Chamber and committees

Scottish Ministers have not made representation to the UK Government on this issue as the regulation for the licensing, safety and efficacy of medicines is reserved to the UK Government and is the responsibility of the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA).

The Scottish Government recognises the concerns of students, parents of students and staff affected by the proposed cuts to Animal Care provision and appreciates that this is a very worrying time for everyone at the Scotland's Rural College's (SRUC)Elmwood Campus.

The Scottish Government is investing a record £1.64 billion in policing in 2025-26, an increase of almost £90 million of additional funding from the 2024-25 budget.

Our investment in policing has enabled Police Scotland to undertake the highest level of recruitment since its inception, with around 1,200 new officers joining since the start of 2024. In February, Police Scotland reported their officer establishment was 16,614.

To support the Chief Constable’s reform and modernisation programme, an additional £10m has also been provided to Police Scotland, to enable the delivery of her three-year business plan and bring frontline policing to its strongest possible position.

I am pleased that Police Scotland has invested £17 million to enhance welfare provision. This included a new 24/7 Employee Assistance Programme, direct access to occupational health services and a greater focus on mental health. This highlights the priority that Police Scotland places on supporting the health and wellbeing of the workforce, supported by a Health and Wellbeing Action Plan to underpin delivery.

Extensive work is ongoing to improve coordination of public services as part of our commitment to public service reform. We will support all areas to follow the Getting It Right for Everyone model of person-centred services (GIRFE). This model brings the person, their families, carers and all service providers together to devise a package of care and support in a joined-up, holistic manner across various services and agencies to achieve the best outcomes for individuals. In December 2024 we published the GIRFE toolkit and Health Boards are now required to set out how they will embed the GIRFE principles and toolkit in NHS Annual Delivery Plans for the organisation and delivery of their services. In addition, we are establishing the new National Care Service Advisory Board to improve social care, social work and community health services.

More specifically to support individuals with complex co-occurring mental health and substance use issues we commissioned Healthcare Improvement Scotland (HIS) to create a gold-standard protocol that sets out how these services should work together, which has now been published. HIS are now working to support areas across the country to develop and implement their own protocols. We are also supporting Mental Health Officers (MHOs), who assess and support individuals with mental health conditions and are pivotal to integrated health and social care services. Actions underway include undertaking workforce planning initiatives to address shortfall in MHOs, developing a pilot exercise to reduce administrative burden, and developing a scheme to harness the potential of AI powered tools to support reporting and reduce associated workloads.

As per the response provided to question S6W-34540 on 4 March 2025, Compensation provisions do exist where land, or rights over land, are acquired by compulsion for the development of energy infrastructure under the Electricity Act 1989. However, there is no statutory provision or process set out in the Act to financially compensate those who consider their property value may be affected.

Golf is important to Scotland’s economy, culture and reputation. We have more than 550 golf courses, host world-renowned events and enjoy the benefits from a thriving golf tourism sector.

Golf events and golf tourism bring significant economic benefits to Scotland.

The economic value of golf tourism for the Scottish economy is approximately £300 million per annum, around 5000 jobs and approximately £150 million in GVA.

Scotland’s portfolio of golf events, including The R&A’s major championships and our annual national Opens, help maintain our worldwide reputation as the ‘Home of Golf’.

In 2024, Scotland successfully delivered an exceptional summer of golf, hosting five high-profile tournaments across the men’s and women’s games, headlined by the 152nd Open at Royal Troon. All five events were supported by Scottish Government funding.

Independent research from Sheffield Hallam University’s Sport Industry Research Centre found that last year’s Open at Royal Troon generated an estimated £87.3 million in total economic impact – new money entering the economy – for Scotland.

The figures for Royal Troon bring the total economic benefit generated by the ten stagings of The Open in Scotland since 2005 to £1.36 billion.

The 2024 Genesis Scottish Open reported £19.2 million in economic impact for Scotland.

In addition to direct economic benefits, Scotland’s golf events also bring wider benefits, including supporting charitable causes, engaging communities and young people, increasing participation in sport and general wellbeing, and advocating for policy priorities such as environmental issues.

I have undertaken an extensive programme of visits to Scotland’s prisons where I have met with Governors and/or Deputy Governors and other members of prison staff. Details of these visits are shown in the following table.

The 2025-26 Budget will provide a record £21.7 billion for Health and Social Care, including almost £200 million to reduce waiting lists and improve flow through hospitals. Gynaecology will be targeted as a key priority area for additional funding.

We are committed to ensuring those living with endometriosis are able to access the best possible care and support and that they benefit from healthcare services that are safe, effective and put people at the centre of their care.

Endometriosis is one of the key priorities in the Women’s Health Plan and will continue to be so. Timely access to gynaecology services will also be a priority as we continue to develop the next phase of our Women’s Health Plan, which we aim to publish in 2025.

Scotland’s first International Education Strategy (IES), published in February last year, highlighted the positive impact that international students make to our colleges and sets out the actions that the Scottish Government will take with both colleges and universities, to promote Scotland as a study destination and to attract and diversity our international student population.

In 2024-25, we launched the Come to Study: Find Scotland campaign aimed at attracting prospective international students to institutions across the breadth of the country. We will continue to work with partners to enhance our marketing and promotional efforts in the year ahead.

We have worked closely with Colleges Scotland in the development of the Scottish Education Exchange Programme. To date, 8 colleges (11 projects) have benefited from SEEP funding which has enabled the delivery of projects that are helping build international partnerships across the globe.

Furthermore, the Scottish Government has appointed a new Trade Envoy for International Education who will promote Scotland’s colleges and universities to international students and organisations across the world.

I refer the member to the answer to the question S6W-36412 on 29 April 2025. 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