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The delivery of the McCloud Remedy is the key priority for the SPPA, balancing the significant and complex work associated with delivery alongside routine administration.

The scale of challenge that SPPA has faced in delivering the McCloud Remedy cannot be overstated and is one shared by other public sector pension scheme managers across the UK. Although progress is being made, SPPA took the difficult decision to extend the target date of 31 July 2025 for delivery to retired officers to the end of 2025.

This did not constitute a regulatory breach as the extension was made in accordance with the legislation. The SPPA CEO has discussed the decision with both the Pensions Regulator and the Scottish Police Pension Board, and SPPA has written to the remaining members directly to ensure they are kept informed.

SPPA has invested time and personnel to address this broader exercise and has introduced new automated processes that will begin to deliver at pace. SPPA has already delivered approximately 98% of RSS to serving officers and 85% of RSS to retired officers. The remaining cases are more complex, and will take longer to complete manually as they cannot yet be produced through automated processes.

I refer the member to the answer to question S6W-39434 on 11 August 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.

Revenue expenditure from the Housing Revenue Account in North Ayrshire Council is detailed in Table 1. Revenue expenditure is the cost of delivering services each year and includes loan charges, supervision and management, repairs and maintenance, allowances for bad debts and other expenditure.

Table 1 - Housing Revenue Account Revenue Expenditure Summary, North Ayrshire, Year Ending 31st March, £ Millions.

This information is not held centrally. You may wish to contact NHS Highland, NHS Western Isles, NHS Orkney, NHS Shetland and NHS Grampian who may be able to provide this information.

This information is not held centrally. You may wish to contact NHS Highland, NHS Western Isles, NHS Orkney, NHS Shetland and NHS Grampian who may be able to provide this information.

The Scottish Government does not hold the information requested. In relation to pregnancy loss only miscarriages that require hospital inpatient or daycase treatment are recorded by NHS Boards, making accurate data collection impossible.

The number of stillbirths and neonatal deaths in NHS Highland, NHS Western Isles, NHS Orkney, NHS Shetland, NHS Western Isles and NHS Grampian in each year since 2021 can be found in the National Records of Scotland Vital Events publications https://www.nrscotland.gov.uk/statistics-and-data/births-deaths-marriages-and-life-expectancy/# and https://webarchive.nrscotland.gov.uk/20241128121908/https://www.nrscotland.gov.uk/statistics-and-data/statistics/statistics-by-theme/vital-events/general-publications/vital-events-reference-tables

The Scottish Government does not have any current plans to review the number of NHS Boards.

In the NHS Scotland Service Renewal Plan, we have already committed to the creation of a new single body called ‘NHS Delivery’, which will bring together the existing functions of NHS National Services Scotland and NHS Education for Scotland, and will allow us to review and consolidate other crosscutting delivery functions.

We will continue to strengthen collaboration across NHS Bodies to ensure a more strategic, population-based approach to planning and keep governance arrangements under review to ensure they support the needs of Scotland's population and deliver best value for public services.

There is a strong tradition of partnership working between local authorities, particularly through Regional Economic Partnerships. This partnership is a key way that services can be delivered more efficiently, and opportunities can be scaled. This is exemplified by the Northeast Regional Economic Partnership, involving Aberdeen City Council and Aberdeenshire Council, who are delivering the Northeast Investment Zone in partnership with both the Scottish and UK Governments.

Regional Economic Partnerships are delivered via bespoke regional arrangements, and many other examples of joint working are on a case-by-case basis, so formal monitoring of the “level” of joint working would not be possible.

However, the Scottish Government has committed in the Programme for Government to working with local authorities and other key partners, to identify how to strengthen these partnership arrangements. This work is not yet complete, and it would not be possible to comment on outcomes at this time.

The ‘Planning and the Housing Emergency – Delivery Plan’ (November 2024) committed to new guidance on housing land audits (HLAs) and this was published in January 2025. HLAs provide information on past housing completions and future programming of new homes in an area. The guidance will embed a consistent approach to monitoring of housing land across all local authorities, whilst still allowing flexibility to reflect local circumstances. At a national level, approval rates for all planning applications and starts and completions are recorded in official statistics.

Cancer remains a national priority, within the Scottish Government and across NHS Scotland. Our 10 year Cancer Strategy for Scotland 2023-2033 and Cancer Action Plan for Scotland 2023 – 2026 set out a comprehensive approach to improving cancer outcomes, with earlier and fast diagnosis a key ambition.

We are working in partnership with Alcohol and Drug Partnerships and NHS Boards to increase awareness of liver disease and support for early detection and treatment. This includes developing a nationwide model for the early detection of alcohol-related liver disease, building on learning from the innovative intelligent Liver Function Testing (iLFT) pilot pioneered by NHS Tayside and the Scottish Government through the National Centre for Sustainable Delivery (CfSD).