Question reference: S6W-03513
- Date lodged: 6 October 2021 Registered interest
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Current status: Answered by Humza Yousaf on 8 November 2021
Question
To ask the Scottish Government, in the light of the commitment in its Programme for Government to invest in genetic labs and frontline genetics services, what level of investment will be made, and over what time period.
Answer
The level of future funding associated with this Programme for Government commitment will not be confirmed until publication of the Scottish Government multi-year spending review, currently expected to be spring of 2022. The Scottish Budget for 2022/23 will be published on 9 December.
However, the Scottish Government has already committed £2.3 million of funding for genomic medicine for 2021–2022. The funding for 2021-2022 will support the extension of ‘The Bridge to a Scottish Strategy for Genomics Strategy’ which increases laboratory capacity and frontline genetic services for rare and inherited disease.
The Scottish Genomics Leadership Group, jointly chaired by Professor David Crossman, Chief Scientist for Health for the Scottish Government, and Susan Buchanan, Director for NHS National Services Division, are our expert group in genomic medicine and are providing advice to the Scottish Government to plan our long-term agenda for genomic medicine in Scotland.