Chamber and committees

The Scottish Government recognises the importance of highlighting the link between alcohol and non-communicable disease. Evidence is clear that alcohol consumption increases the risk of developing non-communicable diseases, including some cancers.

A refreshed cross-government and cross-sectoral approach to population health - focused on prevention - is being progressed. Increasing healthy life expectancy and reducing health inequalities across Scotland remains a clear ambition for this Government. It is clear the reform of health and care services alone will not be enough to stem the current tide of population health decline in Scotland.

The Population Health Framework is being developed jointly by the Scottish Government & COSLA and in collaboration with Public Health Scotland, Directors of Public Health and key local, regional and national partners. The Scottish Government will set out key actions to reduce alcohol harm following the Population Health Framework, including the role of public health messaging and awareness.

The following table shows the percentage of criminal cases reported to COPFS by Police Scotland.

An initial assessment of the Citizens’ Jury report demonstrates clear alignment with the Scottish Government’s cancer strategy and action plan published in June 2023. The four key priorities identified by the Specialist Cancer Charities Group regarding Diagnosis; Equal access to care; Mental health support; and Improving communication are directly referenced within the ambitions of our strategy.

A meeting is being arranged with the Specialist Cancer Charities Group to discuss their ambitions further.

The Scottish Government remains committed to improved health messaging on alcohol in Scotland, including on labels and packaging. The Scottish Government will continue to engage constructively with the UK Government, along with our colleagues in Wales and Northern Ireland devolved administrations, in relation to progressing work on alcohol labelling.

In July 2024, the Scottish Government published the first annual progress report on the Cancer Action Plan 2023-26. The next progress report of the Cancer Action Plan is due to be published in the summer 2025. Additionally, the Population Health Framework will consider key actions to improve population health, including on alcohol harm prevention, in line with World Health Organisation guidance on reducing the affordability, attractiveness and availability of alcohol.

The Scottish Government launched a consultation on 20th December 2024, to seek views on how best to further regulate non-surgical cosmetics procedures.

The consultation has been informed by extensive work with a range of stakeholders, including beauty industry representatives, among others, but it is important we receive further feedback before the Scottish Government commits to any proposals.

In taking forward work on any potential new regulations, we will continue to seek views from, and consider the impact on, existing businesses.

Our proposals aim to be both robust and proportionate, protecting the public and supporting reputable business to operate safely.

The draft Scottish budget indicates a £52.6m grant in aid allocation to SEPA for 2025-26 and SEPA may determine how to allocate those resources, setting this out in an Annual Operating Plan each year.

This is an operational matter for Police Scotland.

The flood resilience budget sits within the local government settlement and for 2025-26 is £121.5 million. An additional £15 million has been set aside in the draft 2025-2026 Scottish Budget to support the delivery of the new Flood Resilience Strategy, wider flooding resilience and coastal adaptation work.

The information requested is not collected or held centrally by the Scottish Government and would require to be obtained from Health Boards.

The Annual Reports for the NHS Clinical Negligence and Other Risks Indemnity Scheme (CNORIS) provide details of the scheme along with the number and value of claims made during each financial year and historical values.

The Annual Reports, which also cover information available in terms of categorisation of claims, are published online at Access annual reports for the scheme | National Services Scotland.

Some settlements are paid through a smaller lump sum together with periodic payments. Detail of these Periodic Payment Orders may be found at page 9.

The Scottish Government opposes any form of interference in Scottish politics and elections. We use the powers we have available to protect the integrity of the democratic process. To prevent foreign interference, we work closely with the UK Government, for example by taking part in exercises with the Defending Democracy Programme. This programme seeks to identify and address threats to elections and electoral processes including foreign interference, disinformation, physical and cyber threats to democratic institutions and representatives.

We will have the full support of the national agencies, for example the National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC) and the National Protective Security Authority (NPSA), who are on the frontline in detecting and exposing foreign interference in the run up to the Scottish Parliament Election to be held on 7 May 2026.