Chamber and committees

The information requested is not held centrally by the Scottish Government. Any fines issued for criminal offences involving the sale of illegal vapes and cigarettes is a matter for the courts. HMRC have the power to charge civil penalties for failing to comply with the Tobacco Track and Trace system rules.

We recognise the distress and pain that migraines cause and we take the issue of migraine seriously.

The Centre for Sustainable Delivery launched the national headache pathway in October 2023, to improve care for migraines and headache across Scotland. The pathway is being implemented to aid with the diagnosis and management of headache disorders including migraine, offer guidance on management, and support health boards to aid their future planning.

The Scottish Government funded £221,176 to the Migraine Trust across 2022-2024 to work upskilling community, primary and secondary care pharmacists across NHS Grampian to help people with migraine manage their condition more effectively. This included funding to partner other health boards to extend the reach of this model and increase care and support for people living with migraine.

An eLearning programme for NHS Education for Scotland’s (NES) platform TURAS was developed through the project, comprising a suite of training materials available for all pharmacists and pharmacy teams in Scotland to access.

Additionally, NES Pharmacy hosted a webinar in September 2024 to provide guidance to pharmacy staff on the assessment, support and management of people living with migraine in line with the Scottish National Headache Pathway.

Following publication of the Pathway, Scottish Government has liaised with NHS24 and clinicians to produce public-facing accessible information on migraine, available at Migraine | NHS inform.

Private non-NHS practices are registered and regulated by Regulation of independent healthcare – Healthcare Improvement Scotland, which is part of NHS Scotland and is responsible for service provision and quality improvement.

Penalty clauses are not enforceable in Scots law and, as such, there are no penalties in the R100 Contracts.

However, Openreach is only paid for build once it has been completed and figures have been audited. This action incentivises Openreach to build as quickly as possible.

The Scottish Stroke Improvement Programme plays an important role in driving forward improvements in Stroke care, including thrombolysis, throughout Scotland. Regular reviews are held with the stroke services in every NHS Board, and improvements in thrombolysis and reasons for variations in performance are discussed at these meetings. We continue to expect Health Boards to work to improve their standards of care locally.

A dedicated thrombolysis improvement event has been arranged for 8 October. This will allow medical and nursing representatives from all NHS Boards to share good practice, assess reasons for disparities in thrombolysis performance and agree approaches to clinical improvement.

We recognise the distress and pain that migraines cause and we take the issue of migraine seriously.

The Scottish Government funded £221,176 to the Migraine Trust across 2022-2024 to work upskilling community, primary and secondary care pharmacists across NHS Grampian to help people with migraine manage their condition more effectively. This included funding to partner other health boards to extend the reach of this model and increase care and support for people living with migraine.

An eLearning programme for NHS Education for Scotland’s (NES) platform TURAS was developed through the project, comprising a suite of training materials available for all pharmacists and pharmacy teams in Scotland to access.

The Scottish Government has made no specific estimate of the economic impact of migraine on Scotland’s economy and workforce productivity, however information regarding the impact of migraine on workplaces and the economy has been published by organisations such as the Migraine Trust.

We are working to support people with health conditions, such as migraine, to play an active role within the economy. We are investing up to £90 million in 2025-26 for the delivery of devolved employability services, providing intensive and personalised pre-employment and in-work support for unemployed people with barriers to progressing within work, including disabled people and with those with health conditions.

Since 2022, Health Boards have been responsible for delivering Scotland’s vaccination programmes. The Scottish Government has always recognised that there may be circumstances (eg, in remote and rural places) were some vaccination services need to be delivered by General Practice. It is important that such flexibility exists to ensure that vaccination is as readily accessible to people as possible, regardless of local geography or other situations. However, it is not the case that Health Boards can do so on a discretionary basis.

Through an Options Appraisal process put in place by the Scottish Government, Health Boards must demonstrate a clear and evidenced need for particular vaccination services to be delivered by General Practice. Scottish Ministers must agree such proposals. A small number of discrete cases have been approved, including one practice within NHS Borders and several practices within Argyll and Bute Health and Social Care Partnership (HSCP). In each instance these have been approved in response to specific circumstances to support access to vaccination. Approval has also been given for Highland HSCP to establish a mixed model of vaccine delivery, that will include some GP practices in the area delivering some vaccination services. Highland HSCP are developing their mixed model, and the Scottish Government, along with Public Health Scotland (PHS), are working closely with them to ensure a safe and accessible service.

The Scottish Government recognises the importance of early diagnosis of cancer or serious illness and would expect any patient presenting with potential symptoms to be assessed as quickly as possible.

The Scottish Referral Guidelines (SRG) for Suspected Cancer support primary care clinicians to identify those with symptoms suspicious of cancer and identify those who require urgent assessment by a specialist.

A clinical review of SRGs has been completed with updated guidance published on 6 August 2025.

Eradicating child poverty is a national mission and this Government’s top priority, and our Programme for Government sets out how we will continue to drive forward progress on child poverty and tackle the cost of living crisis facing households in the final year of this Parliament.

Through the Children, Young People, Families, Early Intervention and Adult Learning and Empowering Communities (CYPFEI & ALEC) third sector fund the Scottish Government has provided core funding of £139,650 to the Child Poverty Action Group in 2023-24, 2024-25 and 2025-26 financial years. The funding supports staff, utility, building and equipment costs within the organisation to support delivery of grant funding outcomes associated with the delivery of tackling child poverty in Scotland.

The Scottish Attainment Challenge programme has also provided targeted funding to the Child Poverty Action Group in Scotland of £152,479 in 2023-24, £158,415 in 202425 and £160,940 in 2025-26. This support has been critical in driving the development of Cost of the School Day approaches across Scotland, enabling the team at Child Poverty Action Group in Scotland to provide strategic leadership and engage with school communities, local authority partners, policymakers and the third sector, facilitating action on school costs and supporting children and families on low incomes.

As part of the Scottish Government's grant conditions, we ask all funded organisations to monitor and report their progress towards delivery of their funding outcomes to ensure appropriate use of public funds and value for money. Through this process we are aware that the Child Poverty Action Group met their funding outcomes in 2023-24 and 2024-25.