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Scottish Government sets the strategic direction for the NHS in Scotland, operational matters including staffing and the recruitment is the responsibility of health boards as autonomous institutions.

Decisions will depend on the service needs of each board taking account of national, regional and local priorities, and we expect NHS boards to plan and provide safe, effective and high-quality care, in line with their statutory service provision and workforce planning responsibilities.

The NHS Scotland Operational Improvement Plan, set out the actions Scottish Government have identified to improve NHS Scotland delivery.

This will primarily be driven through reform of NHS Scotland care delivery such as, increasing capacity by optimising national and regional working across Health Board boundaries, reducing waiting lists and targeting investment into the system where it can be most effective. This includes targeted funding for extra recruitment, with assurance provided to Health Boards on recurring funding.

We do not have the specific information requested. However, we know that people who are neurodivergent can find it more difficult to secure and maintain employment. Some of the barriers were highlighted in responses to the public consultation on the proposed Learning Disabilities, Autism and Neurodivergence Bill. The Scottish Government wants to ensure that neurodivergent people are supported to work and that our economy can benefit from their skills and talents as much as possible.

In 2016, we committed to halving the Disability Employment Gap, outlining the initial steps that would be taken to achieve this by 2038 in A Fairer Scotland for Disabled People: Employment Action Plan, published in 2018. To improve employment opportunities for those who face many structural barriers on the labour market, we have carried forward several actions into our refreshed Fair Work Action Plan: Becoming a Fair Work Nation by 2025, published in December 2022. Input was provided by disabled people and their representative organisations.

Whilst Scottish Ministers are responsible for determining the strategic policy of the NHS in Scotland, NHS Boards are responsible for delivering their services, including making decisions to outsource NHS contracts to the independent sector where appropriate to meet the Board’s needs.

We have expanded the Clinical Oncology and Medical Oncology specialty training programmes since 2014. The Scottish Government is working directly with NHS Education for Scotland (NES) to increase supply into Clinical and Medical Oncology and promote these options as an attractive career choice by future applicants.

Further, we have been expanding Internal Medicine Training (IMT) numbers, for example, which is a pre-requisite for various higher specialties including Clinical and Medical Oncology. This will increase front-end supply into several higher-level specialties including Oncology. The IMT programme has filled at 100% for the past five years.

Scottish Government recognises that throughout their career, employees, including radiologists and oncologists, will face differing demands on their time and energies at home as well as at work which may lead to them leaving the workforce below the age of 50.

The national ‘Supporting Work Life Balance’ workforce policies to provide staff with a range of flexible working options to help them to balance their lifestyle whilst maintaining and promoting the best possible service to our patients and service users.

Further, Scottish Government are supporting staff throughout the NHS, including radiologists and oncologists, through funding of over £2.5m annually to support staff wellbeing. Evidence shows that positive wellbeing enhances staff retention and engagement, which in turn raises standards of patient safety and quality of care.

This funding provides our workforce with access to psychological interventions and therapies, self-service resources through the National Wellbeing Hub and the National Wellbeing Helpline delivered by NHS 24. Registered staff also have access to confidential mental health services through the Workforce Specialist Service (WSS).

Angela Leitch CBE, was appointed as the Chair of the independent review of Creative Scotland based on merit and the criteria set out for public appointments under section 7 of the Scottish Ministerial Code. The role was not publicly advertised due to the timing of the independent Review, which is to conclude later this year.

Angela Leitch brings significant public sector experience having worked in a number of Local Authorities and as Chief Executive of Public Health Scotland. Angela Leitch also has relevant experience as Convener of the Board of the Scottish Local Authority Remuneration Committee. She is a member of the Accounts Committee and the Scottish Police Authority. She is also Chair of YouthLink Scotland and is a Trustee of the homelessness prevention charity Cyrenians.

The 2025-26 budget delivered record funding of over £15.1 billion for Local Government, a real terms increase of 5.5 per cent, as confirmed by the Accounts Commission.

As part of the record funding package for Local Government, in 2025-26 North Ayrshire Council will receive £383.8 million to support day to day services, which equates to an extra £21.2 million or an additional 5.8 per cent compared to 2024-25. Taken together with the decision to increase Council Tax by 7 per cent, North Ayrshire Council will have an additional £25.7 million to support front line services in 2025-26.

Decisions on future local government finance settlements will be the subject of negotiations with COSLA on behalf of all 32 local authorities and announced as part of the outcome of future Scottish Budgets.

However, the record funding settlement for Local Government in 2025-26 was the result of early and meaningful engagement between Scottish Government, COSLA and Councils. We remain committed to ensuring the sustainability of local services going forward and budget engagement ahead of the 2026-27 Scottish Budget has already commenced.

I have asked Teresa Medhurst, Chief Executive of the Scottish Prison Service (SPS), to respond. Her response is as follows:

SPS recognises that where the Court supports a claim, the appropriate compensation should be paid. This may include incidents where the belongings of someone in custody have been lost or damaged, where an injury has occurred or in the limited occasions where someone has been detained in error.

SPS can confirm that in the last five years, prisoners have been awarded compensation. Compensation has been awarded for reasons such as personal injuries, damaged or lost property and unlawful detention, however we are unable to release the specific reasons for individual compensation payments, as this could lead to the indirect identification of the person involved.

We do not intend on publishing a list of reserved projects. Two projects have been reserved, these are Springburn Winter Gardens in Glasgow City Council and Glenboig Community Greenspace, North Lanarkshire Council.

The procurement process for the replacement Intercity rail fleet is ongoing. Releasing any details related to the live procurement would substantially harm economic interests of ScotRail, thus affecting the Scottish Government’s ability to secure a good value for public purse.

Information on the procurement of a replacement Intercity fleet has been published on the Public Contracts website and can be found here: View Notice - Public Contracts Scotland

A swift yet satisfactory conclusion is essential to minimise impacts on Scottish Water customers, both in the near term and for the future. The Scottish Government continues to urge all parties to continue negotiations in good faith to find a solution which is within the spirit of the Government’s public sector pay policy; is affordable to Scottish Water; and represents a fair offer to Scottish Water’s employees. It is for Scottish Water and the Joint Trade Unions to agree a settlement which is fair and affordable.