Chamber and committees

I am pleased to confirm the Independent Review of Maternity Services is now underway. Professor Christine McCourt has published the review methodology on a dedicated website and has begun establishing two advisory groups who will provide support to her during the review.

The review will take nine months to complete. Once it concludes, Professor McCourt will submit her report and recommendations to Scottish Ministers one month later, in July 2027. Once the report is received, I will give careful consideration to Professor McCourt’s findings and recommendations and set out my response. I intend to update Parliament as soon as possible given the significant interest in improving maternity services across the Chamber.

This review represents an important opportunity to ensure that women, babies and families receive the highest quality maternity care possible.

This review is system-wide, and I will work with partners across the maternity system to take forward the changes identified.

In the meantime, Healthcare Improvement Scotland continue to conduct their unannounced inspections of all 18 of Scotland’s acute maternity units. I am clear that learnings from these inspections must inform ongoing improvement across our NHS and I will of course continue to engage with Members directly on any specific local issues identified.

Since July 2023 all recipients of discretionary public sector grants have been required to demonstrate their commitment to our Fair Work First criteria, including mandatory real Living Wage and effective worker voice conditions. While public bodies are responsible for their own procurement decisions, Statutory Guidance asks contracting authorities to consider, before undertaking a procurement exercise, whether it is relevant and proportionate to include requirements for Fair Work First criteria.

The Scottish Government is currently processing a request for this information under the Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act 2002. The response will set out any information held that can be disclosed, subject to the provisions and exemptions contained within the Act. To ensure consistency and compliance with statutory obligations, it would not be appropriate to provide a detailed response to this Parliamentary Question in advance of the FOI process being completed.

Christina’s Card will direct people to a website landing page where women will find a range of information about women’s health topics. This will provide a valuable opportunity to highlight that cervical screening does not detect ovarian cancers, as well as information on other gynaecological cancers.

Transport Scotland officials, Scottish Rail Holdings and ScotRail meet regularly to discuss a range of matters, including rail fares and passenger demand.

The Scottish Government has already taken significant action to support affordable rail travel, including the permanent removal of ScotRail peak fares last year and fares freeze this year. These measures make rail travel simpler, more accessible and better value for passengers across Scotland.

We will continue to work closely with ScotRail to monitor travel demand as plans for a national £2 bus fare cap develops to ensure rail remains an accessible, sustainable and value-for-money transport option for people across Scotland.

Gillian Martin: Applications for the 2026-2027 Islands Resilience Fund closed on 28 September. 280 applications were received and these are being evaluated now.

In 2025-26, a total of 59 out of 444 applications to the Islands Business Resilience Fund were unsuccessful. The breakdown by island local authority is as follows:

• 25 in Argyll & Bute
• 24 in Na h-Eileanan Siar
• 10 in North Ayrshire

The Scottish Government recognises the potential value of personalised cancer vaccine development and the challenges that this raises for our healthcare system.

As part of the Genomics in Scotland strategy, we are working to improve the tissue sample pathway necessary to support enhanced genomic testing for patients with brain cancer.

Further work is needed, in collaboration with NHS partners, to look at the wider capability and capacity needed to support the long-term storage of fresh-frozen tumour tissue samples suitable for personalised vaccine development.

The management of airspace within the UK is a matter reserved to the UK Government. However, following the disruption to Scottish airports on Tuesday 8 September and Monday 21 September, I wrote to both the CEO of NATS and the Secretary of State for Transport to raise my concerns around the impact of the disruption on passengers, Highlands and Islands connectivity, and the Scottish economy. I also sought assurances that both intend to work to ensure the UK’s air traffic control system remains fit for purpose.

Our £10 million commitment for an Islands Resilience Fund remains unchanged. We have now announced the first £3 million phase, building on the £4.4 million provided through the former Islands Business Resilience Fund last year. Further phases of the new £10m Islands Resilience Fund will be developed and delivered over the lifetime of this Parliament, reflecting our long-term commitment to island communities.

The Scottish Government is clear in its opposition to the inappropriate use of ‘fire and rehire’. Our longstanding position is that such a practice does not align with the principles and expected practice of Fair Work.

It is our belief that a progressive approach to industrial relations and an effective voice for workers is at the heart of a fairer, more successful society.