Chamber and committees

As I stated in my previous answer to Question S6W-41435 from Ariane Burgess MSP, initial meetings with stakeholders took place between 20 November 2024 and 16 January 2025 including with local authorities, farmer representatives, farm employers and regulatory bodies. This was to help better understand the situation during the scoping work.

Further meetings will be held with the wider sector when officials are in a position to begin consultation.

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 Scottish Government does not currently hold information about how many calls are made on average by a patient before securing access to medical care. The telephony systems currently used by most GP practices do not provide such data.

As part of our recent agreement with the BMA, the Scottish Government will invest in a national programme to ensure every GP practice has modern cloud-based telephony. By January 2027, every practice will need to have moved to cloud-based systems, in line with the national Public Switched Telephone Network switch-off. Work will begin with a full baseline assessment and agreed national standards, supported by training and change management. The main implementation phase for practices adopting digital cloud based telephony will take place in 2026-27, and we will be able to begin collecting data from practices once this work is complete.

Practices will be expected to use a core set of features such as automated call back, call flow, and real-time monitoring. These features are designed to reduce queues, improve safety, and provide the data needed for service planning. We will seek to establish a national programme to oversee this work.

I refer the member to the answer to question S6W-42626 on 22 December 2025. 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.

Decisions on non-domestic rates policy for 2026-27, including reliefs, are considered in the context of the Budget in line with other government priorities and will be set out on 13 January 2026.

I refer the member to the answer to question S6W-42626 on 22 December 2025. 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 S6W-42536 on 22 December 2025. 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 S6W-42536 on 22 December 2025. 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.

Decisions on non-domestic rates policy for 2026-27, including reliefs, are considered in the context of the Budget in line with other government priorities and will be set out on 13 January 2026.

I refer the member to the answer to question S6W-42504 on 22 December 2025. 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.

Draft rateable values for the 2026 revaluation were published on 30 November 2025 but may be subject to change. The final valuation roll will come into effect on 1 April 2026 and the Scottish Government will publish its report on changes in rateable values once final valuations are available.