Chamber and committees

This information is not held. Public Health Scotland (PHS) holds data on MRI and CT activity through aggregated monthly returns submitted directly by NHS Boards. As this data is not collected or held at an individual week or weekend level, PHS is unable to report the number of MRI or CT scans carried out at weekends.

PHS statistics relating to the eight key diagnostic tests are published with data up to 31 March 2026 and can be found using the following link:

https://publichealthscotland.scot/publications/nhs-waiting-times-diagnostics/diagnostic-waiting-times-waits-for-key-diagnostic-tests-26-may-2026/.

Information about how the Apprenticeship Accelerator Grant scheme will operate will be set out in due course. Funding for the Apprenticeship Accelerator Grant will be considered as part of preparation for the Scottish Budget 2027-28.

As set out in the answer to question S7W-01822, the Scottish Government is currently improving its understanding of the issues that have been raised regarding the delivery of factoring services and considering what action may be required. The views and experiences of homeowners and property factors will be an important consideration as that work progresses, and the approach to stakeholder engagement will be developed alongside it.

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.

Part a) From the announced £12.5m, approximately £5.1m has been paid to date across the financial years of 2024-25, 2025-26 and in the first quarter of 2026-27.

Table 1 below breaks down the payments made to date, broken down by i) financial year ii) per project iii) per partner country. Note that the partner country allocations may not sum to total of grant in that year due to routine over- or underspend in the previous year.

TABLE 1

Part (a) In relation to expenditure on programme delivery, administration, monitoring and evaluation and other overhead costs, the following proportions and values apply concerning the project to date. These are estimates relating to approximately £3m of spend for Link Education International (RISE project) and approximately £2m of expenditure for OXFAM GB (GIRLS project) incurred to date.

A. Programme Delivery

1.RISE project: 69%of budget spent on programme outputs and delivery: £1,888,000 to date

2.GIRLS project: 68% of budget spent on programme outputs and delivery: £1,234,712

B. Administration

1.RISE project: 14% of budget spent on management, technical leadership and reporting: £741,000 to date

2.GIRLS project: 29% of budget spent on administrative costs: £528,418 to date.

C. Monitoring and Evaluation

1.RISE project: Approximately 12% of budget spent on Monitoring, Evaluation and Learning: £324,000 to date

2.GIRLS project: Approximately 1.6% of budget spent on Monitoring, Evaluation and Learning: £29,973 to date

D. Other overhead costs

1.RISE project: Approximately 5% of budget spent on equipment, safeguarding and other overhead costs: £139,000

2.GIRLS project: Approximately 0.75%% of budget spent on other overhead costs, including equipment: £13,572

Part (b)
The number of children and young people which have been directly supported since the programme's commencement:

A. Enrolment

1.RISE project: Link Education International, with its partners in Malawi, Rwanda and Zambia, have screened around 360,000 children with disabilities or additional needs prior to enrolment in school. The project has also provided around 1,000 assistive devices to children with disabilities, and has supported communities, teachers and parents to engage and support those children.

2.GIRLS project: Oxfam, with its partners in Malawi, Rwanda and Zambia, have supported 3,523 scholarships for girls from marginalised backgrounds to enrol in secondary school and TVET courses.

B, C, D.

Concerning attendance, retention and educational attainment: For both the RISE and GIRLS projects, midline assessments are planned for 2027 to assess the effect of both projects in improving attendance and retention, and for GIRLS only, the effect of the project on improving performance.

The Scottish Government published an initial evaluation of Best Start Grant in December 2020 and Best Start Foods in July 2022, and a further assessment of both policies as part of the Five Family Payments evaluation in September 2025. Findings were based mostly on survey and interview research with recipients. They clearly show the benefits have positively impacted recipients’ finances and helped to reduce material deprivation for low income households. In turn, they are having a range of social and health impacts. For example:

• Most recipients said Best Start Grant helps their children participate in social and educational activities. Examples included family trips to the zoo and annual passes to activity centres.
• Most recipients said Best Start Grant and Best Start Foods improve their own mental wellbeing. Parents described how the payments reduced stress about affording essential items for their children, such as food and one-off larger purchases like prams and furniture.
• Most recipients said Best Start Foods helps their children to eat more healthy foods, and that the payments have meant they do not need to use food banks. Some parents said they would have to cut back on healthy foods without this assistance.

The findings also indicate the benefits have increased economic activity by facilitating additional spend. Some of the further potential economic impacts that were identified would accrue in the longer-term. For example, the benefits could contribute to positive health outcomes for children in later life, thereby lowering the costs of health services.

Payments to Crofting Agricultural Grant Scheme claimants are issued once a week. The most recent payments were made on 18 August 2026.

