Chamber and committees

Police Scotland has a range of statutory powers to search vehicles where these are provided for in legislation, including where an officer has reasonable grounds to suspect that a vehicle contains controlled drugs, offensive weapons, knives, firearms, stolen property or other items specified in legislation. Relevant powers are contained in a range of enactments, including the Misuse of Drugs Act 1971, the Criminal Law (Consolidation) (Scotland) Act 1995, the Firearms Act 1968 and the Civic Government (Scotland) Act 1982.

In certain limited circumstances, legislation also provides powers to search vehicles without individual reasonable suspicion, for example where a senior officer has authorised searches in a specific locality to help prevent serious violence.

Police Scotland is operationally independent, and decisions regarding the use of vehicle search powers in individual cases are a matter for the Chief Constable.

The Scottish Government does not hold data relating to vehicle searches conducted by Police Scotland, this is held by Police Scotland.

The number of Anaesthetic Consultants working in NHS Scotland has grown by 21.6% over the last decade and stood at 895.2 WTE as at 31 March 2026. Following annual reviews of the number of specialty training places needed to meet anticipated future service demand and consultant need, the Scottish Government has funded the creation of approximately 850 additional posts across multiple specialities since 2014, including in anaesthetics.

The Scottish Government’s role is to provide strategic leadership for NHS Scotland to ensure a sustainable NHS workforce. Operational matters relating to staffing including recruitment to specific specialities such as anaesthetists, are the responsibility of individual NHS Boards and will depend on service needs, taking account of national, regional and local priorities. Boards are required to ensure that suitably qualified and competent staff are available in appropriate numbers to support safe, high-quality care and staff wellbeing, in line with the requirements of the Health and Care (Staffing) (Scotland) Act 2019.

The Scottish Government is firmly committed to ensuring that Scotland has the right nursing workforce, in the right place, with the right skills and competencies to support current and future service reform and sustainability.

The Nursing and Midwifery Taskforce sets out a number of recommended actions which are being progressed at pace to expand pathways into the nursing profession, have a meaningful and lasting impact on workforce wellbeing, improve retention, reduce stress and burnout, create a more positive and resilient workforce and ensure nursing remains an attractive career. The Taskforce has recognised the need to develop the career structure in Scotland and enhance the journey through pre-registration to post-registration, to advanced practice and onto leadership. Newly qualified nurses are not specifically mentioned in the recommended actions, however there are many recommended actions that address wellbeing and enhance professional support that would benefit newly qualified nurses.

The Scottish Government has an important role in managing Scotland’s marine space, ensuring the interests of all marine users are appropriately considered. We want to see a prosperous future for the offshore wind and fisheries sectors.

Whilst the Scottish Government sets the strategic policy direction for the NHS in Scotland, operational matters such as staffing and recruitment, including the recruitment of graduates, are the responsibility of the individual health and social care employers, taking into account national, regional and local priorities.

NHS Boards actively manage their turnover and vacancies throughout the year, to ensure all posts recruited meet current and future demands and will deliver the best outcomes in the most effective and efficient way. NHS Scotland is a large organisation and will always carry some vacancies. While it is hoped that all nursing graduates will secure a post in Scotland upon graduation, this is not always immediately possible, as vacancies can fluctuate significantly from year to year due to a range of factors.

We have also committed to an NHS Job Guarantee for all graduates for medicine, dentistry, nursing, and other NHS professions in Scotland with a guaranteed position for a minimum 3-year contract, so they can put their training into practice.

Student intake targets for nursing and midwifery controlled funded places are set for three years to provide stability across partners, including higher education institutions. The most recent multi-year target has been set for 2026-27 to 2028-29, with an annual review to ensure targets remain appropriate.

There is extensive engagement with stakeholders (who are invited to share their own data) when setting the three year targets, as well as discussing their insights on NHS Scotland vacancies, establishment figures and clinical placement capacity. Both quantitative and qualitative data are considered as part of this process. Stakeholders include NHS Boards, Higher Education Institutes, Royal Colleges and Trade Unions.

Alongside this planning, the Scottish Government works with the Student Award Agency Scotland (SAAS) to ensure appropriate funding is available for the corresponding number of students, including for the bursary and any relevant allowances.

We recognise that care-experienced children and young people can be more likely to experience a range of health, wellbeing and developmental challenges and that they may face additional barriers to accessing services and support including neurodevelopmental support.

In 2021 we published the Children and Young People’s Neurodevelopmental Specification, which sets out the principles and standards of care for all children and young people with neurodevelopmental support needs, including those who may be care experienced.

The Specification aims to ensure that children and families receive the support and access to services that meet their needs at the earliest opportunity, based on the Getting It Right For Every Child (GIRFEC) approach. For many children and young people, such support is likely to be community based, and should be quickly and easily accessible.

The Specification also makes clear that support should be put in place to meet the child or young person’s requirements when they need it, rather than be dependent on a formal diagnosis.

In 2025, we undertook a review of the Specification implementation found here: Children and young people - National Neurodevelopmental Specification: implementation review report - gov.scot, and we are progressing the recommended next steps with partners including COSLA and the Children and Young People’s Neurodevelopment Taskforce.

The 2026-27 Budget provides almost £22.5 billion investment in health and social care services, exceeding consequentials and providing a real terms uplift to enable more sustainable and resilient services, including those for interventional radiology. Delivery of individual services is the responsibility of each NHS Scotland Health Board. The Scottish Government expects NHS Boards to provide high quality care, including interventional radiology services that are safe, effective and person-centred.

The Scottish Government is committed to accelerating the growth of Scotland’s offshore wind sector, and to maximising the economic opportunity from the transition to net zero, including through delivery of the Sectoral Marine Plan (SMP) and establishment of a Scottish Marine Recovery Fund (MRF).

Scotland is a welcoming nation that rejects racism, hate, and prejudice. The Scottish Government stands in solidarity with Muslim communities across Scotland and unequivocally condemned the heinous attacks in Edinburgh in June.