Chamber and committees

The Scottish Government is committed to increasing the safety of the people in Scotland under threat of being victims of transplant-related offences, including when those offences take place in other countries. The Human Tissue (Supply of Information about Transplants) (Scotland) Regulations 2025, which came into force on 1 July 2025, place a duty on all clinicians in Scotland to report to the UK Human Tissue Authority (1) suspicions about transplant-related crimes, that arise in the course of the clinician’s profession; and (2) information about overseas transplants. The duty applies to doctors and nurses practising in transplant and non-transplant centres across Scotland to ensure that the duty applies to all clinicians who may come across these patients.

The Regulations, which are in line with the arrangements that are in place in the rest of the UK, give clarity to clinicians in Scotland around when, and to whom, they should report relevant suspected offences in the Human Tissue (Scotland) Act 2006 or the Human Trafficking and Exploitation (Scotland) Act 2015. Guidance has been issued to clinicians about the implementation of the Regulations. The Regulations have been brought to the attention of NHS Boards and others in Scotland. Any reports that the Human Tissue Authority receives will be considered and, where relevant, findings will be passed on to Police Scotland for further investigation.

I recognise that the significant increase in adults seeking ADHD and autism assessments across Scotland is creating challenges for services, while also acknowledging that a diagnosis can be important to people.

The Scottish Government is aware of a range of issues affecting the availability of adult neurodevelopmental assessments in the NHS Forth Valley area and that as a result NHS Forth valley is reviewing their approach. I expect this to be resolved at the earliest opportunity.

Officials continue to work with NHS Boards, including Forth Valley, and local Health and Social Care Partnerships (HSCPs) to improve services and support for neurodivergent people.

Earlier this year, officials wrote to all health boards, including Forth Valley, to seek clarification on what neurodevelopmental assessment and support they currently have in place for adults. We are currently reviewing responses received. Understanding current provision across Scotland will provide a starting point for improvement and underpin work going forward to develop a national approach.

The Scottish Government does not hold this information. Ensuring the safety of Large Panel System buildings is a shared responsibility, where there are multiple property owners in a shared residential block they hold joint accountability.

While building owners have responsibility for their properties, the matter of Large Panel System buildings has been considered by the Ministerial Working Group on Building and Fire Safety and discussed within the Cross Sector Building Safety Forum. The forum includes key sector leads in this area including local authorities and NHS assure. This forum helps to inform the Scottish Government approach to such buildings in Scotland.

Owners are advised to engage appropriate expert consultants to advise them using the authoritative guidance on Large Panel Systems from the Building Research Establishment and the Institution of Structural Engineers.

The Scottish Government’s Chief Scientist Office (CSO) supports open competitive grant and fellowship schemes for applied health research in Scotland. These schemes provide funding opportunities for research across the clinical spectrum inclusive of research relating to all types of cancers. Applications submitted to these schemes are assessed through independent expert peer-review with funding recommendations made by independent expert committees.

Funding awarded through these schemes in the years from 2022 onwards for research relating to cancer has included:

Brain cancer

2023- £299,918

2024- £340,000

2025 - £349,033

Liver cancer

2022 - £246,841

Oesophageal cancer

2025- £349,366

Pancreatic cancer

2022 - £20,000

2024 - £207,732

2025 - £348,150

No funding has been awarded for research specifically relating to lung or stomach cancer over this period.

In addition, CSO contributes financially to the National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) in order that NIHR research programmes are open to applications from researchers in Scotland. These programmes also provide research funding opportunities for cancer research.

CSO also provides funding to support NHS Research Scotland infrastructure, enabling NHS Boards to host and participate in clinical studies and trials funded by public, charitable, and industry sectors. This includes dedicated support for a Cancer Research Network, which facilitates the setup and delivery of cancer studies across Scotland. Annual funding for this network is approximately £1 million encompassing both the NHS Research Scotland Cancer Research Network and the CSO’s contribution to the Experimental Cancer Medicine Centres (ECMCs) in Edinburgh and Glasgow. The ECMCs are jointly funded on a 50:50 basis with Cancer Research UK.

