Chamber and committees

We recognise that staff are NHS Scotland’s greatest asset. We cannot provide the services that people need and deserve, and put in place improvements in performance without highly qualified, skilled and motivated healthcare staff. This pay offer represents an investment that recognises the value we continue to place on our NHS staff.

The £191 million quoted in the press is the estimated cost to NHS Scotland of the increase in national insurance contributions announced by the UK Government in October 2024. The estimated costs of the two year pay offer the Scottish Government recently made to Agenda for Change staff working in NHS Scotland is a £701 million investment.

It is recognised that workforce and pay costs driven by a period of prolonged high inflation are now contributing to significant budget pressures across health and social care, the wider Scottish Government budget and the whole of the public sector. This Government has been clear that the extent of challenges will not be addressed in a single year and we will continue to make the tough choices necessary to support sustainable public finances, whilst also seeking to minimise the impact on frontline services as far as possible.

Staging prostate cancer is often complex and whilst data published by Prostate Cancer UK in 2023 shows apparent variation across the UK nations. Comparison to other nations should be approached with caution due to differences in staging data collection methodology and definitions.

Survival rates, the most crucial measure for any patient, can however be robustly compared and Scotland’s five-year survival rate for prostate cancer is 85.7%, similar to that of the other UK nations.

Our consultation last year on a new Social Housing Net Zero Standard (SHNZS) asked for views on proposals to require social landlords to improve fabric efficiency and install clean heating where it is technically feasible and cost-effective to do so. Feedback from this consultation estimated the total upfront costs for the sector to 2045 of installing clean heating systems and improving energy efficiency would be around £6 billion, with an average cost per home of around £14,000.

We continue to discuss next steps for the proposed Standard and longer term financing options with key stakeholders from the social housing sector. I refer the member to the answer to questions S6W-36595 on 24 April 2025 and S6W-36596 on 1 May 2025 for further context.

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

Our consultation on proposals for a Social Housing Net Zero Standard estimated total upfront clean heat and energy efficiency costs of around £6 billion for social housing. The Social Housing Net Zero Heat Fund supports public and private investment by covering 50% of eligible costs for energy efficiency upgrades and 60% for clean heat installations. The Fund has invested approximately £70 million in social housing projects across Scotland.

The recent Green Heat Finance Taskforce Part 2 Report explores how to attract increased private investment, including through mechanisms which spread repayment costs over a longer timeframe for social housing and other collective property retrofit projects. The Scottish Government will respond to the Taskforce recommendations in the coming months.

Our consultation on proposals for a Social Housing Net Zero Standard estimated the total upfront costs of installing clean heating systems and improving energy efficiency in social housing would be around £6 billion by 2045, with an average cost per home of around £14,000.

Financing the clean heat transition for social housing will require both public and private contributions, with the recent Green Heat Finance Taskforce Part 2 report exploring how to attract greater private investment including through mechanisms which spread repayment costs over a longer timeframe. The Scottish Government will respond to the Taskforce report in the coming months.

The information requested is not held centrally.

The Scottish Government estate is under review to allow us to plan for affordable, inclusive, accessible, modern, secure, energy efficient buildings of the right size to meet our changing needs and net zero ambitions, as well as to ensure best value for taxpayers’ money.

The Scottish Government is aware of concerns that have been raised on this important matter. We ran a consultation between December 2024 and February 2025, to seek views on how best to further regulate non-surgical cosmetics procedures. Over 2200 responses were received which the Scottish Government is carefully analysing.

We have also already engaged with, and will continue to engage with, a range of stakeholders including healthcare professionals as we consider the evidence gathered to date.

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

We will publish the analysis and announce next steps which I have committed to doing before the Scottish Parliament’s summer recess in late June.

As already stated, the Scottish Government will publish further material on independence to give the people of Scotland the information they need to make an informed choice about their constitutional future.

The Scottish Government established a small team of civil servants in the months following the publication of the 2019 Programme for Government until 18 March 2020 which had work to update Scotland’s Future as part of its remit. We cannot provide you with a specific figure on the costs of that work as a full financial year was not completed.

The staffing costs of the Constitutional Futures Division (CFD), for the years that a full financial period was completed, have previously been published in response to an FOI request and in response to question S6W-22623:

2022/23 - Written question and answer: S6W-22623 | Scottish Parliament Website

2023/24 - Various questions relating to Independence: FOI release - gov.scot

The CFD disbanded on 17th January 2025 and therefore, as advised above, we are unable to provide details of staffing costs as a full financial year was not completed.