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The Scottish Government’s National Carers Strategy published in December 2022 sets out a cross-government approach to tackling issues that affect carers, including through health and social care policies. The Strategy sets out our intentions regarding carers’ healthcare at chapter 3. We considered whether it was feasible to provide flexible health appointments for carers, including replacement care for appointments as part of the implementation process of the Strategy.

Following comprehensive scoping work and engagement across Scottish Government, we are focusing on strengthening signposting and guidance to ensure carers can make the most of existing provisions, particularly where appointment slots are available within current practice frameworks. This approach will help us deliver practical improvements while continuing to explore longer-term opportunities for collaboration and innovation.

Unpaid carers have rights under the Carers (Scotland) Act 2016 to an adult carer support plan (or young carer statement) looking at their caring situation and needs for support. That needs to take account of the extent to which they are willing and able to provide care, which would be impacted by a need for medical treatment.

Such plans should include information about whether there are arrangements in place for the provision of care to the cared-for person in an emergency and arrangements for future care planning. Both of these aspects should provide an opportunity for agreeing how care will be provided should the carer need medical treatment. Carers also have rights to have their plan reviewed when there is a material change to their caring situation, such as the need for medical treatment or a hospital stay.

The 2016 Act also places a duty on local authorities and relevant health boards to jointly prepare a local carer strategy which must include their plans for helping carers put arrangements in place for the provision of care in emergencies. Local authorities must also establish an information and advice service for carers, which should offer information and advice about emergency and future care planning for carers in their area.

The Scottish Government’s role is to set the strategic policy direction for the NHS in Scotland. Operational matters relating to the recruitment and retention of allied health professionals are the responsibility of each NHS board as the employer and will depend on individual service needs taking account of national, regional and local priorities as well as the demand for each AHP speciality which will vary by board. It is the expectation that all NHS boards plan and provide safe, effective and high-quality care, in line with their statutory service provision and workforce planning responsibilities considering current turnover, retention, absence rates and budgets.

Measuring and monitoring food waste across Scotland is a complex and challenging task. Zero Waste Scotland undertakes a range of work to monitor food waste and trends across households and businesses. Details of monitoring methods and latest available data is provided in the 2021 Scottish Food Waste Estimate, published in January 2024 and available at: mf-cdtg7vnr-1696942041d. Other recent monitoring reports include Zero Waste Scotland’s Household Waste Composition Analysis in October 2023 (available on Zero Waste Scotland’s website at: mf-ejmegftx-1696500166d. and an updated estimate by Zero Waste Scotland on Household Food Waste in Scotland 2021-22 (published in September 2025 and available on Zero Waste Scotland’s website at: mf-thcf7oxw-1758714008d

We know that improving how we measure food waste and identifying where and why it occurs across businesses and households is a critical step: better understanding of the volume and make-up of waste will allow for more effective action and allow for resources to be targeted to make a real impact. Actions are in train to improve food waste data, including the development of digital waste tracking. We have also committed to engage with stakeholders to develop effective options to implement mandatory reporting of food waste and surplus by businesses to further improve our understanding to aid targeted action.

Public Health Scotland collects data and monitors progress on the Alcohol Brief Intervention (ABI) programme. NHS Boards have the responsibility for collecting information and data on ABIs delivered and for providing PHS with this information. PHS publishes its data, which can be found at the link here.

Alcohol Brief Interventions - Search the datasets - National Datasets - National Data Catalogue - Health intelligence and data management - Resources and tools - Public Health Scotland

PHS published an evaluation of the ABI programme in October 2024 which included recommendations for a refreshed approach and paused its data collection in early 2025. The refreshed programme is being developed for inclusion in our forthcoming Alcohol and Drugs Strategic Plan.