(a) The Agricultural Wages Enforcement Team’s (AWET) role is to ensure compliance with the Agricultural Wages (Scotland) Order, which sets out minimum pay and conditions for workers in the sector. The Order does not specifically cover the standard of accommodation but during wages inspections workers are given the opportunity to raise any concerns associated with their employment. If a worker raises any accommodation concerns, this information would be recorded and passed on to the relevant authority. In the last three calendar years, no migrant workers have raised accommodation concerns as part of an inspection.

(b) No outcomes arose as no migrant workers reported accommodation concerns to the AWET.

Responsibility for monitoring and enforcing standards of tied or seasonal worker accommodation rests with local authorities, primarily through their environmental health and housing functions. For migrant workers, the Seasonal Worker Visa scheme’s (SWV) guidance states that any housing or other concerns should be reported to their Scheme Operators (SOs), as they have a duty to ensure workers are housed in hygienic and safe accommodation that is in a good state of repair. All migrant workers receive this guidance in their induction pack. In addition, all SOs provide a confidential helpline through which workers can report their concerns.

As a condition of their licence, SOs are responsible for the welfare of workers, which includes ensuring that accommodation provided is safe, suitable and hygienic.

The Royal College of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, the professional body for Obstetricians and Gynaecologists in the UK, has recommended that women who believe they may have been exposed to stilbestrol (DES) in utero and who are concerned about the risks of vaginal and cervical cancer should be offered careful monitoring by annual colposcopic examinations in specialist centres.

Cervical screening is offered to women who live in Scotland and are aged between 25 and 64 years and we encourage all women to take up routine cervical screening appointments when invited.

Evidence for an increased risk of other cancers is less conclusive but participation in the National Breast Screening Programme is recommended. Pregnant women who know that they were exposed in utero to DES should inform their obstetrician and be aware of the increased risks of ectopic pregnancy and preterm labour.

The Scottish Government continues to fund the charity Health in Mind to deliver peer support services to those affected by historic forced adoption, including mothers and adoptees.

The Modernising Patient Pathway Programme - Coeliac Disease test of change report - October 2020 | Turas | Learn estimates that the incidence of diagnosed Coeliac Disease is 1% of the population in Scotland with 7-8 people remaining undiagnosed for every person diagnosed.

The Scottish Government is committed to ensuring that all people living in Scotland with long term conditions such as coeliac disease are able to access the best possible care and support, and benefit from healthcare services that are safe, effective and put the person at the centre of their care.

We expect all Health Boards to fully implement the Coeliac Disease Pathway in Scotland to improve under diagnosis and improve time to diagnosis for those with coeliac disease. Our £70 million Endoscopy and Urology Diagnostic Recovery and Renewal Plan is increasing capacity and supporting workforce training. This also includes a commitment to promote and implement guidelines for non-biopsy diagnosis for coeliac disease, which is expected to reduce waiting times for diagnosis for this condition.

The Scottish Partnership Against Rural Crime (SPARC) is a multi-agency partnership which works across all Police Scotland divisions to deliver the SPARC strategy’s key rural crime priorities. The service’s National Rural, Acquisitive and Business Preventions Team (RAB-PT) has trained over 100 officers across North, East and West on rural machinery thefts. Through this partnership working, 12 officers will shortly enter through a stolen vehicle examiners accreditation course which is dovetailed with rural machinery theft training giving Police Scotland additional capacity for such investigations across Scotland. RAB-PT have also developed metal theft training with partners and will deliver this in areas most affected by renewables and metal thefts in the coming year.

Some of the information you have requested – i) the number of licences applications made, and ii) how many licences were granted from 2012 to April 2025 to control mountain hares, is already in the public domain and can be found on NatureScot’s website at:

https://www.nature.scot/doc/freedom-information-request-licences-mountain-hare

The figures from April 2025 to-date are as follows:

Licences granted – 8

Licences Refused – 1

Licences in Progress – 1

Scotland does not have a legislative provision for safety certification of Large Panel System buildings. Local authorities in Scotland have statutory powers under the Building (Scotland) Act 2003 to address buildings that pose a risk to public safety due to structural instability or other hazards.

Owners of LPS buildings can use the long established guidance from the Building Research Establishment to assess and manage their property and can use information from The Institution of Structural Engineers (IStructE) website: An update about Large Panel System (LPS) - The Institution of Structural Engineers.