Chamber and committees

The Scottish Government is providing £4.5 million annually to NHS boards supporting the development and delivery of specialist services for people with long COVID, ME/Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (ME/CFS) and related conditions. The funding, provided on a recurring basis, is distributed using the NHS Scotland Resource Allocation Committee (NRAC) formula, which takes account of factors associated with variations in healthcare need across populations.

The Scottish Government will work with NHS boards to monitor progress.

The following table sets out the known coming into force dates for relevant provisions in the Tobacco and Vapes Act 2026.

The Scottish Government recognise the harms that can be caused by gambling. As set out in our Population Health Framework, we are taking a Public Health approach to tackle these harms and improve the treatment services.

Through the Gambling Levy, the Scottish Government has committed to providing £7.9 million in funding to a wide range of organisations in 2026-27. This includes over £3.9 million of funding to third sector organisations. The funding is being used to increase access to prevention and treatment services to support individuals and families affected by gambling related harms across all of Scotland.

We are working closely with our delivery partners to support them to progress this work.

The Scottish Government recognise the harms that can be caused by gambling. As set out in our Population Health Framework, we are taking a Public Health approach to tackle these harms and improve the treatment services.

Through the Gambling Levy funds, the Scottish Government has announced funding of £7.9 million to a wide range of public sector, third sector and academic organisations in 2026-27. The funding is being used to increase access to prevention and treatment services to support individuals and families affected by gambling related harms across all of Scotland.

We are working closely with our delivery partners to support them to progress this work.

As part of the development of the Tobacco and Vapes Act 2026 (2026 Act), a UK wide impact assessment was published by UK Government. Scottish Government contributed to the development of this impact assessment.

Scottish Statutory Instruments resulting from the 2026 Act will be supported by relevant impact assessments as part of our usual policy development process. This includes the Children’s Rights and Wellbeing impact assessment, which would cover the appeal and accessibility of these products to children.

The Scottish Government published a partial Business Regulatory Impact Assessment (BRIA) on Display, alongside the "Tobacco and Vapes - Packaging, Appearance and Display consultation", for Scotland. This considers the impacts of proposed restrictions on adults using vaping products as a smoking cessation aid and impacts on businesses, including those which predominantly sell vapes.

Responses to the consultation and the partial BRIA will be used to support the development of any potential regulations on the display of relevant products. Any subsequent regulations in Scotland will be informed by a final BRIA.

The partial BRIA can be found here: https://www.gov.scot/publications/display-restrictions-products-prices-herbal-smoking-products-heated-tobacco-devices-vaping-nicotine-products-scotland-partial-business-regulatory-impact-assessment/

The UK-wide consultation can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/consultations/tobacco-and-vapes-packaging-appearance-and-display/tobacco-and-vapes-packaging-appearance-and-display#how-to-respond

For families in NHS Lothian, neonatal service delivery will remain unchanged with neonatal intensive care remaining at Edinburgh Royal Infirmary and Special Care remaining at St John’s Hospital.

I must be absolutely clear that this change is about saving babies lives. The evidence is clear, that outcomes for the smallest and sickest babies are improved when they are born and cared for in a unit with a high throughput of cases, and where support services are co-located and aligns with existing neonatal intensive care service models across the UK.

These changes will benefit a very small number of babies – those born at less than 27 weeks gestation and those very sickest babies who need multiple complex life support, or surgery.

The Scottish Government does not hold this data centrally. It is published by Public Health Scotland (PHS) and is publicly available through the PHS Vaccination Surveillance Dashboard.

The Scottish Government's Central Communications Division works with Media Planning and Buying Framework agencies to plan and buy media that delivers reach, frequency and engagement for each campaign's target audience.

Social value considerations did form part of the considerations for the Media Planning and Buying Framework.

The Scottish Government's approach to media buying is to ensure that channel selection is driven by evidence of what most effectively reaches and engages target audiences, rather than by specifying particular media channels within contracts.

I refer the member to the answer to question S7W-02200 on 31 August 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.