Chamber and committees

A copy of the letter I sent to the Interim Principal of the University of Dundee, dated 11 June 2026, has been placed in the Scottish Parliament Information Centre (Bib. number 66746).

The Scottish Government recognises the impact that disruption can have on island communities. The First Minister has announced the implementation of a £10 million Islands Resilience Fund as part of the Government’s first 100 days commitments, and work is underway to deliver that pledge.

Further details will be announced in due course.

The review of Community Right to Buy concluded at the end of 2025 and the previous Cabinet Secretary accepted those recommendations in full.

The Government is currently exploring legislative options to take forward the recommendations in light of manifesto commitments. Where legislation isn’t required, work is already underway with stakeholders to maximise progress in the meantime.

The Scottish Government does not plan to undertake a public consultation exercise on its draft conservation commitment report (CCR) to the North Atlantic Salmon Conservation Organization (NASCO). We continue to engage with stakeholders, including the Wild Salmon Strategy Delivery Group on the development of the CCR and remain committed to delivery by the end of November deadline.

In 2021, River Basin Management Plan 3 (RBMP3) identified 244 potential fish barriers that needed an ecological assessment and/or work to ease these barriers to achieve the objective of 99% of water bodies meeting good or better condition for fish migration by 2027.

However, since 2021 SEPA has identified an additional 143 barriers, which have been added to the work programme. To manage this increase, SEPA is prioritising barriers based on the amount of habitat available to migratory fish upstream of each barrier.

SEPA is currently on track to complete work on 261 by 2027, against the original objective of 244. SEPA is currently developing Scotland’s fourth River Basin Management Plan (RBMP4). Given the significant shift in the baseline for this objective, RBMP4 will set out a revised objective and actions to address the remaining barriers.

Although there is no current specific guideline that requires blood tests with results outside the normal limits to be repeated in all cases before discharge from hospital, these are considered as part of a full clinical assessment.

Healthcare Improvement Scotland’s Scottish Patient Safety Programme (SPSP) Perinatal and Paediatric programmes, underpinned by the SPSP Essentials of Safe Care, are co-designed to support improved outcomes for women, babies, children, young people and families in Scotland. These programmes work with staff and families to review and strengthen the approach to recognition of deterioration through the Scottish Maternity and Paediatric Early Warning Scores (MEWS and PEWS).

The planned implementation of Martha’s Rule will enable a real-time clinical review of a patient’s treatment and condition, rather than a formal second opinion or diagnosis.

The right to request a second opinion is already enshrined in the Charter of Patient Rights and Responsibilities.

The Scottish Government and Health Boards across Scotland have recently committed to expand the Right Decision Service across health and care in Scotland. This will bring up to date, quality assured and approved guidance to clinicians on their computers, tablet and phones.

The Scottish Government expects NHS Boards and other healthcare providers to use appropriate guidelines and respond to safety alerts as well as listen when patients express concerns or complain about the safety of their care.

The Scottish Government welcomed the publication of the UK Covid-19 Inquiry’s Module 1 report on pre-pandemic preparedness and resilience on 18 July 2024. The Scottish Government published an initial response on 16 January 2025, which set out the actions and steps being taken to address the Inquiry’s recommendations.

Today, the Scottish Government has published the third progress report, which shows six of the Inquiry’s recommendations have been delivered and closed as a result. Over the past six months the Scottish Government has continued to make significant, measurable improvements in Scotland’s pandemic planning and preparedness.

The Scottish Government has completed its review of risk assessment processes and is now developing the next iteration of the Scottish Risk Assessment. This will bring together all risks relevant to Scotland in a single document. To support this work, the Scottish Government has established a Scottish Risk Assessment Group to ensure a robust, expert-led approach, with a strong focus on vulnerability.

A Memorandum of Understanding is now in place to enable rapid sharing of data and analysis across the four nations in preparation for, or during, any future crisis. After taking part in the UK Government’s pilot process for independent review of whole-system civil emergency preparedness and resilience, the Scottish Government continues to engage with the UK Government as it progresses with the Catastrophic Risks Assurance Programme.

The Scottish Government remains committed to ensuring that Scotland is as resilient as possible to future risks, and will continue to take the necessary steps to achieve this. We look forward to continuing to work closely with our partners and stakeholders to deliver these recommendations.

A copy of the progress report is available online at: UK Covid-19 Inquiry - Module 1 report: progress update - July 2026

Our next progress update will be a combined report covering Module 1 and Module 2ABC, to be published before the end of November 2026.

I refer the member to the answer to question S7W-01113 on 15 July 2026. 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.

I refer the member to the answer to question S7W-01338 on 10 July 2026. 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.

I refer the member to the answer to question S7W-01338 on 10 July 2026. 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.