Chamber and committees

Social Security Scotland is committed to recovering overpaid benefits wherever it is reasonable and economical to do so, in accordance with the Scottish Public Finance Manual.

Since 2018, approximately £7.7 million in overpaid benefits has been written off, which represents an estimated 0.1% of the total lifetime expenditure on benefits administered by the agency. For comparison, the equivalent figure for write-offs relating to Scottish debt managed by the Department for Work and Pensions stands at £42.2 million or 0.3%.

These write-offs have occurred for a range of reasons, including bereavement, where there is no equity in the client’s estate to enable recovery, and small overpayments under £65, which are not economical to pursue.

We know many people are still waiting too long and this is not good enough. We are determined to do more and our Budget will provide a record £21.7 billion for health and social care, with more than £110 million allocated to health boards, including over £6.6 million for NHS Lanarkshire, to help tackle the longest waits for appointments and procedures.

The funding has been assigned to specialty areas for the year ahead where it can have the greatest impact against the longest waits – this includes £25 million for trauma and orthopaedics, £21 million for imaging, £14 million for cancer treatment and more than £12 million for ophthalmology.

It will also support delivery of planned care for patients across Scotland, to increase capacity and address backlogs of treatment as we work towards achieving the 18 weeks Referral to Treatment (RTT) standard.

Social Security Scotland has established a Debt Management Service to oversee the recovery of overpayments, ensuring that recovered funds are redistributed in line with Scottish public spending priorities. Recovery processes are carried out with respect for clients’ dignity.

While internal systems are in place to track and prevent overpayments, detailed statistics—such as the number of overpayments or the age profile of debts—are not routinely published. As such, we are unable to provide further breakdowns.

The City of Edinburgh Council has published detailed information on the implementation of its visitor levy scheme, including the treatment of advance bookings. The Council has committed to providing further practical guidance and support to accommodation providers, including a payment platform and training from March 2026. The Scottish Government continues to engage with the Council and the wider sector to support effective implementation.

Following announcement of the additional £40m in targeted voids and acquisitions in my statement to Parliament on 2 September, the 2025-26 budget for AHSP is £807.745m and represents an increase of £251.883m when compared to the original published 2024-25 budget of £555.862m. The 2025–26 budget not only restores but exceeds the 2023–24 budget.

We know that cancer, and its treatments, can have a significant impact on an individual’s physical health. Scottish Government recognises the impact that a cancer diagnosis can also have on individuals financially and emotionally and is committed to supporting them.

People with cancer can apply for financial support through Social Security Scotland, including for Disability Living Allowance.

Further to this, we are currently working in partnership with Macmillan Cancer Support to improve the service we offer patients with cancer through the Transforming Cancer Care Programme (TCC). This partnership programme is worth £27 million and ensures that people affected by cancer in Scotland have access to a specialist key support worker, who can provide financial advice and emotional and practical support.

I refer the member to the answer to question S6W-38163 on 17 June 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.

Our revised Pathway of Maternity Care clinical guidance and schedule, published on 6 February 2025, sets out the core care that all women and babies should receive under a whole-person, individualised care approach which takes account of their specific circumstances. We remain committed to implementation of continuity of carer by mid-2026, under The Best Start, as part of our Programme for Government 2025-26, recognising that the evidence tells us that this approach will be of greatest benefit to women and families from minoritised and marginalised communities.

On 6 February 2025, we published our Tackling Racialised Health Inequalities in Maternity Care Action Plan, which outlines our next steps for both local and national action. This is supplemented by our Interpretation Toolkits, designed to support staff to deliver maternity care where women require the use of an interpreter. Our data and evidence resource provides NHS Boards with an overview of the sources available to support local improvement activity.

We have asked all 22 NHS Boards to develop and deliver against anti-racism plans, covering workforce and service delivery. Planning guidance issued to NHS Boards in September 2024 and identifies perinatal care as an early priority for action.

The Scottish Government Sexual Health and Blood Borne Virus Action Plan was launched in 2023 and places a large focus on how to ensure everyone who needs it can access good sexual and reproductive health. LGBT Youth Scotland, Scotland’s national charity for LGBTI+ young people, was awarded multi-year funding to support LGBTI+ young people. The projects aims to ensure that LGBTI+ young people have improved awareness around sexual health and wellbeing, and increased access to this information to address inequity in sexual health care.

The Scottish Government recognises the importance of clear public communication and is working with VisitScotland and other partners to develop guidance and support materials. It is primarily for local authorities to make visitors aware of any levy in operation in its area, given these can vary by local authority. Businesses must also make clear that any visitor levy is included in the total price paid by the guest or that it is liable to be paid directly to the accommodation.

To 19/7/2025, £24.5m has been spent on schemes to reduce journey times between Aberdeen on the central Belt.

This includes £6.8m on the project to improve rail line speeds in the Barnhill area between Perth and Dundee. This was a nine-month programme of alignment work to replace a curved section of track by installing a new single line and also remodelling the junction at Barnhill by replacing switches and crossings.

The remainder of the spend has been on design development of a package of enhancements to improve capacity and journey time including: Signalling works, enhancements at Aberdeen, Montrose, Arbroath and Dundee stations, and freight loops.

The estimated cost of constructing all of the interventions necessary to deliver the project outputs sought by the project reference group is estimated at £242 million.

Delivery timescales for the project remain under review. It is planned that project delivery and thus benefit delivery will be staged to align with planned Network Rail renewals and other enhancement schemes such as Fife Electrification and replacement of ScotRail’s suburban fleet.

The Scottish Government has engaged extensively with the tourism sector throughout the development of the Visitor Levy (Scotland) Act 2024, including through a national consultation and the establishment of an Expert Group chaired by VisitScotland.

Ministers are aware that some areas of Scotland are seeking greater flexibility in how the levy is applied and administered. Consequently, we are now considering how to extend further powers to local authorities, in the future, including the option to introduce a single flat rate or tiered flat rate model alongside the existing percentage-based approach. This follows stakeholder feedback and would preserve local discretion. Any future changes will be shaped by consultation and evidence and I will update Parliament as officials progress this work.