Scotland’s Circular Economy and Waste Route Map, published in December 2024, includes a priority action to develop an intervention plan to guide long-term work on household food waste reduction behaviour change by 2026-27. Zero Waste Scotland (ZWS) is leading the development of the intervention plan. ZWS has begun collating available evidence to understand the variety of food waste reduction behaviour change interventions needed to tackle food waste and recently published research on behavioural challenges associated with this issue. In addition, ZWS has developed a data strategy and identified stakeholder engagement and skills development opportunities to increase awareness and understanding of the plan, and ways to tackle household food waste. ZWS is working with an expert advisory group and will continue to engage with WRAP’s UK Food and Drink Pact to support the development of the plan.

As outlined in the Circular Economy and Waste Route Map and our consultation on ‘A Draft Circular Economy Strategy for Scotland’, published 21 October 2025, our intention is to work with stakeholders to develop effective options to implement mandatory reporting of food waste and surplus from 2025/26. We will also consider the findings of the UK Government’s Circular Economy Taskforce when they are available as we recognise the importance of a cohesive approach for businesses operating across all of the UK.

Our consultation on a Draft Circular Economy Strategy is available on the Scottish Government website at: https://www.gov.scot/publications/draft-circular-economy-strategy-scotland/.

Latest available data suggests that reducing food waste remains a significant and growing challenge in Scotland. The latest Scottish food waste data estimate for 2021 suggests that over 1 million tonnes of food were wasted in Scotland during 2021. In comparison to the 2013 baseline, in 2021 – despite a 1% per capita decrease in food waste at the household level –there was a total 2% per capita increase and an overall 5% increase in the tonnage of food wasted. The reasons behind this are complex and partly reflect changed consumer behaviour since the COVID-19 pandemic. Scotland is not alone in facing this challenge and higher food waste levels have been observed across the UK.

Given these challenges, I am taking action to reset the Government’s approach and the Circular Economy and Waste Route Map sets out how we will deliver more targeted action to support householders and businesses.

The ‘2021 Scottish Food Waste Estimate’ is available on Zero Waste Scotland’s website at: https://cdn.zerowastescotland.org.uk/managed-downloads/mf-cdtg7vnr-1696942041d.

The MyCare.Scot app is part of a programme of digital transformation for health and social care services. To support this transformation the Scottish Government is committed to ensuring that all staff are equipped with the right digital and data skills they require to effectively deliver digital services.

Support for staff to develop and maintain their digital and data skills is already underway as part of the wider Scottish Government and COSLA’s cross sector Digital Capabilities suite of resources and activities that are available on the Digitally Enabled Workforce TURAS site at https://learn.nes.nhs.scot/53956.

NHS Lanarkshire are currently working on training and support to staff for the launch of the MyCare.Scot app. Feedback from the evaluation of the launch in December 2025 will be a part of understanding any additional support needed for staff prior to MyCare.scot being made available to everyone across Scotland from April 2026.

The Scottish Government is committed to improving perinatal and infant mental health services across Scotland. Anyone with more complex grief where engagement with specialist mental health services would be particularly beneficial should be able to access support through Maternity and Neonatal Psychological Intervention (MNPI) services, as part of their maternity and neonatal care.

Since 2019, our continued investment has resulted in a substantial increase in MNPI services across Scotland. All NHS Boards now provide these services either from a dedicated local team or, for very small Board areas, via pathways to MNPI care in larger Boards that host the maternity hospitals where the patient is receiving inpatient care.

To support greater funding stability, since 2025-26, funding is now included in the recurring baselined funds made available to NHS Boards to use flexibly to deliver the outcomes in the Enhanced Mental Health Outcomes Framework, which includes outcomes related to improving Perinatal and Infant Mental Health services.

The Scottish Government recognises the importance of timely access to psychological support, including psychological therapies, for bereaved parents. One of the main ways this is provided is through Maternity and Neonatal Psychological Intervention (MNPI) services. For most parents who have suffered a pregnancy loss, bereavement and grief support provided by their Health Board or third sector organisations will meet their needs and they will not require specialist mental health services.