Chamber and committees

The Scottish Government is working with Motability Operations to understand how any changes stemming from UK Government tax changes in its November 2025 Budget might affect its customers in Scotland who use the Accessible Vehicles and Equipment (AVE) Scheme.

We are aware of the upcoming changes announced by Motability to new and renewing lease customers elsewhere in the United Kingdom. Motability will separately set out in due course how any changes will apply to its future provision in Scotland under the AVE Scheme.

The Scottish Government remains committed to the AVE Scheme and ensuring that eligible clients get the right vehicle to meet their needs and to allow them to remain independent.

Scottish Ministers will be considering options with the Scottish Ambulance Service to increase the availability of this service across Scotland, this will be informed by an evaluation of the current three sites funded by the Scottish Government in Glasgow, Inverness and Dundee. We expect the evaluation to be available by the end of summer 2026.

There are a number of public sector reform programmes currently underway in justice, including Summary Case Management (SCM) and the Digital Evidence Sharing Capability to reduce police time spent at court. The national rollout of SCM across all sheriffdoms was completed in January 2026. A report published in May 2026 estimates that, during the rollout period, over 100,000 fewer police officers were cited to give evidence. These reforms are improving efficiency across the system by reducing unnecessary trials, minimising witness citations, and helping to address court backlogs.

As I set out in my letter of 11 February 2026 to the Citizen Participation and Public Petitions Committee regarding Petition PE1900, NHS boards are asked to provide annual updates each November on progress in addressing the issues identified through the rapid review of healthcare provision in police custody.

These annual returns seek information on arrangements for the safe storage and supply of controlled drugs, the existence of written policies to ensure detainees can access prescribed medication (including opioid substitution therapy), and the operation of clinical governance processes such as the recording and review of adverse events, complaints and feedback. Boards are also asked to set out improvement actions and timescales where gaps are identified.

This monitoring is complemented by scrutiny from HM Inspectorate of Constabulary in Scotland and Healthcare Improvement Scotland. Their joint work has established an inspection framework for healthcare services in police custody, underpinned by a human rights-based approach and aligned with Healthcare Improvement Scotland’s quality indicators, to provide assurance on the quality and safety of care.

Delivery of healthcare in police custody remains an operational responsibility for NHS boards. The Scottish Government will continue to work with partners to support consistent implementation across Scotland.

The initial cost model to establish a full lung screening programme prepared by the Scottish Expert Advisory Group (SEAG) estimated £36.7 million in implementation costs, followed by recurring costs of between £28.6 million and £39.7 million per annum (dependent upon uptake levels).

It is essential to note that full roll-out of lung screening will take between 7-10 years; this mirrors the experiences and plans of the other UK nations, and reflects the inherent challenges of establishing a programme of this size and complexity. Based on the cost model, the first phase will require at least £3.5 million, although this will be refined as planning progresses.

Work continues towards the implementation of the first phase of a national targeted lung screening programme. It is anticipated that the initial roll out will focus first on inviting eligible individuals in areas experiencing the highest levels of socio-economic deprivation, as evidence shows that they are at higher risk of lung cancer, and have poorer outcomes.

Screening Oversight and Assurance Scotland (SOAS) has established a multi-disciplinary Programme Board to provide subject matter expertise to the planning process. Formal workstreams have been established to consider delivery models for each element of the programme including call-recall, risk assessment, smoking cessation, CT scanning, image reporting and downstream assessment and treatment services. The Reference Group will meet again this month (June 2026) to review the work that has been undertaken so far.

It is expected that implementation of a national screening programme will take a minimum of 7-10 years, in line with the establishment and roll-out of similar programmes by NHS England and Public Health Wales. A screening programme of this size and scale must be implemented in a way which allows careful management of the impact on wider NHS services.

NHS Grampian has confirmed that arrangements are in place to support access to prescribed medication, including controlled drugs, within its current service model. Individuals are clinically assessed on entry to custody and prescribed medication is provided where clinically indicated, with processes in place to verify community prescriptions.

