Chamber and committees

The Scottish Government is committed to developing the role of nurse sexual offence examiners.

The Scottish Government and the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service have together supported a test of change involving Queen Margaret University nurse graduates, so that they can undertake sexual offence examinations and give evidence in court. If approved by the Lord Advocate, this test of change could pave the way for nurses to undertake the role of sexual offence examiner in future.

We continue to fund places on a Post Graduate Certificate (PG Cert) in Advanced Forensic Practice course at Queen Margaret University – the first of its kind in Scotland. This qualification is a pre-requisite for nurses undertaking the role of sexual offence examiner in Scotland.

We also fund a skills lab at Queen Margaret University so that sexual offence examiners and recently qualified nurse sexual offence examiners can maintain and update their skills.

Developing a multi-disciplinary workforce model may also support the sustainability of services in remote, rural and island communities.

There are currently 24 qualified nurses with a further 10 working towards this qualification. Assuming all of the nurses graduate by July 2026, the total number of PG Cert qualified nurses in Scotland will increase to 34.

The circumstances in which independent GP contractors can charge their patients for services not covered by their contracts are set out in schedule 5 of the National Health Service (General Medical Services Contracts) (Scotland) Regulations 2018 (box brackets and ellipsis denote edits to the text of the schedule for the sake of clarity):

1. The contractor may demand or accept a fee or other remuneration—

(a) from any statutory body for services rendered for the purposes of that body’s statutory functions;

(b) from any body, employer or school for a routine medical examination of persons for whose welfare the body, employer or school is responsible, or an examination of such persons for the purpose of advising the body, employer or school of any administrative action they might take;

(c) for treatment which is not primary medical services or otherwise required to be provided under the contract and which is given—

(i) pursuant to the provisions of section 57 of [the National Health Service (Scotland) Act 1978] (a) (accommodation and services for private patients); or

(ii) in accommodation provided by a care home service which is not providing services under the Act,

if, in either case, the person providing the treatment is serving on the staff of a hospital providing services under the Act as a specialist providing treatment of the kind the patient requires and if, within 7 days of giving the treatment, the contractor or the person providing the treatment supplies the Health Board, on a form provided by it for the purpose, with such information about the treatment as it may require;

(d) under section 158 of the Road Traffic Act 1988 (payment for emergency treatment of traffic casualties) (b);

(e) when the contractor treats a patient [who claims to be on that contractor’s list of patients, but the contractor has reasonable doubts about that person’s claim], in which case the contractor is entitled to demand and accept a reasonable fee … for any treatment given, if the contractor gives the patient a receipt;

(f) for attending and examining (but not otherwise treating) a patient—

(i) at the patient’s request at a police station in connection with possible criminal proceedings against the patient;

(ii) at the request of a commercial, educational or not-for-profit organisation for the purpose of creating a medical report or certificate; or

(iii) for the purpose of creating a medical report required in connection with an actual or potential claim for compensation by the patient;

(g) for treatment consisting of an immunisation for which no remuneration is payable by the Health Board and which is requested in connection with travel abroad;

(h) for prescribing or providing drugs, medicines or appliances (including a collection of such drugs, medicines and appliances in the form of a travel kit) which a patient requires to have in their possession solely in anticipation of the onset of an ailment or occurrence of an injury while they are outside the United Kingdom but for which they are not requiring treatment when the medicine is prescribed;

(i) for a medical examination—

(i) to enable a decision to be made as to whether or not it is inadvisable on medical grounds for a person to wear a seat belt; or

(ii) for the purpose of creating a report—

(aa) relating to a road traffic accident or criminal assault; or

(bb) that offers an opinion as to whether a patient is fit to travel; or

(j) for prescribing or providing drugs or medicines for malaria chemoprophylaxis.

It is a matter for independent GP contractors to decide whether or not they want to carry out this private work and how much to charge for it.

The Psychology of Parenting Programme (PoPP) is funded through NHS Education Scotland (NES)’s Parenting workstream, which covers various programmes of work (including PoPP) to support the social, emotional and behavioural development of infants, children, young people and their families. In financial year 2023-24, the Scottish Government allocated £633,040 to NES to support the Parenting workstream, with a further £571,542 issued in 2024-25.

Officials from the Scottish Government's animal welfare team meet regularly with local authorities to discuss the implementation and enforcement of the 2021 animal licensing regulations.

