Chamber and committees

I have asked Teresa Medhurst, Chief Executive of the Scottish Prison Service (SPS), to respond. Her response is as follows:

The SPS engaged the services of legal advisers and cost consultants to advise on cost controls within the contract. It would not be appropriate for SPS to publish this advice as it is commercially sensitive information, however, SPS will publish a summary of their Business Case on their website.

The Scottish Government does not hold this information.

The Scottish Government’s approach to dealing with RAAC is to follow the guidance set out by Institute of Structural Engineers.

The Scottish Government funded a survey of all NHS facilities suspected of RAAC and it is known where RAAC is present. These phase 1 surveys did not identify any immediate concerns that have not already been acted on.

We are funding a second more detailed phase of surveys of all sites with RAAC to ensure that the right approach is being taken to dealing with it. As a result of this type of detailed survey, necessary remedial works at Knoll Hospital have been identified and are being actioned – in line with the systematic approach to RAAC discovery and investigation across the NHS.

NHS Borders notified the Scottish Government on 27 January 2025 that there was an evolving situation regarding RAAC at Knoll Community Hospital. When a health facility is assessed as requiring maintenance work this does not automatically mean the facility is not safe, and the specialist Structural Engineers who conducted this survey on behalf of NHS Borders, and who are the survey partner for the NHS RAAC programme, have not reported that Knoll Hospital is unsafe.

Phase 2 surveys will be carried out across all NHS properties known to contain RAAC. Where any previously unidentified issues are found during phase 2 surveys, Health Boards are expected to assess, communicate and action with appropriate pace to ensure safety.

For all instances of RAAC identified as requiring an annual reinspection from the Phase 1, Discovery Survey programme, a programme of annual reinspection is currently underway and due to complete in March 2025.

The Scottish Government takes the issue of asbestos within schools very seriously, and are engaging with COSLA, the Health and Safety Executive, local authorities and other interested parties to set up a working group on this matter.

However, local authorities have statutory responsibility for the control and management of asbestos within their schools. Furthermore, health and safety is not devolved to the Scottish Government, and the Health and Safety Executive has
UK-wide responsibility for enforcement of the Control of Asbestos Regulations 2012.

As set out in answer S6W-29116 on 6 September 2024, the cost incurred to date in relation to the planned National Treatment Centre in NHS Ayrshire and Arran, NHS Grampian, NHS Lanarkshire, NHS Lothian and NHS Tayside is as follows.

I refer the member to the answer to question S6W-35102 on 5 March 2025:

The Scottish Government’s approach to dealing with RAAC is to follow the guidance set out by Institute of Structural Engineers.

The Scottish Government funded a survey of all NHS facilities suspected of RAAC and it is known where RAAC is present. These phase 1 surveys did not identify any immediate concerns that have not already been acted on.

We are funding a second more detailed phase of surveys of all sites with RAAC to ensure that the right approach is being taken to dealing with it. As a result of this type of detailed survey, necessary remedial works at Knoll Hospital have been identified and are being actioned – in line with the systematic approach to RAAC discovery and investigation across the NHS.

NHS Borders notified the Scottish Government on 27 January 2025 that there was an evolving situation regarding RAAC at Knoll Community Hospital. When a health facility is assessed as requiring maintenance work this does not automatically mean the facility is not safe, and the specialist Structural Engineers who conducted this survey on behalf of NHS Borders, and who are the survey partner for the NHS RAAC programme, have not reported that Knoll Hospital is unsafe.

Phase 2 surveys will be carried out across all NHS properties known to contain RAAC. Where any previously unidentified issues are found during phase 2 surveys, Health Boards are expected to assess, communicate and action with appropriate pace to ensure safety.

For all instances of RAAC identified as requiring an annual reinspection from the Phase 1, Discovery Survey programme, a programme of annual reinspection is currently underway and due to complete in March 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

The Scottish Government provided funding to Chest Heart and Stroke Scotland in 2018 to support a stroke awareness campaign. This was managed by Chest Heart and Stroke Scotland and delivered via NHS Boards. Scottish Government does not hold an evaluation of this campaign.

Chest Heart and Stroke Scotland launched a public FAST awareness campaign on 30 October 2024; World Stroke Day. Further information can be found at:

https://www.chss.org.uk/news/chest-heart-stroke-scotland-launches-new-f-a-s-t-campaign-to-improve-stroke-awareness/

More frequent and meaningful budget engagement with COSLA and Councils was fundamental to informing the record funding settlement made available to Local Government in the Scottish Budget 2025-26.

That engagement included consideration of financial viability, the importance of sustainable local services and the critical need for transformation.

The Local Government Settlement was significantly more generous than Councils were expecting based upon the trajectories set out in previous Medium Term Financial Strategies. Despite this, all local authorities, along with the rest of the public sector, are facing difficult decisions as part of their budget setting processes including on how to meet the increased costs of employer National Insurance Contributions following the UK Budget in November 2024.

Whilst no specific concerns over financial viability in 2025-26 or 2026-27 have been raised since the Scottish Budget was published, Scottish Ministers remain committed to deepening and broadening budget engagement to ensure the sustainability of local services in the long term.

The national action plan on relationships and behaviour published in August 2024. The first published progress report will publish in the coming weeks.

Scottish Government continues to engage with local authorities to understand the impact on the Scottish state sector to date.