Chamber and committees

The Scottish Government works closely with local authorities to improve public services, deliver local and national priorities, and to support local area growth, investment and regeneration.

The Scottish Government recognises the pressure local services are under and that local authorities and their employees play a crucial role in our communities. That is why the 2026-27 Scottish Budget provides a further real-terms increase in the Local Government Settlement, delivering record funding of £15.7 billion, including a quarter of a billion pounds of unrestricted General Revenue Grant and full flexibility on council tax. In 2026-27, Inverclyde Council will receive £239 million to fund local services which equates to an extra £11.9 million or an additional 5.3% compared to 2025-26.

While decisions on longer term financial plans are matters for individual local authorities, the Scottish Government will continue to work with COSLA and Local Government in the context of Best Value to improve outcomes for communities and strengthen the long-term sustainability of local services.

The Scottish Government recognises the importance of digital transformation in supporting efficient and sustainable local services. The Accounts Commission’s report highlights the benefits that can be achieved where councils take a strategic approach to digital modernisation and service redesign.

The Scottish Government support a range of sector-wide initiatives and in November 2025 the Scottish Government and Local Government published a joint strategic vision for digital in Scotland. The Sustainable Digital Public Services Delivery Plan was also published in 2025 and sets out the actions we will take to improve public services through greater use of digital technology, automation and service redesign. These programmes support councils to modernise administrative processes, improve customer experience and deliver better value for money.

While decisions on operational service delivery are matters for individual local authorities, the Scottish Government will continue to work with COSLA, the Digital Office and councils to support digital innovation and transformation that improves outcomes for communities and strengthens the long-term sustainability of local services.

NHS workforce planning is undertaken through established national and local workforce planning processes. Health Boards are responsible for workforce planning and ensuring they have the staffing required to deliver services that meet the needs of their local populations.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

The safety and welfare of survivors is absolutely paramount, and we are committed to ensuring survivors and their families get the support they need.