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Currently there are 110 Full Time Equivalent (FTE) Civil Servants in the NCS Programme working on wider social care reform. Within the 110 (FTE) we have four staff working on the Care Reform (Scotland) Bill.

All public bodies, including Police Scotland and the Scottish Prison Service, are expected to comply with the Equality Act 2010 and other relevant legislation.

Compliance with the Act is a matter for the Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC). The EHRC operates independently and cannot be directed by Scottish Ministers.

The EHRC publishes statutory Codes of Practice and associated guidance on the Equality Act 2010 to assist bodies to better understand and comply with their legal obligations under the Act.

Under the new model Neonatal Intensive Care will be delivered in three Units - the Queen Elizabeth University Hospital in Glasgow, Edinburgh Royal Infirmary and Aberdeen Maternity Hospital. The change was recommended in the Best Start report published in 2017 and was supported by a review of evidence carried out by Dr Anna Gavine, Dr Steve MacGillivray and Prof Mary Renfrew of the University of Dundee and published alongside The Best Start.

The approach to high volume neonatal intensive care for the smallest and sickest babies is further supported by the publication in 2021 of the British Association for Perinatal Medicine (BAPM) Framework for Practice.

On the basis of this evidence, and data for Scotland, three units would be the best model for Scotland. The decision on the location of the final three units was based on advice from clinical experts who undertook an options appraisal to identify the units. The appraisal was published in July 2023.

The Scottish Ministers have decided to recall the Lomond Banks appeal as the proposed development raises issues of national significance in view of its potential impact on Loch Lomond and the Trossachs National Park. Ministers will make the decision on this appeal and will give full and proper consideration to it.

The economic impact of a proposed development is one of several factors considered when determining appeals. In reaching a decision, Ministers are required by law to have regard to the development plan and to all relevant material factors, including all submissions made by parties involved in the case and all representations made.

This remains a live appeal, and it would not be appropriate to comment on the merits of the case, nor on any specific issues that may be involved in the consideration and decision-making process.

This remains a live case and each case is considered on its individual merits.

Scottish Government commissioned Consulting firm RSM UK Consulting LLP to undertake detailed modelling work to fully map the capacity requirements across the system to inform capacity building and implementation of the new model. The report was published on the 29 May 2024.

Each of the three Regional Planning Chief Executives has produced a plan outlining how they will move to the new model of care in their region. The plans are based on the capacity modelling work undertaken by RSM-UK and describe how the units will increase cot capacity to deliver the new model. Wishaw and Glasgow babies are included in the West Region, and are reflected in the capacity building in that plan.

The information requested on how many vacancies currently exist in (a) radiology and (b) oncology posts can be found on the TURAS NHS Education for Scotland workforce statistics site at: NHS Scotland workforce | Turas Data Intelligence (Vacancy tab).

Scottish Government commissioned Consulting firm RSM-UK to undertake detailed modelling work to fully map the capacity requirements across the system to inform capacity building and implementation of the new model. The report looked at current establishment and expected additional workload and describes a required increase of 10 cots at the Queen Elizabeth University Hospital, 4 cots at Edinburgh Royal Infirmary and one cot at Aberdeen Maternity Hospital,

We are working with Regional Planning Chief Executives to plan and deliver this service change, informed by the testing that has been underway since 2018 in Ayrshire and Fife, and supported by SG funding of over £6m since 2019.

The Scottish Government does not hold this information. More detailed information on cancelled appointments will be held locally by NHS boards.

The site of the former hotel at Carrick Castle, Lochgoilhead, is not owned by Scottish Government as per the Vacant and Derelict Land Register. This has been uploaded in error and steps are being taken to update the Register. The site is privately owned.

Typically an experienced primary care dentist seeing mainly NHS patients will have a list of around 2,000 – 2,500 patients. While the total number of dentists includes those in Public and Hospital Dental Service settings, published figures indicate that there are no Board areas with less than 1 dentist per 2,000 of population.

As at 31 March 2025, there are 59.2 primary care dentists per 100,000 of the Scottish population, compared to 56.8 at 31 March 2024. This equates to 0.6 dentists per 1000 patients.

The Scottish Government introduced payment reform changes from 1 November 2023 which has been well received by the profession. This is the main intervention designed to ensure dentists continue to be incentivised to both remain and increase their NHS provision.

Workforce:

2.Payment reform was introduced in November ’23 reducing treatment items from 700 to 45, with almost 4 million courses of treatment delivered between November 2023 and September 2024.

3.A second stage of reform will focus on workforce. Under the First Minister’s NHS Renewal priorities for 25-26 student intake to the Bachelor of Dental Surgery/BDS courses at Aberdeen, Dundee and Glasgow universities will increase by 7%; a new training scheme will support overseas-qualified dentists, who are GDC-registered as dental therapists, to convert to full dentist status at a cost of £1.5M and redesign of a rural incentive scheme funded via the GDS budget.

4.I will continue to lead on renewing four-nation discussions on Provisional Registration, which would allow overseas-qualified dentists to enter the UK NHS workforce immediately while awaiting qualification.

5.The Scottish Government is addressing building capacity, by adopting a multi-disciplinary team approach, giving patients direct access to care via dental care professional (i.e. hygienists, therapists, dental nurses).

6.We continue to offer financial support through the recently revised Scottish Dental Access Initiative and Recruitment and Retention Allowance, supporting NHS dental provision in designated geographic areas to address unmet patient need.

7.The Programme for Government sets out a package of actions to improve the NHS dental workforce now and into the future, and is supported by new funding in 2025-26.

8.We will support the dental workforce pipeline through both the immediate expansion of domestic dental student numbers and the development of an innovative new training package to support international dentists in joining the NHS Scotland workforce.

9.Alongside this, we are also working with NHS Boards to refine the financial incentives in place to support dentists moving to work in rural areas, supporting sustainable access across Scotland.