Chamber and committees

The Scottish Government does not know at this juncture, what the rolling out of Jess’s Rule will require in terms of implementation either by GPs or NHS England. We will be in a position to consider the benefits of the rule when we know more.

However, the Scottish Government understands that the RCGP learning resource which supports “Jess’s Rule” is available to GPs who are members in Scotland as well as in England. We would encourage GPs to make use of this resource.

Scottish Government commissioned NHS Education Scotland (NES) as a lead partner for the delivery of the Digital Front Door (DFD) Programme, including MyCare.scot, and NES are engaging with a range of stakeholders in the development of MyCare.scot and DFD. That engagement includes working in partnership with COSLA to support national implementation. Ongoing and future work will include NES and Scottish Government engaging with integration joint boards, health and social care partnerships and Local Authorities.

The 18 weeks Referral to Treatment (RTT) standard is one of a number of targets set by the Scottish Government for access to hospital services.

Nationally, MyCare.scot will enable users to: login securely using a unique digital identity; access demographic, medication and allergy information; and use the national service finder to identify local health and care support from April 2026.

The Scottish Government are listening carefully to the views of Scotland’s GPs. Negotiations are ongoing with the BMA around further investment to support general practice.

This investment will build on the new £15 million investment this financial year to support workforce retention and recruitment, build service capacity and support the day to day running of GP services.

GP services should be delivered – equitably, sensitively, reasonably and appropriately, making the most effective use of resources and systems currently available.

I refer the member to the answer to question S6W-40976 on 14 October 2025. NHS Education Scotland (NES) who have been commissioned by Scottish Government as a lead partner for MyCare.scot, are engaging with a range of stakeholders. I can confirm this also includes NES’ ongoing facilitation of collaborative workshops with key attendees including the social work sector.

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.

The Scottish Government is proud of the positive impacts of these three pieces of legislation.

The Land Reform (Scotland) Act 2003 introduced the community right to buy and the crofting right to buy. There have been over 275 applications under the various rights (including those introduced in 2015 and 2018). It also created a legal framework for the right to responsible access for land.

The Land Reform (Scotland) Act 2016 built upon this success by establishing the Scottish Land Commission, ensuring we now have a permanent public body providing independent research and analysis and supporting Land Reform objectives. It also put the Land Rights and Responsibilities Statement on a statutory footing, supported transparency of land ownership through the creation of the Register of Persons Holding a Controlled Interest in Land and promoted community engagement.

The Community Empowerment (Scotland) Act 2015 created new rights for community bodies and placed new duties on public authorities contributing to significant progress in supporting the empowerment of communities across Scotland. The Act has also encouraged greater numbers of public service providers to engage with their communities on a range of matters to help improve local service delivery. In relation to Asset Transfer in the Act, it is the first of its kind in the UK and around 500 asset transfer requests have been made since 2017. Community organisations have taken ownership or lease of forests, parks, woodlands, sports and recreational facilities and community hubs.

The Scottish Government has undertaken a variety of work related to this legislation. The Scottish Government regularly commissions research including ongoing work through the Environment, Natural Resources and Agriculture (ENRA) Strategic Research Programme:

• Scotland’s Land Reform Futures | SEFARI
• Land Reform Land Reform in Scotland Insights

The Scottish Government has commissioned research on the impact of diversity of land ownership:

• Attitudes to land reform: research - gov.scot
• The impact of diversity of ownership scale on social, economic and environmental outcomes: Exploration and case studies - March 2016

Each of the three pieces of legislation in the question cover numerous different policy issues. Different parts have been reviewed through different work programmes over time, across various research projects, reports, and evidence reviews, in particular:

(a) The Land Reform (Scotland) Act 2003 contains four policy parts, introducing legal powers aimed at improving public access and enabling community land ownership.

As part of the Land Reform (Scotland) Act 2003, specifically part 1, there was a review of the whole Act by the Land Reform Review Group published in 2014 - The land of Scotland and the common good: report - gov.scot.

In 2012 - Overview of Evidence on Land Reform in Scotland - gov.scot provided an overview of the evidence available on the implementation and progress of the Land Reform (Scotland) Act 2003.

The Scottish Government is also currently undertaking a review of Community Right to Buy due to complete by the end of 2025.

(b) The Community Empowerment (Scotland) Act 2015 Act has 11 policy parts. On 31 March 2025, the Scottish Government published the Community Empowerment (Scotland) Act 2015: update and findings report which provides in-depth reviews of Part 3: Participation Requests and Part 5: Asset Transfer, an assessment of the implementation of Part 2: Community Planning and an update on all the other parts of the Act.

(c) The Land Reform (Scotland) Act 2016 contains 12 policy parts, introducing different legal powers and responsibilities.

The Scottish Land Commission provides evidence-based advice to inform land policy in Scotland. They provide independent oversight and strategic advice on matters relating to land in Scotland, and the Land Commissioners’ functions includes reviewing the impact and effectiveness of laws and policies and recommending changes. More information about their work can be found on their website.

(d) In reference to concentrated land ownership, please see my response S6W-40547.

Improving access to primary care is a key priority for this Government. We recognise the vital role that GPs, community nurses, pharmacists, dentists and other members of the primary care team play as the foundation of healthcare in our communities.

We are committed to strengthening the whole primary care system, building on our ongoing commitment through the Service Renewal Framework to shift more care into community settings and make services more accessible for patients.

As part of this, we will develop options for new and innovative ways to improve access to primary care, including local walk-in models which will provide more flexibility for patients. It is our intention to develop proposals for a model would see these services open Monday-Sunday. We will develop these proposals first as a pilot model which will complement current core general practice and provide a range of same-day assessment and small-scale diagnostics. To do this we will work in collaboration with NHS Boards and primary care delivery partners to ensure they strengthen, rather than duplicate, existing primary care services.

The Scottish Government will set out further details as these plans develop.

The UK Government’s hostile and restrictive migration policies are damaging Scotland’s health and social care sector.

In Scotland we need a migration system that works for our NHS, our social care sector, our businesses and third sector. Until we have the full powers over migration that will come with independence, we will do all we can within the devolved powers of the Scottish Parliament to mitigate the UK Government’s harmful approach to migration.

I am therefore pleased to confirm today that the Scottish Government will create a bespoke offering to help social care workers who have been displaced to come to Scotland and contribute to our care sector.

We will provide £500,000 to mitigate the devastating impact of the UK Government’s closure of the care worker visa route and provide targeted support to help displaced social care workers.

This will support international social care workers already in the UK who have lost their social care jobs as a result of their employer losing their visa sponsor licence, to come to Scotland and contribute their valuable skills to our social care sector. It is our intention for this work to begin immediately so that social care workers can settle into new jobs before Christmas.

The impact that the Highlands and Islands Development Board (HIDB), the precursor to Highlands and Islands Enterprise (HIE), cannot be overstated. HIE has an excellent timeline on their website: 50 Years of Highlands and Islands Enterprise which highlights the history and key stories as it evolved into the agency we see today and is being updated to mark its 60th anniversary this year.

At the outset, in the face of chronic population decline, sparse economic activity and high unemployment, HIDB was set up to assist the people of the Highlands and Islands to improve the economic and social conditions in the region. Over the past 60 years, the GVA gap between the region and Scotland, has narrowed considerably. In 1965 the region accounted for 2% of Scotland’s total. In 2023 this had risen to 8.5%. Since 1965, population across the region has grown from 381,000 to 470,000, an increase of 23% compared to 6% across Scotland. The very fact that HIE exists today is testament to the success HIDB made in laying the foundations and supporting economic development.

HIE continues that legacy, having never lost sight of its original role, and it is an integral part of the Scottish Government’s economic development landscape, alongside our other economic development agencies, Scottish Enterprise and South of Scotland Enterprise.

More recently, HIE has supported key projects such as Sumitomo, with its new £350m subsea cable manufacturing plant at Port of Nigg. It continues to deliver the Scottish Land Fund, in partnership with the National Lottery Community Fund, on behalf of the whole of Scotland, enabling people to take control of local resources for the long-term benefit of their communities. It’s development officers play a key role in supporting communities with grassroots driven community wealth building. And HIE’s commitment to a place-based approach through its 8 area teams, keeps it grounded and in touch with the needs of businesses and communities across a diverse part of our country.

During 2024-2025 HIE’s support led to a record 15 inward investment projects, securing £81 million in external investment for the region. Its work led to around £24 million in green investment and £28 million in external investment in community group projects and social enterprises. We have continued to protect HIE’s budget as far as possible with an increased opening budget of £56 million, for 2025-2026.

HIE’s Scottish Government sponsor team, finance partners and policy officials are regularly appraised of HIE’s activities and assess performance on an ongoing basis, through its annual reports and accounts, and regular engagement.

I look forward to seeing the work of HIE contributing to the next 60 years and beyond.