Chamber and committees

Aberdeen Airport will benefit from the Scottish Government’s decision to extend the Air Departure Tax (ADT)Highlands and Islands exemption to the carriage of passengers on routes from all Scottish airports to airports in the Highlands and Islands. This includes routes such as those from Aberdeen Airport to Sumburgh and Kirkwall.

The Scottish Government does not hold the information requested. This would be an operational matter for First Glasgow, the operator of the Glasgow Airport Express service.

As stated in response to S7W-02992 on 15 September 2026, Our Detect Cancer Earlier (DCE) Programme takes a whole-systems approach to early detection and encompasses primary care, diagnostics, public education, data, innovation and screening. Detect Cancer Earlier’s ‘Be The Early Bird’ campaign launched in March 2023 aiming to reduce fear of cancer and empower those with possible symptoms to act early.

It is essential that primary care professionals are supported to recognise signs and symptoms when seeing people concerned about cancer. The Scottish Referral Guidelines (SRGs) for Suspected Cancer support primary care clinicians to identify those with symptoms suspicious of cancer and identify those who require urgent assessment by a specialist, including for gynaecological cancers. A clinical review of SRGs has been completed with updated guidance published on 6 August 2025.

Our Gateway C platform provides innovative and tailored information to support earlier cancer diagnosis efforts and enable effective decision-making. This free online platform is accessible to all primary care clinicians including pharmacists, dentists, and optometrists.

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.

I refer the Member to the answer to question S7W-00647 on 11 June 2026. 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.

I refer the Member to the answer to question S7W-00647 on 11 June 2026. 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 has engaged with a range of stakeholders to plan and prepare for the implementation of the Act.

In April 2026, the Scottish Government established an Advisory Group to inform and coordinate this work. The answer to Parliamentary Question S7W-02739 on 21 September 2026 provides further detail on the membership of this group, which includes representatives from the residential outdoor education sector.

In addition:

• Scottish Government officials have been continuing to undertake visits to residential outdoor education providers and local authorities to explore different models of provision, including provision for pupils with complex and/or multiple support needs.
• In June 2026, Scottish Government and Education Scotland officials delivered a set of initial discussion sessions with school leaders to draw on their expertise and insights.
• The implementation of the Act was discussed at the Curriculum and Assessment Board in March 2026, which includes representation from teaching unions.

Scottish Ministers will make commencement regulations by 30 September 2027, in line with the provisions of the Act. Those commencement regulations will confirm the timeline for commencement of the Act and Ministers and officials will continue to engage with a range of stakeholders in relation to this work.

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 April 2026, the Scottish Government established an Advisory Group to inform and coordinate planning for implementation of the Schools (Residential Outdoor Education) (Scotland) Act 2026. The group brings together key partners from across the residential outdoor education sector, local government and the education system. The group has met three times to date (April 2026, June 2026 and September 2026) and is progressing a number of key items of work including the gathering of baseline data in academic year 2026/27 and early deliberation on timeline options for commencement.

Ministers will make commencement regulations by 30 September 2027, in line with the provisions set out in the Act. Ministers will decide the precise date for laying the commencement regulations in due course.

The Scottish Government does not hold this information centrally.

The member may wish to consult Public Health Scotland’s Cancer Incidence Data Set publication. This is available at the following link: Cancer incidence in Scotland - to December 2024 - Cancer incidence in Scotland - Publications - Public Health Scotland.

Regarding early diagnosis, Our Detect Cancer Earlier Programme takes a whole-systems approach to early detection and encompasses primary care, diagnostics, public education, data, innovation and screening.

In addition, a clinically reviewed refresh of our Scottish Referral Guidelines for Suspected Cancer was published in August 2025. For this first time this now includes guidelines for key groups who should consider speaking to their GP about PSA testing from age 45.

The Scottish Government is continuing to take action to improve waiting times, with over £14m of the £135.5m in additional planned care funding for 2025-26 to Cancer Waiting Times, focussed on colorectal, urological and breast as our most challenged pathways.

As per answer to Parliamentary Question S7W-03170 on 21 September 2026, Education Scotland's professional learning resource, Learning to Read in the Early Years (2024), identifies systematic phonics as a critical component of early reading instruction and reflects current research on effective reading teaching.

As part of the work to develop that guidance, Education Scotland examined a range of research evidence. This includes research by McGeown, Johnston and Medford (2012), which found that reading instruction can influence the cognitive skills that support early reading development, and McGeown, Medford and Moxon (2013), which identified evidence that systematic synthetic phonics approaches may be particularly beneficial for some learners, including those from disadvantaged backgrounds.

Key sources of evidence and research are as follows:

McGeown, SP., Medford, E., and Moxon, B (2013) ‘Individual differences in children's reading and spelling strategies and the skills supporting strategy use’,Learning and Individual Differences, 28, pp. 75-81.

McGeown, S., Johnston, R., and Medford, E (2012) ‘Reading instruction affects the cognitive skills supporting early reading development’, Learning and Individual Differences, 22, pp. 360-264.

Castles, A., Rastle, K., and Nation, K (2018) ‘Ending the Reading Wars: Reading Acquisition From Novice to Expert’, Psychological Science in the Public Interest, 19(1), pp. 5–51.

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 annual National Improvement Framework (NIF) publication sets out the vision, key priorities and educational outcomes for children and young people. The National Improvement Framework 2026 confirms “Improvement in achievement, particularly in literacy and numeracy” as one of 5 key priorities for our education system.

As part of the package of activity taken forward under the NIF, Education Scotland has published national guidance and professional learning resources Learning to Read in the Early Years.

The guidance makes it clear that systematic phonics should form a foundational part of early reading instruction; states that phonemic awareness is key to reading development; provides definitions and advice to schools on how to develop phonemic awareness, and; provides links to a range of additional resources and advice, including advice from the Education Endowment Foundation.

Education Scotland continues to work with local government partners to share evidence-informed approaches to literacy and reading across Scotland's schools.

2026 National Improvement Framework

Education Scotland: Learning to Read in the Early Years