Chamber and committees

Scottish Government committed to a Four Day Working Week pilot in the public sector to explore the wellbeing and productivity benefits that a shorter working week could bring. The pilot was delivered in partnership with The Autonomy Institute and identified several examples of more efficient and innovative working practices at Accountant in Bankruptcy and South of Scotland Enterprise. The pilot formally concluded on 03 November 2025 and the evaluation report can be accessed here - Four day working week pilot - Public sector pay - gov.scot

Whilst there are no plans for any further trials or a broader move to a 32-hour week across government, the learnings from the pilot will be integrated into the Public Service Reform Programme to inform future productivity improvements. Scottish Government continues to support flexible working arrangements that enhance wellbeing and operational efficiency, including the recent move to a 35-hour working week framework.

While the legal powers governing flexible working are currently reserved to Westminster, the Scottish Government is committed to working with employers to explore ways of promoting and encouraging flexible, agile and inclusive workplaces that benefit all workers and employers. Since 2020/21, we have provided over £1.5m in funding to help promote and support employers and workers across Scotland to adopt flexible workplace practices.

DL (2025) 25, Implementation of Sub-National Planning: Co-operation and Planning Directions 2025 came into force on 13 November 2025. This document requires Health Boards to organise themselves into two collaborative sub-national structures – Scotland East and Scotland West – to co-operate in planning and delivering the objectives specified in the Directions. The objectives stated in the directive are as follows:

• ‘Treatment time guarantee for orthopaedic elective care services’
• ‘Emergency healthcare services’
• ‘Once for Scotland approach to business systems’
• ‘Mycare.scot service’

There are no current plans for cancer services to be organised within this subnational structure.

The Scottish Government and the newly established National Scottish Cancer Collaborative (previously Scottish Cancer Network) continue to work closely with the three regional cancer networks, Southeast Scotland Cancer Network, West of Scotland Cancer Network and the North Cancer Alliance, to align on national direction and to provide for once for Scotland solutions where appropriate.

I refer the member to the answer to question S6W-43974 on 5 March 2026. the National Radiology Lead from the Centre for Sustainable Delivery meets regularly with Health Boards to discuss imaging performance, staffing levels and scanner stock. NHS Boards have been asked to provide plans to support delivery of the 95% target of patients seen within 6 weeks throughout 2026-27.

Furthermore, we are looking at options to increase the amount of CT and MRI scanners as well as more robust replacement plans of the current stock to ensure technology advances are optimised which in turn can improve throughput, reduce radiation dose and improve energy efficiency.

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.

In 2025-26 we allocated more than £22 million additional funding to Health Boards to help tackle the longest waits for Radiology. The latest data shows that the Radiology list size decreased by 18.1% compared to last quarter. We are determined to continue to build on this momentum, ensuring people receive the treatment they need as soon as possible.

We have also provided additional funding of more than £12 million for 13 MRI mobile scanners and 4 CT mobile scanners, this will provide capacity of almost 90,000 additional scans throughout 2025-26.

The Scottish Government commissioned Centre for Sustainable Delivery who routinely monitor planned and actual diagnostic performance, and work with Boards towards the delivery of the 95% of patients seen within 6 week target. Their evaluation of this work will help inform plans for 2026-27.

Section 48(5) of the Scotland Act 1998 provides that any decision of the Lord Advocate in their capacity as head of the systems of criminal prosecution and investigation of deaths in Scotland shall continue to be taken independently of any other person. It is therefore the case, as the Lord Advocate made clear to Parliament during an Urgent Question on 25 February 2026, that the Lord Advocate is required to discharge their duties in that office independently of any other person and independently of any political interference.

During the Urgent Question, the Lord Advocate explained to Parliament that the Lord Advocate of the day may provide the First Minister of the day, or the Prime Minister or another constitutional office-holder, with appropriate information on casework or investigations. This has been done by different Lord Advocates irrespective of the political party of the recipient of the information, and is done in the proper administration of the legal system.

We have increased Radiography staff from 2,248.2 WTE to 2,773.0 WTE a 23.3% increase (Dec 2015 – Dec 2025). This includes:

• 24.1% increase in Diagnostic Radiographers (from 1,978.8 WTE as at Dec 2015 to 2,455.9 WTE as at Dec 2025).
• 17.7% increase in Therapeutic Radiographers (from 269.4 WTE as at Dec 2015 to 317.1 WTE as at Dec 2025).

The National Radiology Lead from the Centre for Sustainable Delivery meets regularly with Health Boards to discuss imaging performance, staffing levels and scanner stock. NHS Boards have been asked to provide plans to support delivery of the 95% target, of patients seen within 6 weeks, throughout 2026-27.

We have increased Radiography staff from 2,248.2 WTE to 2,773.0 WTE a 23.3% increase (Dec 2015 – Dec 2025). This includes:

• 24.1% increase in Diagnostic Radiographers (from 1,978.8 WTE as at Dec 2015 to 2,455.9 WTE as at Dec 2025).
• 17.7% increase in Therapeutic Radiographers (from 269.4 WTE as at Dec 2015 to 317.1 WTE as at Dec 2025).

The National Radiology Lead from the Centre for Sustainable Delivery meets regularly with Health Boards to discuss imaging performance, staffing levels and scanner stock. NHS Boards have been asked to provide plans to support delivery of the 95% target, of patients seen within 6 weeks, throughout 2026-27.

The recommendations of the National Child Mortality Database study emphasise the importance of timely and appropriate genetic testing and clear communication to support informed decisions about pregnancy, clinical care and family planning.

The Scottish Government does not have any plans to ban first-cousin marriages in Scotland.

Healthcare Improvement Scotland (HIS) has a duty to improve the quality of health care and its scrutiny activity, including its inspection programmes, is a key part of this.

Since November 2021, they have implemented a Safe Delivery of Care inspection methodology approach. The scope of inspections is intelligence-led and currently excludes certain facilities, such as smaller community hospitals. For hospitals within scope, HIS utilises a risk-based, data-informed prioritisation procedure to determine inspection frequency and specific service areas for review.

This broader approach is designed to provide independent assurance on the safety and quality of care delivered by NHS boards. The Safe Delivery of Care inspections are unannounced and are specifically designed to ensure an accurate and real-time assessment of care delivery.

Public Health Scotland (PHS) holds this information. Data on waiting list sizes is available at the following link: https://publichealthscotland.scot/publications/nhs-waiting-times-stage-of-treatment. However, it is important to note that PHS does not publish information on removals for the reason “Died.” Instead, this information is grouped into ‘Other reasons’ and can be found in Tab 2.4 of the Inpatient and day case spreadsheet, available here: https://publichealthscotland.scot/media/37438/ipdc_feb26-data-file-up-to-31-december-2025.xlsx.