Chamber and committees

Our catering partner, Sodexo, operates robust allergen management processes in line with the Food Information (Scotland) Regulations 2014. Customers are signposted to speak with catering staff, who have access to detailed allergen information and receive regular training to help them provide accurate advice on the food being served.  

Civil servants must adhere to the civil service code of conduct and carry out their duties with integrity, honesty, objectivity and impartiality. Scottish Government Internal and leadership communications routinely highlight the code to staff. In addition, all Scottish Government communicators (including those creating digital content and advertising) follow the guidance from the UK Government’s Government Communication Service which provides Propriety and ethics in government communications - Government Communications in addition to the code. The Government has a responsibility to inform the public of policy and the Government may use a variety of media, including paid and unpaid publicity, to achieve its objectives.

The Programme for Government, published on 1 September, sets out the Scottish Government’s intention to move from 14 territorial boards to two strategic territorial NHS Boards covering the East and West of Scotland.

The Scottish Government fully engages with the Audit Scotland’s National Fraud Initiative and encourages all public bodies, including Local Authorities, to do the same, to ensure the protection and recovery of taxpayers’ funds from fraud.

The Scottish Government has robust processes in place to prevent, detect and respond to fraud. We continue to enhance our counter fraud arrangements in line with the latest best practice.

We continue to focus on raising the awareness of fraud within our public sector organisations, fully participating in International Fraud Awareness week, and actively sharing information about the risks to public services, making sure that fraud awareness and prevention is embedded within public service delivery through training and staff development.

The Scottish Government has strengthened key partnerships, particularly with Police Scotland and the UK Government’s Public Sector Fraud Authority, giving confidence that we remain alert to the evolving threat of fraud, and well prepared to protect public services in Scotland.

Noting that Audit Scotland’s report highlights pensions spend, I have also asked the CEO of the Scottish Public Pensions Authority to respond. His response is as follows:- “SPPA is proactive in our work to ensure we have robust and effective counter-fraud measures in place. We are carefully considering the report to help inform this ongoing work.”

The Scottish Government does not hold or collect this data centrally. While Public Health Scotland publishes the total number of patients referred to specialist mental health services, it does not hold detail on the reason for referral, such as an eating disorder. The publications on waiting times for both CAMHS and Psychological Therapies each quarter can be found at Publications - Public Health Scotland. This includes information on referral activity across services.

We are continuing to deliver the recommendations from the National Review of Eating Disorder Services published in 2021, including publishing a National Specification for the Care and Treatment of Eating Disorders in Scotland in November 2024.

The Scottish Government asked NHS Boards in May 2025 to complete a self-assessment tool, scoring their delivery and implementation of the Specification across CAMHS and adult services. The responses provided further information on data collection and reporting. Officials are working with boards to understand how best to support them in this area of work.

The Scottish Stroke Care Audit collects data on the number of patients receiving thrombectomy ,the NHS Board in which treatment is provided, and the NHS Board to which they initially presented. The Scottish Government does not hold central data on the number of patients who may be eligible for, or benefit from, thrombectomy .However, the planning work being undertaken by Public Services Delivery Scotland will assess demand for thrombectomy services and any currently unmet need.

In March 2026 we published the Democracy Matters: Route Map to Reform which provides a compelling vision for the future of community decision making and sets a direction of travel to grow the capacity of communities including Community Councils, and other critical community infrastructure.

As set out in the Programme for Government, we will build on this work and develop proposals over the next 3 months in conjunction with local government, and wider partners, to strengthen local democracy and reform our governance arrangements. I expect the role of Community Councils will be an important part of these discussions.

In March 2026, the First Minister made clear his view that there remained significant issues around procurement arrangements affecting Scottish bus manufacturing, which need to be resolved by the UK Government. In addition, at meetings between Scottish and UK Government officials in January and March 2026, officials from Department for Business and Trade shared information about their plans to produce a bus demand pipeline publication and referenced UK policy in relation to social value.

I refer the member to the answer to question S7W-03096 on 24 September 2026. 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.

The Scottish Government are continuously looking to improve local and national data and evidence around child protection. We acknowledge that national data on child sexual abuse and exploitation is limited, which is why we set up the Child Sexual Abuse and Exploitation Data Short Life Working Group to take forward focused work in this area. Part of that focus is to improve consistency in reporting the scale and nature of child sexual abuse and exploitation across the whole of Scotland.