In its role as the statutory reporter on the National Park proposal, NatureScot made recommendations on ways in which existing structures in the South of Scotland could be further strengthened. These include:

• a stronger role and a long-term funding arrangement for the Galloway and Southern Ayrshire UNESCO Biosphere Reserve, with a stronger focus on nature recovery and community wealth-building;
• a more integrated approach to the planning and management of the Galloway Forest Park, with additional funding allocated to nature restoration, recreation and tourism;
• refreshed management strategies by Dumfries and Galloway Council for the coastal National Scenic Areas, and the completion of the coastal path as a key visitor attraction for the area;
• sustained investment in access and visitor management across the area building on the existing community led approaches such as Whithorn and Loch Doon;
• progress with the implementation of the regional land-use strategy for the area; and
• on-going support for the work of the Solway Firth Partnership.

We are grateful for these suggestions and will now take time to reflect on them.

As a starting point, I undertook a visit to Newton Stewart and the Galloway Forest Park in July, where I discussed the recommendations in NatureScot’s report with the Galloway and Southern Ayrshire Biosphere, Forestry and Land Scotland and South of Scotland Enterprise. We will now take some time to give deeper consideration to the reporter’s recommendations and consider how best existing arrangements in the area could be strengthened.

Earlier this year, Galloway and Southern Ayrshire Biosphere received a new funding package from South of Scotland Enterprise to support its important work tackling the climate and biodiversity crises and supporting sustainable development in the region.

The Scottish Government is supportive of innovations developed in Scotland being commercialised in Scotland.

Through Scottish Enterprise we have established the Medical Device Manufacturing Centre(MDMC) which is a pan-Scotland collaboration with five universities (Heriot-Watt, Edinburgh, Glasgow, Dundee and Robert Gordon). This provides Scottish medical device developers and manufacturers with free advice, technical expertise, and facilities essential for companies that are seeking to translate medical device concepts to commercial products. Technology specialists assist companies with the translation of medical device concepts into small-batch prototypes by offering technical expertise, state-of-the-art equipment and access to health informatics and NHS collaboration. Additionally, the MDMC provides support for clinical trial design.

As well as commercialisation, the Scottish Government also wants to see patients in Scotland benefit from Scottish innovations. The Scottish Government fund three NHS Regional Innovation Hubs to facilitate the development of new technologies, products and services. They enhance the NHS's capacity and capability to engage in innovative activities across the triple helix of industry, academia, third sector and the NHS to develop and scale innovative solutions that address the evolving needs of our healthcare system.

The ownership status of assets is an operational matter for Scottish Water. Scottish Water have advised that they are carrying out investigations to establish the ownership status of Glasgow Harbour Tunnel and will write to you directly with a response once they have concluded their investigations.

The Scottish Government fund the Gender-Based Violence and Learning Disabilities Steering Group facilitated by the Scottish Commission for People with Learning Disabilities (SCLD).

The Steering Group’s Action Plan for 2024 – 2027 aims to reduce the risk of Gender-Based Violence against women and girls with learning disabilities and to improve access to support services and justice services for women and girls with learning disabilities who experience Gender-Based Violence.

Proposals are also being developed for the Learning Disabilities, Autism and Neurodivergence (LDAN) Bill, which intend to ensure that the needs of people with learning disabilities are better identified at any point of contact in the justice system.

This includes work to ensure justice agency staff are better trained to engage appropriately with people with learning disabilities and what support, such as access to advocacy or an Appropriate Adult, is put in place to ensure meaningful involvement. Proposals for the Bill also include improvements to accessing advocacy.

Scottish Government officials met with the Association of British Credit Unions Limited in December 2024 (and are due to meet them again in August) and with the Scottish League of Credit Unions in February 2025. Officials and Ministers have also met with individual credit unions over that time and representatives of the credit union sector attended the June meeting of the Financial Services Growth and Development Board (FISGAD). Discussions covered the current operating environment for the sector, opportunities to strengthen resilience and sustainability, and ways in which the Scottish Government and industry can work together to improve access to financial services. Topics also included ongoing engagement on policy developments, the promotion of ethical and affordable financial products, and the role of the sector in supporting financial inclusion across Scotland.

The Scottish Government does not hold a central record of all financial support provided to credit unions. Where funding has been provided, it has generally been through broader third sector or financial inclusion programmes such as those delivered by Social Investment Scotland, rather than as ongoing, dedicated support to credit unions. For example, in total SIS has awarded: