Chamber and committees

NHS Forth Valley had been experiencing difficulties with performance, including concerns raised by Healthcare Improvement Scotland following unannounced inspections in 2022. This led to the Board being escalated to Stage 4 of the NHS Scotland Support & Intervention Framework in November 2022 for governance, leadership and culture, bringing direct formal oversight and coordinated engagement from Scottish Government in the form of an Assurance Board.

The NHS Forth Valley Assurance Board, which last met on 5 September 2024, was then satisfied that NHS Forth Valley has made considerable progress in delivering their Assurance and Improvement Plan and that the organisation was sufficiently evidencing tangible improvements across the three areas for which they were escalated: governance, leadership and culture, and the decision was taken to
de-escalate the Board to Stage 3 of the Framework from 1 October 2024. Moving to Stage 3 meant that NHS Forth Valley no longer required direct formal oversight and the Assurance Board was stood down.

The Board continued to be reviewed by the Scottish Government’s National Planning and Performance Oversight Group (NPPOG) and following careful consideration, the decision has been taken that NHS Forth Valley’s escalation status for governance, leadership and culture, should be lowered to Stage 2 from 9 October 2025. This decision also reflects the continued dedication, effort, and commitment of NHS Forth Valley staff which is bringing results and progress in reducing the longest waits.

Scottish Government will continue to engage with NHS Forth Valley and monitor progress with a view to reporting back to NPPOG in March 2026.

Following discussions with a number of stakeholders and experts over recent weeks, I have decided to delay implementation of the muirburn provisions until the start of the next muirburn season in Autumn 2026.

This decision will provide us with the time and opportunity to carefully consider the upcoming changes to muirburn and how these changes can be brought forward in a way which does not adversely affect our ability to prevent and respond to wildfires. Wildfires as I saw this summer, are very damaging to our precious peatland carbon stores and further discussions on this issue will take place with key stakeholders and at the Wildfire Summit on 14 October 2025.

I meet regularly with the Scottish Police Federation (SPF), where we discuss a range of issues which affect their members.

At our meeting on 19 December 2024, the SPF raised concerns about the condition of buildings in the Police Scotland estate, and we discussed the Police Scotland Estates Masterplan.

The management of the Police Scotland estate, including the allocation of resources to the police estate, is an operational matter for the Chief Constable under the oversight of the Scottish Police Authority.

We are investing a record £1.64 billion in policing in 2025-26. This includes £70 million of capital funding for investment in police assets, including the police estate.

Planning for the Scottish Spending Review has begun, and the review will identify opportunities to optimise the use of Scottish Government funding over the longer term. As part of this process, we are working closely with the Scottish Police Authority and Police Scotland to understand their 2026-27 budget requirements.

Our national action plan on relationships and behaviour in schools includes a commitment to refresh our national guidance on attendance – Included, Engaged and Involved Part 1.

Consideration of guidance on part-time timetables has been identified as a key priority for this work. We will also seek to strengthen recording and monitoring processes in the refreshed guidance.

We have established a working group to support this work and we anticipate refreshed guidance will be published in early 2026 to support local authorities, who are responsible for school attendance.

The Scottish Government welcome’s Police Scotland’s commitment to providing a safe environment for officers, staff and the public.

Management of the Police Scotland estate, including assessing the impact of the condition of police buildings on staff morale, is an operational matter for the Chief Constable under the oversight of the Scottish Police Authority (SPA).

It is for the SPA and the Chief Constable to allocate resources to meet their priorities and I expect they will be reflecting fully on any health and safety issues, and of course on the wellbeing of officers and staff.

I refer the member to the answer to question S6W-40792 on 9 October 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.

I refer the member to the answer to question S6W-40762 on 9 October 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

I refer the member to the answer to question S6W-40762 on 9 October 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.

I refer the member to the answer to question S6W-40762 on 9 October 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