commission must consider reports issued by the Controller of Audit, investigate matters raised, conduct public hearings where necessary and issue formal recommendations to local councils and Scottish Ministers.
The Accounts Commission considered a special report by the Controller of Audit in relation to the continued late reporting of Clackmannanshire Council’s annual accounts at its meeting on 18 June. The Commission published its findings on 30 June and set clear expectations for the improvements it expects to see. The leader of the council has provided assurances that compliance with statutory timescales for financial reporting will be prioritised by the full council.
The Accounts Commission continues to work closely with the council to ensure the necessary improvements are made and Scottish Government officials will continue to monitor the council’s progress through ongoing engagement with the Council and with the Accounts Commission.
The vast majority of councils continue to meet their statutory obligations and almost all have now considerably improved or returned to pre-pandemic timescales for the production of their statutory annual accounts. Only three other local authorities have not yet published their 2024-25 annual accounts: Stirling Council, West Dunbartonshire Council and East Dunbartonshire Council. We expect that the Accounts Commission will be monitoring the situation with each of these authorities and alert Ministers to any concerns in line with the statutory framework.
- Asked by: Maggie Chapman, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Green Party
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 21 July 2026
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Current Status:
Answered by Neil Gray on 3 August 2026
To ask the Scottish Government what action it is taking to ensure that victims and survivors of rape and other serious sexual offences can have confidence that their cases will be investigated promptly, thoroughly and with appropriate specialist support, particularly in light of reported increasing numbers of such crimes.
Answer
The safety and welfare of survivors is absolutely paramount, and we are committed to ensuring survivors and their families get the support they need.
We recognise the key role that advocacy services play in helping victims come forward and engage with the justice process, like those co-ordinated by Rape Crisis Scotland, which is why we fully fund the National Advocacy Project. We have provided £2.17 Million per annum for this service for the period 2025-207 through the Victim Centred Approach Fund.
Our NHS is another critical part of providing that support, providing care and forensic examinations in the days following an assault. There is a Sexual Assault Response Co-ordination Service (SARCS) in every health board area, including in each of the island health boards.
The Scottish Government wants victims and survivors to report sexual crimes, including those that may have happened some time ago. This is against a backdrop of sexual crimes remaining heavily under-reported. Multiple factors will therefore lie behind the long-term increase in recorded sexual crime, including a greater willingness of victims to come forward, more historical reporting, more online offending and the impact of new legislation.
We continue to take robust action to tackle sexual offending through the Equally Safe Strategy – focusing on prevention, improving our laws, and encouraging more victims to come forward.
However, we know that sexual crime remains under-reported and that more needs to be done to support victims to report these terrible crimes and to improve their experience within the criminal justice system.
Investigating rape and sexual offences remain one of the top priorities for Police Scotland, and specialist sexual offence liaison officers are available to support victims.
The Scottish Government recognises the vital roles that police officers play in keeping communities safe. This year, we have increased police funding to over £1.7 billion, an increase of £81.5 million on the 2025-26 Autumn Budget Revision (ABR) budget, to deliver on its priorities including frontline service delivery.
Operational policing decisions are for the Chief Constable who is accountable to the Scottish Police Authority - not to Scottish Ministers. However, violence against women and girls is a key strand and tenet of Police Scotland’s 2030 vision and three-year business plan.
- Asked by: Miles Briggs, MSP for Edinburgh and Lothians East, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 14 July 2026
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Current Status:
Answered by Angela Constance on 3 August 2026
To ask the Scottish Government how many missed outpatient appointments there have been in each year since 2021, broken down by NHS board.
Answer
The following tables present the latest available statistics on the total number of patient non-attendances at a new outpatient appointment for reasons ‘did not attend (DNA)’ (Table 1), ‘could not attend (CNA)’ (Table 2) and ‘cancellation by service’ (Table 3). The data are presented by health board of treatment for all specialties and broken down by calendar year. Please note that calendar year 2026 only includes data up to 30 June 2026 and figures are therefore not reflective of a complete calendar year.
Table 1 – Total number of non-attendances at a new outpatient appointment for reason ‘did not attend (DNA)’ for all specialties, split by health board of treatment, by calendar year from 2021 to present.
