Chamber and committees

The Scottish Government’s role is to provide strategic leadership for NHS Scotland to ensure a sustainable NHS workforce. Operational matters relating to staffing and the provision of specialist services, such as immunology and allergy services, are the responsibility of individual NHS Boards and will depend on service needs, taking account of national, regional and local priorities.

Boards are required to ensure that suitably qualified and competent staff are available in appropriate numbers to support safe, high-quality care and staff wellbeing, in line with the requirements of the Health and Care (Staffing) (Scotland) Act 2019.

To support them in this regard and in pursuance of our own legal duties under the Act, we keep under regular review NHS Scotland's requirement for immunologists through annual reviews of the number of specialty training places needed to meet anticipated future service demand and consultant need across all specialties.

As outlined in our manifesto, and as part of wider plans to support a just transition to net zero by 2045, the Scottish Government is committed to commissioning a feasibility study into the potential use of tram-trains on the South Suburban line in Edinburgh within the first 100 days of Government.

We are delivering at pace for Scotland, and will launch a public consultation on the retail display of vapes and nicotine products within our first 100 days in Government. This is part of our on-going implementation of the 2026 Tobacco and Vapes Act, and we will continue to work across the four nations where appropriate.

Decisions on further legislative restrictions on displays will be dependent on the outcome of this consultation.

Through targeted investment and service renewal, we will ensure no patient waits longer than 26 weeks for treatment by the end of this parliamentary term.

This follows a substantive and sustained period of improvement over the last year which saw waits over 52 weeks for New Outpatient decrease for 11 consecutive months and for Inpatient / Day-case by 15 months. We’re also seeing real progress in diagnostics, with activity in the latest quarter at its highest since reporting began in April 2024.

This progress was backed by more than £150 million additional funding in 2025-26, allocated to health boards to target the longest waits for planned care, and deliver on our Operational Improvement Plan commitment to provide an additional 150,000 appointments and procedures. The latest data show this target was surpassed with more than 168,000 additional appointments and procedures delivered.

We have already invested an additional £100 million this year to build on the progress made in the 2025-26 Operational Improvement Plan. We will build on this by creating additional capacity and deliver further reductions in waiting times, with a particular focus on those waiting the longest.

I refer the member to the answer to question S7W-00454 on 8 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.

In our manifesto we committed to implementing the stepped care approach to support for adults with neurodevelopmental conditions such as autism and ADHD, as proposed by the Royal College of Psychiatrists. This will expand support to meet people’s needs, whether or not they have a diagnosis, and make accessing support easier by shifting care to community services.

Within the first 100 days of this Parliament, we will meet with stakeholders to agree a route map and timeline for implementation.

To ensure capital funding is targeted effectively, we are working with all health boards to develop a whole-system NHS infrastructure plan for Scotland, which will inform future investment priorities.

As part of this, we are taking forward a primary care infrastructure investment strategy, as set out in the Infrastructure Delivery Pipeline published on 13 January 2026. An initial tranche of 12 priority areas has been identified, based on health needs, population demographics and the condition of the existing estate, with work on three projects commencing immediately:

1. Port Glasgow; 2 East Calder and East Livingston; 3 Cowdenbeath and Lochgelly

Followed by:
•South/West Edinburgh
•Edinburgh City
•Cumbernauld area of Lanarkshire
•Hamilton area of Lanarkshire
•South Glasgow, Langside
•East Dunbartonshire
•West area of Ayr
•Inverness and Nairn
•Kincardine

This programme includes the development of a sustainable revenue funding model to support further investment in primary and community care infrastructure, including a network of local care and wellbeing centres across Scotland. To accelerate delivery, business case development and the revenue model will be progressed in parallel.

On current assumptions, construction is expected to begin from around 2031.

The Scottish Government unequivocally condemns any form of hatred, prejudice or intimidation, including anti-Protestant incidents or attacks. It is unacceptable and will not be tolerated. Therefore, we must all play our part to challenge it.

Scotland is a diverse, multi-cultural society and this diversity strengthens us as a nation. That is why we work cooperatively with a range of organisations throughout the country to tackle all forms of hatred and prejudice.

The former Minister for Victims and Community Safety met with representatives of the Loyal Orange Institution of Scotland, with engagement continuing at both ministerial and official level throughout 2025 and into early 2026.

Transport Scotland continues to work with Strathclyde Partnership for Transport (SPT), Glasgow City Council and other regional partners in the development of Clyde Metro. The ongoing stage of the development process, known as the Case for Investment, is being led by SPT, with Transport Scotland providing a project assurance role.

As part of its project assurance role on Clyde Metro, Transport Scotland engages with Glasgow City Council on a regular basis. Most recently, Transport Scotland officials attended the Clyde Metro Programme Steering Group on 23 April 2026, and senior officials met with the Chief Executive of Glasgow City Council on 11 May 2026 to discuss Clyde Metro.

I refer the member to the answer to question S7W-00342 on 5 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.