Chamber and committees

Responsibility for ICT provision rests with individual organisations, including NHS boards, local government, and non departmental public bodies who determine the most appropriate and cost effective arrangements for their operational needs.

In line with Scotland’s Digital Strategy, the Scottish Government promotes the use of shared digital and data services across the public sector. This reduces duplication, strengthens data security, supports value for money, and provides citizens with a consistent digital identity through shared platforms such as myaccount - mygov.scot and ScotAccount - mygov.scot.

An exercise to collate information on data centres and associated staffing was carried out some years ago, however these findings are now outdated. I have instructed officials to gather current information to enable us to inform opportunities for cost savings as part of the Public Service Reform strategy.

Until this work concludes, we do not hold a current central record of the number of self-sufficient ICT structures with dedicated data centres, nor the professional staff supporting them.

Due to regulations set out in UK Data Protection legislation, we are unable to provide a list of names of those that attended the Scottish Transport Summit on 17 September. However, we can confirm that the Summit brought together senior officials from across Scotland’s transport and policy landscape, including Regional Transport Partnerships, local authorities, transport operators, and key government stakeholders to explore how transport can be better positioned as a strategic lever for economic growth.

We can provide the following list of organisations with representatives in attendance:

Airports UK

Angus Council

Association of Chief Transportation Coordinating Officers (ACTO)

Bus Users UK

Citylink

Clackmannanshire Council

Caledonian Maritime Assets Limited (CMAL)

Community Transport Association

Confederation of Passenger Transport

Consumer Scotland

COSLA

Cycling Scotland

David MacBrayne Limited

Disability Equality Scotland

East Dunbartonshire Council

Falkirk Council

Fife Council

First Bus

Glasgow City Council

Glasgow Taxis

Highland Council

Highland and Islands Airports Ltd (HIAL)

Highland and Islands Enterprise

HITRANS

The Institute for Public Policy Research (IPPR) Scotland

Loganair

Logistics UK

Mobility and Access Committee for Scotland (MACS)

McGills

Network Rail

North Ayrshire Council

North Lanarkshire Council

Prosper Scotland

Rail Freight Group

Renfrewshire Council

Road Haulage Association

Scotrail Holdings (SRH)

Scottish Canals

Scottish Government

Scottish Road Works Commissioner

Scottish Taxi Federation

Serco Northlink Ferries

SESTRAN

Smart Applications Management

Society of Chief Officers of Transportation in Scotland (SCOTS)

Society of Local Authoprity Chief Executives (SOLACE)

South Lanarkshire Council

South of Scotland Enterprise

Strathclyde Partnership for Transport (SPT)

Stirling Council

TACTRAN

Technology Scotland

Transform Scotland

Transport Focus

Transport Scotland

Visit Scotland

ZetTrans

The agenda is set out in the following table:

I can confirm that both Qualifications Scotland and His Majesty’s Inspectorate of Education in Scotland (HMIE) will begin the process of establishment and operation from the end of 2025.

Implementation of the Education (Scotland) Act is supported by a Scotland Act section 104 Order (SAO) to be passed by the UK Parliament. Based on current information, we expect this to be completed before the end of this calendar year, though this is subject to UK Parliament timetabling.

Qualifications Scotland will be established as a legal entity on 1 December 2025, with Shirley Rogers appointed as Chair and the Board being established by transitioning selected current members of the SQA to Qualifications Scotland and the recruitment of new members. Recruitment of members to the Learner and Teacher Interest Committees and the Strategic Advisory Council will also begin in December.

From 1 November 2025, HMIE will begin phased establishment, pending the passage of the SAO by the UK Parliament. During this time, HMIE will operate increasingly independently as part of Education Scotland, with a new website and business support functions and will begin to develop and establish its Advisory Council. Subject to successful recruitment, a substantive appointment to the role of His Majesty’s Chief Inspector of Education in Scotland will also be confirmed during this period.

The focus for both bodies during this process will be to ensure continuity of service and to establish critical business functions in accordance with the legislation. This will ensure they are ready to deliver meaningful change which puts our children, young people, and adult learners, their teachers, practitioners and school leaders at its heart once they are fully operational.

At outset, budget for Employability Level 2 was £102.8 million, £2.5m was transfer out to Finance and Local Government portfolio to support Employability Child Poverty co-ordinators across 32 local authorities.

1. Of the remaining budget, £98.6 million (98%) was spent in 2024-25.

2. Of that £70.1 million (71%) went to local government.

We have assessed the strong evidence that the earlier the stage cancer is diagnosed the better the outcomes are for those affected, irrespective of age, cancer type, race or any other protected characteristic.

This has informed our Earlier Cancer Diagnosis vision as part of the Cancer Strategy for Scotland 2023-2033 and initial three-year Action Plan for Scotland 2023 – 2026. The vision is to reduce later stage disease by 18 percentage points in 10 years’ time (2033), making clear our ambition to reduce inequalities in access to cancer care and improving outcomes for anyone diagnosed with cancer.

The Scottish Government recognises the importance of early diagnosis of cancer or serious illness and would expect any patient presenting with potential symptoms to be assessed as quickly as possible.

The Scottish Referral Guidelines (SRG) for Suspected Cancer support primary care clinicians to identify those with symptoms suspicious of cancer and identify those who require urgent assessment by a specialist.

A clinical review of SRGs has been completed with updated guidance published on 6 August 2025. These include a nationally agreed non-specific symptoms referral criteria for the first time to support primary care to ensure that the right people are on the right pathway at the right time.

A new primary care cancer education platform – Gateway C – was launched in 2024 in NHS Scotland, funded by the Detect Cancer Earlier (DCE) Programme and supported by NHS Education for Scotland (NES).

Gateway C provides innovative and tailored information to support earlier cancer diagnosis efforts and enable effective decision-making. This free online platform is accessible to all primary care clinicians including pharmacists, dentists, and optometrists.

Further to this, we have continued to invest in our Rapid Cancer Diagnostic Services. They provide primary care with access to a new fast-track diagnostic pathway for people with non-specific symptoms suspicious of cancer, such as weight loss and fatigue. We opened another service in NHS Forth Valley in 2025, bringing our national total to six.

I refer the member to the answer to question S6W-40652 on 2 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.

We have laid before Parliament today an annual progress report against our Heat in Buildings Strategy, the fourth since its publication in 2021: www.gov.scot/isbn/9781806431168.

The Scottish Government has not engaged with the Ramsar Secretariat on the planning application at Coul Links. NatureScot serves as a statutory advisor to the Scottish Government on developments that may affect Ramsar sites, offering expert ecological guidance to assess environmental impacts. The Ramsar Secretariat, based in Switzerland, is responsible for the day-to day co-ordination of convention activities. Whilst the Secretariat provides guidance, technical advice, and support to member countries to help ensure Ramsar sites are protected within their national planning processes, the Secretariat does not have a direct role in specific planning applications.