NHS board | Calendar Year |
2021 | 2022 | 2023 | 2024 | 2025 | 20261 |
NHS Scotland | 97,434 | 103,271 | 94,106 | 90,489 | 89,814 | 45,971 |
NHS Ayrshire & Arran | 8,319 | 9,418 | 7,963 | 7,028 | 8,155 | 4,209 |
NHS Borders | 1,401 | 1,806 | 982 | 1,136 | 1,145 | 568 |
NHS Dumfries & Galloway | 2,207 | 1,935 | 1,749 | 1,588 | 1,678 | 778 |
NHS Fife | 6,064 | 6,629 | 6,087 | 6,675 | 6,794 | 3,260 |
NHS Forth Valley | 3,715 | 4,795 | 4,582 | 3,969 | 3,700 | 1,600 |
NHS Golden Jubilee | 173 | 161 | 166 | 889 | 829 | 510 |
NHS Grampian | 5,459 | 6,585 | 6,303 | 6,491 | 6,436 | 3,480 |
NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde | 30,084 | 28,266 | 27,674 | 25,878 | 25,351 | 12,478 |
NHS Highland | 1,136 | 1,450 | 1,472 | 1,493 | 1,587 | 1,448 |
NHS Lanarkshire | 10,408 | 10,572 | 9,396 | 10,130 | 10,829 | 5,460 |
NHS Lothian | 19,506 | 20,997 | 18,695 | 16,089 | 14,955 | 7,964 |
NHS Orkney | 137 | 239 | 256 | 275 | 335 | 146 |
NHS Shetland | 218 | 285 | 282 | 286 | 271 | 169 |
NHS Tayside | 8,074 | 9,541 | 7,944 | 8,025 | 7,289 | 3,631 |
NHS Western Isles | 345 | 579 | 501 | 504 | 436 | 243 |
Non-NHS Provider | 14 | 12 | 51 | 32 | 9 | 8 |
Not known | 174 | 1 | 3 | 1 | 15 | 19 |
Outside Scotland | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
1Calendar year 2026 only includes data up to 30 June 2026.
Table 2 – Total number of non-attendances at a new outpatient appointment for reason ‘could not attend (CNA)’ for all specialties, split by health board of treatment, by calendar year from 2021 to present.
NHS board | Calendar Year |
2021 | 2022 | 2023 | 2024 | 2025 | 20261 |
NHS Scotland | 95,021 | 130,644 | 130,796 | 130,844 | 137,441 | 65,592 |
NHS Ayrshire & Arran | 7,106 | 9,227 | 8,335 | 9,067 | 10,642 | 4,870 |
NHS Borders | 1,274 | 1,795 | 1,703 | 2,204 | 2,282 | 1,211 |
NHS Dumfries & Galloway | 2,631 | 3,250 | 2,708 | 2,581 | 2,909 | 1,357 |
NHS Fife | 5,868 | 7,400 | 7,045 | 7,236 | 8,431 | 3,601 |
NHS Forth Valley | 4,363 | 6,683 | 8,735 | 7,300 | 7,104 | 2,536 |
NHS Golden Jubilee | 279 | 623 | 562 | 1,719 | 2,052 | 1,064 |
NHS Grampian | 7,612 | 11,158 | 10,695 | 11,789 | 12,591 | 7,555 |
NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde | 26,233 | 38,452 | 41,001 | 39,120 | 40,543 | 18,203 |
NHS Highland | 3,644 | 5,254 | 5,050 | 5,770 | 6,403 | 3,383 |
NHS Lanarkshire | 7,938 | 10,286 | 10,005 | 10,911 | 12,558 | 5,436 |
NHS Lothian | 20,472 | 26,703 | 25,020 | 23,248 | 22,090 | 11,374 |
NHS Orkney | 233 | 337 | 355 | 348 | 439 | 174 |
NHS Shetland | 278 | 448 | 441 | 404 | 356 | 164 |
NHS Tayside | 6,353 | 8,117 | 8,153 | 8,395 | 8,371 | 4,250 |
NHS Western Isles | 613 | 837 | 845 | 684 | 644 | 399 |
Non-NHS Provider | 40 | 73 | 139 | 66 | 11 | 2 |
Not known | 83 | 1 | 4 | 2 | 15 | 13 |
Outside Scotland | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
1Calendar year 2026 only includes data up to 30 June 2026.
Table 3 – Total number of non-attendances at a new outpatient appointment for reason ‘cancellation by service’ for all specialties, split by health board of treatment, by calendar year from 2021 to present.
NHS board | Calendar Year |
2021 | 2022 | 2023 | 2024 | 2025 | 20261 |
NHS Scotland | 102,357 | 120,087 | 112,240 | 100,752 | 99,715 | 50,984 |
NHS Ayrshire & Arran | 6,085 | 9,478 | 6,819 | 6,827 | 6,662 | 4,058 |
NHS Borders | 1,271 | 1,727 | 1,502 | 1,636 | 1,645 | 911 |
NHS Dumfries & Galloway | 4,423 | 4,354 | 4,032 | 3,613 | 4,375 | 2,704 |
NHS Fife | 6,066 | 5,944 | 6,301 | 4,748 | 5,593 | 2,196 |
NHS Forth Valley | 4,132 | 6,164 | 6,732 | 7,152 | 6,396 | 2,753 |
NHS Golden Jubilee | 394 | 680 | 1,154 | 1,892 | 1,592 | 707 |
NHS Grampian | 10,581 | 11,637 | 10,985 | 10,728 | 10,648 | 6,038 |
NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde | 28,421 | 34,074 | 33,594 | 28,058 | 27,369 | 12,280 |
NHS Highland | 4,135 | 4,342 | 3,638 | 4,019 | 4,266 | 2,191 |
NHS Lanarkshire | 8,420 | 10,957 | 9,613 | 8,883 | 9,349 | 4,370 |
NHS Lothian | 19,049 | 19,934 | 17,434 | 13,886 | 12,489 | 7,523 |
NHS Orkney | 399 | 345 | 411 | 384 | 297 | 201 |
NHS Shetland | 351 | 509 | 606 | 524 | 603 | 216 |
NHS Tayside | 8,029 | 8,945 | 8,488 | 7,857 | 7,864 | 4,429 |
NHS Western Isles | 525 | 921 | 892 | 501 | 506 | 329 |
Non-NHS Provider | 13 | 67 | 37 | 39 | 25 | 10 |
Not known | 63 | 9 | 2 | 5 | 36 | 68 |
Outside Scotland | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
1Calendar year 2026 only includes data up to 30 June 2026.
Please note that a patient who does not attend an accepted appointment and gives the hospital no prior notice is recorded as a ‘Did Not Attend (DNA)’, while a patient who cancels an appointment in advance is recorded as a ‘Could Not Attend (CNA)’. An appointment cancelled by the hospital is recorded as a 'Cancellation by service'. The number of non-attendances reported are sourced from the detail included in the patient records NHS boards submit to the national waiting times data mart.
For historic trends covering a longer period, the data files included in the Stage of Treatment (SoT) publication include the number of accepted appointments at each quarter-end with non-attendance rates by DNA, CNA, and cancellation by service. The data is presented by NHS board and can be filtered for a particular specialty using the drop-down list at the top of the sheet. The latest data file contains figures up to the quarter ending 30 June 2026. The direct link to this file is included below.
1.New outpatient appointments (‘1.5 Table’):
https://publichealthscotland.scot/media/39304/newop_jul26-data-file-up-to-30-june-2026.xlsx
As outlined by PHS, non-attendance rates are updated following the concluding month of each quarter – i.e. data up to the end of June are published at the end of July. Due to this, calendar year 2026 in the above tables includes data between 1 January and 30 June 2026, as this is the latest available data.
Please note that individual patients are counted more than once if they are waiting to attend more than one appointment, for example, in different specialties, so the official statistics shown here do not reflect the actual number of individuals involved.
Public Health Scotland (PHS) releases statistics covering waits for new outpatient appointments under the 12-week standard, and inpatient and day case admissions covered by the 12-week Treatment Time Guarantee (TTG). The latest statistics are published up to 30th June 2026 and can be found using the following link :
https://publichealthscotland.scot/publications/stage-of-treatment-waiting-times/
- Asked by: Miles Briggs, MSP for Edinburgh and Lothians East, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Friday, 31 July 2026
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Current Status:
Answer expected on 28 August 2026
To ask the Scottish Government what recent review it has carried out into the provision of sexual health clinics in rural areas.
Answer
Answer expected on 28 August 2026
- Asked by: Willie Rennie, MSP for Fife North East, Scottish Liberal Democrats
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Date lodged: Friday, 31 July 2026
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Current Status:
Answer expected on 28 August 2026
To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on the availability of fractional exhaled nitric oxide testing for asthma in primary care settings, including the proportion of primary care settings that offer such testing.
Answer
Answer expected on 28 August 2026
