Chamber and committees

The Scottish Fire and Rescue Service (SFRS) has 456 rescue pump appliances in operation. 211 of these are more than 15 years old, however all SFRS appliances are properly maintained to ensure they remain fully operational, and the oldest vehicles are placed in locations where they will be least used.

Significant Adverse Event Reviews (SAERs) are conducted at a local level within each NHS Health Board. NHS Boards are required to notify Healthcare Improvement Scotland on a monthly basis of the number of SAERs that have been commissioned, including the event type and specialty. HIS recently reviewed and published an updated version of A national framework for reviewing and learning from adverse events in NHS Scotland: February 2025 – Healthcare Improvement Scotland in February this year. This provides templates to support NHS Health Boards to consistently report and learn from SAERs. The Scottish Government does not monitor NHS Boards responses to SAERs.

No guidance has been issued by the Scottish Government to a) schools and b) education authorities regarding peer massage programmes or other massage in schools programmes.

The Women in Conflict 1325 Fellowship is based around the principles of UN Security Council Resolution 1325 which reaffirms the role of women in the prevention and resolution of conflict, peace negotiations, peace-building, peacekeeping, humanitarian response and in post-conflict reconstruction, and stresses the importance of their equal participation in all efforts for the promotion of peace and security. By bringing together women activists from a range of conflict affected countries the Fellowship facilitates sessions focussing on conflict resolution, mediation, reconciliation and dialogue methodologies with an emphasis on inclusivity and sustainable conflict resolution. The Fellowship also includes workshops on personal self-care strategies for those living in conflict areas and involved in conflict-based work.

The Fellowship has been held 3 times a year since 2015 in Edinburgh and online during the Covid-19 pandemic, and has built up a fantastic network of over 360 women from 33 countries across the Middle East, Africa, South Asia and Latin America. These women are a diverse group, working in an equally varied range of professions related to peacebuilding and conflict resolution.

The Fellowship is delivered by Beyond Borders, with grant funding from the Scottish Government’s International Development Fund. Applications were recently sought by Beyond Borders for their October 2025 Fellowship Programme, with the requirements being experience or interest in working on conflict and peacebuilding. Applicants were asked to (a) complete an online form submission on the Beyond Borders website, which seeks to test applicants’ motivation, experience, knowledge, and to assess their understanding of the Women Peace and Security agenda in their own countries, and (b) submit a CV/Resume/Professional Biography, copy of passport, and Letter of Recommendation. There is no definition of a “woman” included within the criteria at this time.

The Scottish Government has been clear since the April 2025 judgement of the Supreme Court in For Women Scotland vs The Scottish Ministers that it accepts the judgement of the Supreme Court in For Women Scotland v The Scottish Ministers that it accepts the judgement.

I refer the member to the answer to question S6W-38163 on 17 June 2025, on the UN Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights report as regards to the provision of maternity services in rural areas.

The Scottish Government expects all NHS Boards to provide maternity services that are delivered as close to home as practicable, balanced with ensuring the safety of mother and baby. Within the policies we set, it is for NHS Boards to determine the model of service delivery best suited to meet the needs of their local areas and population.

Maternity services continue to be provided for women in Wigtownshire, including local antenatal and postnatal care, scanning and the option of midwife-supported home birth for women who choose to birth locally. Women who require more complex maternity care continue to be supported by the full clinical team at Dumfries and Galloway Royal Infirmary. Responsibility for the design and delivery of local services lies with NHS Boards and Integration Joint Boards in line with their duties to deliver safe, effective and sustainable care. NHS Dumfries and Galloway has reaffirmed its commitment to the delivery of safe, high-quality maternity care for all families in Wigtownshire.

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.

All cultural organisations in receipt of public funding must ensure that funding is not used for party political purposes. They must also operate within the wider framework of the law, including equalities legislation.

The Scottish Government has no decision-making role in the allocation of funding through Creative Scotland. It is for Creative Scotland to allocate funding based on its assessment of the artistic and cultural merits of proposals it receives and to ensure that funding is used appropriately. Creative Scotland has no role in the programming decisions of funded organisations.

Scottish Ministers strongly support artistic freedom of expression. It is of particular importance to the culture sector, which provides a platform for debate and engagement on important issues. It is vital that artists and cultural organisations are free to explore and convene dialogue on any issue. Clearly, not engaging in respectful dialogue and debate with those with whom we disagree is counterproductive and does not support freedom of expression.

Any preparations in relation to the proposals for the opening of a Scottish Government office in Warsaw have been undertaken by officials with the Directorate for Culture and External Affairs as part of normal business.

Specific data on school-based family income advisors, is not held centrally.

The Scottish Government has invested £1.75 billion in the Scottish Attainment Challenge over the past decade, including over £1billion in Pupil Equity Funding, empowering headteachers to take the best approaches that suit the needs of their pupils and families. This funding is supporting significant numbers of additional staff, like family income advisors, to help close the poverty-related attainment gap.

Across the country we continue to trust and empower Scotland's headteachers to use this extra funding to support their pupils - whether through extra support staff, family link workers or family income advisors. As highlighted in the pupil_equity_funding_report_2025_.pdf, published in May 2025, we know that the majority of the funding supports staff with roles specifically designed to help children and young people impacted by poverty. This includes up to 3,000 additional staff - almost 700 of whom are teachers - with the remainder in roles such as family link workers, pupil support assistants, education psychologists, speech and language therapists and family income advisors.

The Scottish Government also continues to support free income maximisation, welfare and debt advice services with £16.9 million invested in 2025-26, a significant increase on the £12.3 million invested in 2022-23, helping support families get the support they are entitled to.

Significant Adverse Event Reviews are conducted at a local level within each NHS Health Board and the learning and improvement actions that are identified as part of that review process are considered within the Health Board to reduce the risk of the same event recuring in the future. When relevant this will include actions to ensure that findings inform related professional development or training plans and delivery. The Scottish Government is clear that this learning should be shared nationally to enable other Health Boards consider if their processes can be improved as a result.

The Scottish Government has funded the Joint Commission for Safety, Openness and Learning – delivered by NHS Education for Scotland (NES) – which has developed Compassionate Communication Skills training to support staff in having difficult conversations after adverse events, reinforcing a commitment to learning and patient-centred care. NES has developed professional development and training resources, such as Human Factors/Ergonomics (Safety Science for Patient Safety), which can be accessed by all NHS Scotland staff.