Seòmar agus comataidhean

Every area of government which is or may be affected by the Supreme Court judgment is reviewing policies, guidance and legislation. This action is co-ordinated by the Working Group on the Supreme Court Judgment, convened by the Permanent Secretary, to ensure a cross-government approach and understanding is taken to this complex area of work.

The Scottish Government has been taking forward the detailed work that is necessary as a consequence of the ruling. Since the judgment, we have:

• Engaged with Health Boards on the requirement to implement the Supreme Court judgment in line with their own legal advice. On 30 September, the Director of Health Workforce wrote to Health Boards to reinforce the importance of complying with the law, and the Supreme Court judgment implemented. Application of the law following the Supreme Court ruling remains a matter for Boards, in accordance with their own legal advice.
• Published revised Supporting Transgender Pupils in Schools Guidance, while recognising that the EHRC are also reviewing Technical Guidance for schools;
• Advanced joint work with Police Scotland, with a public consultation on the Stop and Search Code of Practice scheduled before the end of this year.
• There have been no changes to prisons guidance.

We have also:

• Updated our guidance for the Gender Representation on Public Boards (Scotland) Act 2018.
• Amended the public appointments recruitment process for public bodies subject to the Act, now collating and using biological sex at birth data to apply the Act.
• Moved to an interim Trans and Non-Binary Inclusion Policy, removing a line regarding facilities use, while we develop new policy and guidance in consultation with trade unions.
• Conducted an initial review of facilities across the SG estate with a more detailed review now underway to ensure our provision meets the needs of staff and legal requirements.

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

The SPS Policy for the Management of Transgender People in Custody protects the rights and welfare of transgender people living in Scotland’s prisons in a way which promotes the safety of all people in custody.

When placing a transgender person within our estate, we adopt an individualised approach to ensure the safety of everyone in our care by assessing and managing identified known risk.

There is a total of 21 transgender people in custody representing 0.3% of the total prison population. As a public body we must uphold our statutory obligation to ensure everyone in our care has their personal information protected. Given these small numbers, we are unable to provide any further disaggregation of this data due to potential risk of identification of individuals.

SPS also aim to publish prison numbers and relevant data on a quarterly basis, the last of which can be found here.

The Scottish Government is taking a range of measures to strengthen transparency and accountability in public sector health and social care procurement.

Under the Procurement Reform (Scotland) Act 2014, all public bodies are required to publish Procurement Strategies and Annual Procurement Reports, ensuring clear visibility of purchasing activity and performance. In addition, the Public Contracts Scotland (PCS) portal provides a single national platform for advertising contract opportunities and awards, offering forward visibility of procurement pipelines for NHS Health Boards and other public sector authorities. PCS continues to play a central role in improving transparency, supporting supplier access, and enhancing accountability across the system.

To support continuous improvement, the Scottish Government has published its Procurement Strategy 2025-28, which emphasises greater openness, strengthened reporting, and collaborative working across government, Health Boards and wider public sector partners. Its four outcomes - Good for Society; Good for Businesses and Their Employees; Good for Places and Communities; and Open and Connected - form the strategic framework within which health and social care procurement operates.

These principles are further developed in the NHS Scotland Procurement Strategy 2024-28, which sets out specific commitments relating to governance, monitoring and reporting of procurement activity across health and social care services. National Procurement’s priorities within this strategy include enhanced data-driven decision-making, clearer performance metrics, and strengthened assurance processes aligned with NHS Scotland’s wider strategic framework.

Planned improvements include the deployment of advanced digital systems to provide end-to-end visibility of procurement activity, embedding ethical and sustainable procurement practices, and delivering measurable efficiency, social value and sustainability outcomes. Through these combined strategies and programmes, the Scottish Government is ensuring that transparency and accountability remain central to health and social care procurement across Scotland.

The Scottish Government is committed to delivering a more equitable and accessible approach to the provision of equipment and adaptations. Our revised guidance on the Provision of Equipment and Adaptations is statutory guidance issued under Section 53 of the Public Bodies (Joint Working) (Scotland) Act 2014. This means that responsibility for delivering it and assessing its impact rests with Integration Authorities.

This includes capturing data which evidences the value that effective and efficient community equipment and adaptation provision makes to the delivery of key service goals. However, to support national implementation of this guidance, the Scottish Government works closely with our national Equipment and Adaptations Network to support good practice and aid a more consistent approach to implementation.

The Scottish Government is aware of how critical equipment is to allow individuals to participate fully in daily life and to support the person being cared for to live safely within their home environment. Anyone requiring equipment should experience a seamless journey through the pathway of care, which ensures they receive the right intervention at the right time.

That is why the Scottish Government engaged robustly with Health and Social Care Partnerships (HSCP) to establish the impact of the collapse of NRS Healthcare Limited. This engagement concluded that there was little to no immediate impact on services providing community equipment. Where required, HSCPs have taken appropriate steps to mitigate any immediate disruption to services. This includes; purchasing stock in bulk, purchasing from other suppliers, and utilising off-contract purchases. HSCPs have also confirmed that they have been taking the necessary steps to mitigate any disruption to the supply chain in the medium to longer term.

The National Equipment and Adaptions Network is available for HSCPs to collectively discuss local impact and mitigating actions. The Scottish Government will continue to monitor this matter.

The Scottish Government held discussions about its plans for walk-in services with the British Medical Association on 12 and 15 October and on 12 November. Walk-in services were discussed with the Royal College of General Practitioners on 15 October and on 12 November.

There have been no discussions with the Royal College of Nursing.

There are well-established processes, set by the Courts, to assess the amount to be paid to a successful party seeking to recover its legal costs. The Scottish Government is following these processes and has committed to publish its final costs associated with For Women Scotland Ltd v The Scottish Ministers once these costs have been agreed.

The cost incurred to date in relation to the planned National Treatment Centre in NHS Ayrshire and Arran, NHS Grampian, NHS Lanarkshire, NHS Lothian and NHS Tayside is as follows.