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The Permanent Secretary is responsible for the Scottish Government’s operational arrangements, including its hybrid working policy.

Staff in roles compatible with hybrid working are expected to aim for working 40% of their contracted hours in person, either at a Scottish Government workplace or another agreed location, such as attending Parliament or working with stakeholders. This can include meetings, collaboration, training, fieldwork, or official travel, and may vary where a reasonable adjustment or agreed exemption applies.

Attendance is normally considered over a four-week period, and line managers monitor this to ensure arrangements meet business needs and align with the policy.

The Scottish Government’s Service Renewal Framework and Public Service Reform Strategy set out long-term transformation to support sustainability.

This includes restructuring national NHS Boards by merging NES and NSS into Public Services Delivery Scotland, streamlining once-for-Scotland support and governance.

Health Boards in the East and West are required through sub-national arrangements to develop joint plans that improve equity and access across their populations.

We are strengthening integration authorities and progressing Single Authority Model development with three local partners to explore alternative governance approaches.

Any further structural changes will be for an incoming administration to determine.

The Scottish Budget provides a further real-terms increase in the Local Government Settlement, delivering record funding of £15.7 billion, including a quarter of a billion pounds of unrestricted General Revenue Grant.

Local authorities have a duty under the Roads (Scotland) Act 1984 to manage and maintain local roads and associated infrastructure in their area and duties under the Road Traffic Regulation Act 1984 to secure the expeditious, convenient and safe movement of traffic.

The vast majority of funding available to councils is provided by means of a block grant from the Scottish Government with the Scottish Budget also providing Councils with full discretion over decisions on Council Tax. It is then the responsibility of individual local authorities to manage their own budgets and to allocate the total financial resources available to them, including on the maintenance of roads and bridges, on the basis of local needs and priorities.

The Scottish Government does not expect to make any further announcements regarding the A9 Dualling Programme before the end of the current Parliamentary session. Regular progress updates and details of planned traffic management works are available on our dedicated A9 Dualling Programme website at the following link: www.a9dualling.scot.

Only last month I provided a substantive update to Parliament to reaffirm the Scottish Government’s commitment to dual the A96 and provide assurance we are pressing forward steps to make this happen. This update on 3 February 2026, followed the commitment to progressing A96 dualling included in the Scottish Spending Review 2026 along with the Infrastructure Delivery Pipeline 2026, both of which were published on Tuesday 13 January 2026.

Investment in the trunk road network over the four year Capital Spending Review period to 2029-30 will allow the Scottish Government to make further progress on dualling the A96 between Inverness and Nairn, including the Nairn Bypass. With the land acquired for the scheme in 2025, funding is included in the 2026-27 draft Budget to commence the delivery of advanced works. This will include vital archaeological investigation works and other key environmental and ecological measures, along with significant work to facilitate complex Public Utility diversions.

In parallel to the advanced works, investment in 2026-27 will also allow Transport Scotland to continue to take forward the work to determine the most suitable procurement option for delivering these schemes and further develop the Business Cases. Completion of the preparatory work, including approval of the Business Cases, will enable a firm timetable for delivery to be set as part of the annual budget setting process, with a view to commencing procurement of the main works contract for the Nairn Bypass within this Capital Spending Review period.

The Capital Spending Review allows for the commencement of the construction of the A9/A96 Inshes to Smithton link road in 2028-29 and the Nairn Bypass in 2029-30, subject to business case approval and confirmation of funding beyond the spending review period.

Given this recent and substantive update, no further announcements on the A96 are anticipated before the end of this parliamentary session.

NHS Highland remains committed to implementing the agreed hybrid vaccination model, with GP practices leading childhood vaccination delivery and the Board’s immunisation team supporting harder to reach families. This approach reflects the flexibility needed to ensure safe, local access to services.

This is not about shifting vaccination wholly to GPs, but adopting a model tailored to Highland’s specific challenges. I reassure Mr Ewing that I continue to encourage constructive collaboration to achieve the best outcomes for children and families.

The Scottish Government remains steadfast in our commitment to preventing and eradicating violence against women and girls and to supporting specialist services that provide vital support to victims and survivors of gender based violence.

The commissioning of domestic abuse services is a matter for local authorities. However the Scottish Government strongly encourages local authorities to utilise the joint COSLA and Scottish Women’s Aid’s guidance on good practice in commissioning specialist domestic abuse services.

I wrote to the Chief Executive of Highland Council on 11 February 2026, highlighting concerns raised in relation to funding proposals for women’s aid organisations in the area, including Inverness Women’s Aid, requesting Highland Council consider engaging with the organisations concerned and cross-party MSPs in the Highlands, to better understand the challenges and how they can be resolved.

Through the Scottish Budget we have provided a 5% increase to the Delivering Equally Safe Fund, bringing total investment in the fund to almost £46 million over 2026-2028. This will increase the support Inverness Women's Aid receives through the fund to around £230,000 each year over 2026-2028, subject to annual budget processes. Our fund managers, Inspiring Scotland, are actively engaging with Inverness Women’s Aid to offer support.

The Scottish Government acknowledges the Scottish Health Technologies Group recommendations regarding specialist interventions for managing chronic non-malignant pain in adults. NHS Scotland is required to consider SHTG recommendations and discussions are underway to understand how those recommendations can inform sustainable, consistent and effective service delivery across Scotland.

We continue to work with work with clinicians, third sector organisations and people with lived experience of chronic pain to deliver the actions in our Pain Management Service Delivery Framework.

We have set out the wider policy within which NHS Scotland is expected to deliver services and expect all NHS Boards, including NHS Highland, to provide high quality care that is safe, effective and person-centred. We expect that decisions about the appropriateness of treatment for chronic pain, or specific medications for pain management, will be made by the clinician in discussion with the patient to ensure the most suitable treatment is made available based on their medical history.

The Scottish Government has no current plans to propose the scheduling of a ministerial statement on the use of Scotland’s inshore seas for the marine storage of offshore wind platform bases or other apparatus.

Storage and constructions of floating offshore wind farm foundations is considered through the established marine licensing process, which assesses potential impacts on the marine environment, and on other users of the sea.

The Scottish Government ensures that, where required, decisions affecting the marine environment include public consultation so that affected communities and stakeholders, including those involved in fishing, angling, and sailing, can express their views.

This is an operational matter for Scottish Enterprise. I have asked their CEO, Adrian Gillespie, to respond to you