Chamber and committees

As set out in the Patient Rights (Scotland) Act 2011, where a Health Board is unable to meet the Treatment Time Guarantee within its own area, it must take all reasonably practicable steps to arrange for the provision of the agreed treatment by—

(a) another Health Board;

(b) the National Health Service in England, Wales or Northern Ireland;

(c) an authorised provider; or

(d) another suitable alternative provider in the United Kingdom.

When pursuing the above options, a Health Board must have regard to the importance of securing the effective and efficient use of the health service organisation and resources.

Health Boards also have the option to agree national or regional provision for diagnostic and specialist services.

The Scottish Government values the contribution of the NHS Scotland workforce and is committed to supporting those who choose to pursue a career in nursing. Scottish Ministers have overseen 14 consecutive years of growth in the NHS Scotland workforce, invested in improving the terms and conditions of NHS Scotland staff and continue to deliver activity flowing from both the Nursing and Midwifery Taskforce and the Future Medical Workforce Project to support these professions. The Scottish Government is committed to building on this progress and will set out further detail on the proposed job guarantee in due course.

The UK Government’s Nuclear Regulatory Review specifically excluded devolved issues in Scotland and Wales in its consideration. Therefore, recommendations covering such matters are set out for England only.

The Scottish Government remains firmly opposed to new nuclear power stations in Scotland under current technologies and so recommendations regarding new nuclear energy will not be considered. Where there are recommendations about the wider management of existing nuclear sites concerning devolved areas of competence, we will consider the merits of any measures once we receive more detailed proposals from UK Government. Our focus remains on managing Scotland’s nuclear legacy in a way that protects people and the environment.

The Health and Social Care Service Renewal Framework and Population Health Framework, published in 2025, set out an ambitious vision for transforming Scotland’s public services.

To support this vision, NHS Boards are introducing a new collaborative, sub-national planning approach through Subnational Planning and Delivery Committees (SPDCs) East and West, which will drive a renewed focus on population-based planning across NHS Scotland.

This approach will shift health service planning beyond organisational boundaries and strengthen accountability for meeting the needs of local populations.

SPDCs East and West will work collaboratively to optimise capacity and ensure equitable access to services based on population need. By doing so, they will place the health and wellbeing of Scotland’s population at the heart of service design and delivery.

The National CAMHS Specification establishes a consistent national standard, requiring Boards to ensure all children and young people receive timely support appropriate to their needs, including care-experienced children.

The Specification explicitly recognises the importance of supporting care-experienced young people during transitions between services.

The Transition Care Planning Guidance, published in 2018, places young people at the centre of decision-making and should inform all decisions about their care, including meeting the specific and often complex needs of care-experienced young people.

National performance against the 18-week CAMHS standard has been sustained for over a year, with 91% of children and young people starting treatment within 18 weeks of referral. 1 in 2 children and young people referred to CAMHS now start treatment within 5 weeks.

The use of temporary staff in an organisation as large and complex as NHS Scotland will always be required to ensure vital service provision during times of unplanned absence, sickness and increased unforeseen activity, with the majority of spend on temporary staff directed through the NHS staff bank. These are NHS staff, on NHS contracts at NHS rates of pay.

In keeping with our commitment to direct as much of our resources as possible towards frontline services, the latest workforce statistics demonstrate the significant progress made to reduce NHS Scotland’s reliance on agency workers, with a 39% reduction in nurse agency usage alongside a 4% reduction in medical agency usage delivered across 2025-26.

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.