Arrangements are in place to provide opioid replacement therapy where required. However, at present, this is delivered from the Kittybrewster custody suite, with detainees transferred from other custody locations where necessary to ensure continuity of treatment. NHS Grampian has advised that it is continuing to work with partners to expand provision across all custody settings, including through the development of pharmacy, delivery and remote prescribing arrangements.

The delivery of healthcare services in police custody remains an operational responsibility for NHS boards. The Scottish Government will continue to support further improvement and consistent, timely access to prescribed medication.’

Potential incidental findings from lung screening include, but are not limited to, conditions such as tuberculosis, emphysema and bronchiectasis. NHS Scotland has yet to formally agree an incidental findings policy for their planned targeted lung cancer screening programme. The Lung Screening Programme Board has, however, agreed in principle to align all clinical guidance relating to the programme with that of the other UK nations, unless there is clear justification for an alternative approach.

NHS England's Lung Screening Clinical Advisory Group developed an Incidental Findings policy in 2025. It explains the potential significance of each finding, how and when it should be reported and what action the screening programme should take in each case. A complete list of potential incidental findings along with their recommended management can be viewed here: 2502-B1647-quality-assurance-standards-prepared-for-the-lung-cancer-screening-programme.pdf

Data on the number of people on a housing waiting list is not held centrally by the Scottish Government. Estimates of the proportion of households on a housing waiting list is published on an annual basis using data from the Scottish Household Survey (SHS). However, the SHS does not sample people living in communal establishments/temporary accommodation. Due to the impact of COVID-19 restrictions, SHS data is not available for 2020 and 2021.

The latest data can be found on our website Households in Scotland by housing tenure: Scottish Household Survey, 2024 - gov.scot. Previous years can be found here: Scottish Household Survey: results - gov.scot. Data for 2025 will be published later this year and a publication date will be announced on the Scottish Government’s Official statistics: forthcoming publications list: Official statistics: forthcoming publications - gov.scot.

The Scottish Government also publishes the number of applications for local authority housing on an annual basis. This can be found on the Scottish Government website here: Housing Statistics 2025: Key Trends Summary - gov.scot. Local authority level data can be found in the tables linked to this publication: Housing statistics: Management of local authority housing - gov.scot. Please be aware of the caveats stated in the publication – the data:

• Is not a complete picture for Scotland, as six councils with no local authority housing stock (so for example, Glasgow) do not provide us with data on waiting lists.
• Will include double counting, as households can apply to multiple lists.
• Will include applications where housing is no longer needed, however they may not be removed from the housing list immediately.

Through targeted investment and service renewal, we will ensure no patient waits longer than 26 weeks for treatment by the end of this parliamentary term.

This follows a substantive and sustained period of improvement over the last year which saw waits over 52 weeks for New Outpatient decrease for 11 consecutive months and for Inpatient / Day-case by 15 months. We’re also seeing real progress in diagnostics, with activity in the latest quarter at its highest since reporting began in April 2024.

This progress was backed by more than £150 million additional funding in 2025-26, allocated to health boards to target the longest waits for planned care, and deliver on our Operational Improvement Plan commitment to provide an additional 150,000 appointments and procedures. The latest data show this target was surpassed with more than 168,000 additional appointments and procedures delivered.

We have already invested an additional £100 million this year to build on the progress made in the 2025-26 Operational Improvement Plan. We will build on this by creating additional capacity and deliver further reductions in waiting times, with a particular focus on those waiting the longest.

Qualifications Scotland is responsible for its own operational decisions, including whether individuals can access their exam scripts.

An exemption to the right of access via subject access requests under the Data Protection Act 2018 applies to exam scripts. The application of this exemption is in line with Qualifications Scotland’s policy that the organisation does not provide marked exam scripts.

In 2024 a trial of providing access to marked exam papers was conducted for a selected number of subject and levels. Alongside identified benefits, the evaluation report also noted challenges with scalability. This included workload implications for practitioners, and the need for specific digital requirements to ensure the service can be delivered fairly and equitability for all learners and subjects. As such Qualifications Scotland has paused any further roll out.