Chamber and committees

The Scottish Government is clear that patients should not pay for any part of their NHS treatment, and NHS patients are not permitted to use purchased donor eggs for NHS treatment. However, NHS treatment should not be withdrawn from patients who purchase their own donor eggs for use in future private treatment. If a patient is unhappy with the care they have received, they should contact their NHS Board who have responsibility for delivering services.

A programme of work to address recommendations of the Independent Review of Audiology Services in Scotland has now concluded and each of the 55 recommendations updated.

In line with agreed governance structures processes, all NHS Territorial Health Boards have established Local Improvement Plans for 2023-24 and were instructed by Scottish Government to outline their governance, reporting and management processes through a Local Assurance Framework in 2024, as well as, requiring the inclusion of audiology in their 2025-26 Annual Delivery Plans.

It would be for NHS Lanarkshire to make the decision to publish these plans.

The Scottish Government instructed NHS Territorial Health Boards to outline their governance, reporting and management processes through a Local Assurance Framework in 2024, as well as, requiring the inclusion of audiology in their 2025-26 Annual Delivery Plans.

Decisions regarding accessibility policy and planning of this nature are made by individual Health Boards based on local priorities and needs. Boards are expected to assess the impact of their policies and functions on people with protected characteristics and equality groups in line with statutory requirements.

The Scottish Government has commissioned NHS Education for Scotland (NES) to undertake work which maps the skills and competencies required at each level of practice for all disciplines within the healthcare science profession, including audiology as a clinical priority area.

This sits hand in hand with activity which will enable us to be able to map our scientific workforce in across all NHS Territorial Health Boards, including NHS Lanarkshire, more accurately, strengthening capacity, training and recruitment pipelines for audiologists, and supporting better workforce planning for the future.

The Scottish Ministers make decisions on applications in accordance with legislative requirements and relevant policy. Energy consent applications are assessed on a case-by-case basis, with all relevant information considered to ensure balanced decision-making. This includes environmental information, consultee responses from public bodies and representations from the public.

All information related to determinations made by the Scottish Ministers in respect of onshore wind farm developments, including any conditions to mitigate biodiversity impacts, is publicly available on our Energy Consents portal: https://www.energyconsents.scot/ApplicationSearch.aspx

Scottish Audiology Heads of Service have recently initiated an in house peer review process and are continuing to see positive results from this. As part of Improving Quality in Physiological Services (IQIPS) benchmarking, a mapping exercise is currently underway which includes the consideration of national peer review for audiology services.

An executive lead group for audiology has been reestablished, with representation from each NHS Territorial Health Board to consider the outputs and next steps of this work, which will conclude within the current financial year.

The Scottish Government expects NHS Boards to meet the needs of couples who are eligible for NHS fertility treatment and require donor gametes (eggs and sperm) for that treatment. We have always been clear that couples who are eligible for NHS fertility treatment should not pay for any aspect of their treatment, and this includes the purchase and use of donor gametes.

The Scottish Government has committed funding to all territorial Health Boards to undertake Improving Quality in Physiological Services (IQIPS) benchmarking throughout the current financial year.

An executive lead group for audiology has been reestablished, with representation from each NHS Territorial Health Board to consider the outputs and next steps of this work, which will conclude within the current financial year.

Scottish Government sets the strategic policy direction for the NHS in Scotland, operational matters – including the recruitment and training of staff – are in the first instance the responsibility of the relevant NHS Board.

We continue to work closely with Health Boards and clinical professionals across Scotland to understand any specific challenges they are facing in the recruitment and training of specialist staff needed to support people with ADHD.

We continue to fund NHS Education for Scotland (NES) and the National Autism Implementation Team (NAIT) to deliver professional learning to improve the Scottish workforce’s knowledge and skills about Neurodivergence, including Autism and ADHD.

To address specific challenges in the recruitment and retention of psychiatrists in Scotland we established a Working Group which recently reported to Ministers, 23 June 2025. Funding also continues to be provided to Boards for the additional roles to help mental health pharmacy services including within community mental health pharmacy support to improve medication use and prescribing practices.

We work closely with the Society of Chief Officers of Trading Standards in Scotland (SCOTSS) to support enforcement of existing legislation, including checks on sales of tobacco and vapes to under 18s, and advice to business.

In 2025-26 this includes providing funding of £46k to support a National Coordinator post and specific enforcement projects that vary year on year. SCOTSS manages the Enhanced Tobacco Sales Enforcement Programme (ETSEP) in Scotland, which is a key component in the Scottish Government’s Tobacco and Vaping Framework, and helps ensure that young people’s access to harmful age-restricted products is minimised.

In addition in 2025-26, the Scottish Government has made £300k available for transitional costs associated with the ban on SUVs, and to support recycling and responsible disposal of SUV’s seized by local authorities.

The 2025-26 budget delivered record funding of over £15.1 billion for Local Government, a real terms increase of 5.5 per cent. Local Government have responsibility for working to ensure local budget decisions deliver local and national priorities, including those on the enforcement of existing legislation, including on underage sales and illicit tobacco and vapes and the single use vape ban.