Part (a): In February 2024, the Scottish Government launched a 'Call for Proposals' process (see website page https://www.gov.scot/publications/call-proposals-inclusive-education-programme/), which invited qualified organisations to submit proposals for the competitive award of grants supporting the design, implementation and management of the Scottish Government’s International Development Inclusive Education Programme in Malawi, Rwanda and Zambia.

An internal Scottish Government panel, together with input from Zambia's Ministry of Education on behalf of all three partner countries, scored the applications. The highest-scoring proposals led to a grant award to Link Education International (for Strand 1, which became the RISE project), and OXFAM GB (for Strand 2, which become the GIRLS project).

Part (b)

RISE Project: The lead implementing organisation is Link Education International, who implement the project through three local organisations: Link Community Development Malawi, Chance for Childhood in Rwanda, and School to School Zambia.

GIRLS Project: The lead implementing organisation is Oxfam GB, who implement the project through three local organisations: Concerned Youth Organisation in Malawi, Young Women’s Christian Association in Rwanda and Young Women’s Christian Association in Zambia.

Part c). As set out in the answer to S7W-01962 on 20 August 2026, to date Oxfam GB has been paid £2,052,862, and Link Education International has been paid £3,086,573. The partner organisations working with each project are listed below, with estimate amounts paid to each for the purposes of implementing the contract, to date since commencement of the projects

1. RISE project

Link Education International (grant-holder): £211,885

Link Community Development Malawi: £937,901

Chance for Childhood Rwanda: £949,875

School to School Zambia: £986,912

2. GIRLS project

Oxfam £922,871

Concerned Youth Organisation Malawi: £285,000

Young Women’s Christian Association in Rwanda: £600,957

Young Women’s Christian Association in Zambia: £244,034

Part d). The following outputs and outcomes were set for delivery partners at the commencement of the programme, as set out in the logical framework documents maintained by each project, with targets set for each project.

1. RISE project outcomes

1.Access, enrolment and attendance: Children with disabilities attend school regularly

2.Retention: Children with disabilities, particularly girls, are retained throughout the course of the programme

3.Perception: There is a positive change in the perception of children with disabilities, particularly girls, and their families

4.Wellbeing: Children with disabilities, particularly girls, have more confidence

2. RISE outputs

1.Children with disabilities' access to screening, assessment, referrals and assistive devices is available and improved

2.Inclusive education is included in the day to day operations of schools

3.Community and school staff are orientated to CWD safety and wellbeing needs

3. GIRLS project outcomes

1.Increased provision of scholarships and other supportive interventions to remove barriers for young women to access and complete secondary education and transition from secondary to tertiary education and TVET.

2.Increased girls and women’s enrolment, retention, participation and performance in Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) and science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) subjects.

4. GIRLS project outputs

1.Increased bursaries to girls and young women at secondary education, tertiary and TVET institutions, within the impact areas.

2.Improved access to schools by girls and other vulnerable children, within the project localities.

3.Improved access to safe learning environments at secondary, TVET, and tertiary schools and safe working environment for targeted female learners

4.Increased knowledge of STEM and TVET opportunities for targeted girls and young women localities.

5.Improved provision and access to counselling, career guidance, mentorship and role models for program participants

6.Improved capacity of teachers in pedagogy, STEM and TVET, within the project impact schools

Part e)

The outputs and outcomes are expected to be achieved by the end of the programme, and will be assessed through project monitoring and evaluation activities.

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.

Under the Transport Act 1985 local bus services, which includes request stops and hail-and-ride arrangements must be registered with the Office of the Traffic Commissioner. The registration of services is devolved and subject to the Public Service Vehicles (Registration of Local Services) (Scotland) Regulations 2001. To ensure that all operators are adhering with the regulatory regime, the Office of the Traffic Commissioner produced a guide entitled “Local Bus Services Registration in Scotland: Guide for Operators”, which sets out the procedures for the registration, variation or cancellation of local services.

As part of the regulatory process, operators are required to provide notice of their intention to vary or cancel services to the relevant local authorities in whose area the services have stopping places. This advance notice gives authorities the opportunity to consider whether to take action to support services where they consider them to be socially necessary.

In 2024, Transport Scotland published Best Practice Guidance on Community Engagement, which was developed in collaboration with local authorities, passenger representatives and operators, and sets an expectation that communities should be consulted on changes to bus services. However, there is no statutory requirement for operators to consult passengers or local communities about proposed service changes. Operators must, however, give notice of such changes by displaying the relevant information on board vehicles for a minimum of 21 days.

A bypass of Girvan was included in the long list of options considered as part of the transport appraisal that supported the second Strategic Transport Project Review (STPR2).However, this option is not part of the 45 STPR2 recommendations, published in December 2022, which make up our long term framework for investment in transport infrastructure.