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Scotland’s spring and winter vaccination programmes for flu and COVID-19 are implemented as part of the Scottish Vaccination and Immunisation Programme (SVIP) - a collaborative effort involving the Scottish Government, Public Health Scotland, and Health Boards.

In recognition of Scotland’s changing demographics and the ageing population, territorial Health Boards assess and plan their workforce needs to effectively implement their respective programs each season.

For each programme, SVIP conducts precise assessments of the eligible population - based on criteria established by the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation - recognising that these numbers may vary annually, and planning is accordingly adjusted to ensure effective implementation.

The Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI), in its minutes of 10 October 2023, advised that the adult flu programme should run from the beginning of October to the end of November, with Health Boards able to apply flexibility as appropriate.

The Scottish Vaccination and Immunisation Programme (SVIP) has been operationalising this advice since winter 2023-24. For each immunisation programme, SVIP looks at the precise numbers of those eligible, as the denominator fluctuates each year, and planning is undertaken to operationalise accordingly.

Planning for winter 2026/27 will commence in spring 2026 and we will align programme dates with the JCVI advice as normal.

The Scottish Government has no plans to consider making flu vaccination mandatory for any eligible groups, including public-facing NHS staff.

There is evidence that mandatory vaccination damages confidence in vaccination and provokes a negative reaction in those for whom it is mandated. During the COVID-19 pandemic, for example, the UK Government briefly made COVID-19 vaccination a mandatory condition of employment for frontline health and social care workers and staff in care homes, but quickly rescinded it due to significant opposition from the staff group. Although never mandated by Scottish Government, some private Scottish health and social care employers did require COVID-19 vaccination, and some health and social staff conflated their employers’ position, and that of the UK Government, with that of the Scottish Government. Some workers still have residual objections in regards to this, which impacts their views on workplace vaccination. Our policy is therefore to provide evidence-based, scientific rationale that encourages the workforce forward for vaccination on a voluntary basis.

Taking up the offer of the flu vaccine is the best way for people to protect themselves and those around them from getting ill; however it must be an individual's choice to get vaccinated. The Scottish Government ensures that accurate and trusted information is available to the public to help them to make an informed decision.

We continue to encourage all eligible individuals, including NHS staff, to take up the offer of the flu vaccine.

Employees already in regulated roles on 1 April 2025 and whose employer had received a Protecting Vulnerable Groups (PVG) scheme record did not need to obtain a new Level 2 with PVG disclosure. Only people who were in regulated roles whose employer had never registered their interest in the PVG scheme member or who were taking up a regulated role with a new employer needed to apply.

In recognition of the need for organisations to adapt to the new legislation and allow those in roles that were not eligible for PVG scheme membership prior to 1 April to join the Scheme, Disclosure Scotland provided a “grace period” of three months from 1 April for applications to be submitted before offence provisions came into force.

To manage volumes, Disclosure Scotland worked with organisations to encourage them to get those people who were eligible to join prior to April 2025 into the scheme before it became mandatory. Organisations were encouraged to contact Disclosure Scotland to discuss regulated roles and provide anticipated volumes that would be received between 1 April and 30 June 2025. While Disclosure Scotland had no power to compel organisations to do so at that time due to the non-mandatory nature of the scheme, many stakeholders did work with Disclosure Scotland to ensure those already eligible were in the scheme before 1 April and project their applicant volumes for the grace period.

I have asked Gerard Hart, Chief Executive of Disclosure Scotland to respond. His response is as follows:

There has never been a provision in law for supervised working while organisations were waiting to obtain a Protecting Vulnerable Groups (PVG) scheme record. Until 1 April 2025, the PVG scheme was not a legal requirement therefore organisations could choose to have people in regulated work without seeing PVG scheme membership.

In forecasting volumes resultant from the legal requirement to be in the PVG scheme if carrying out a regulated role, Disclosure Scotland expected 50,000 additional applications against normal levels and diverted 10 full-time equivalent staff from other areas of the business to help manage delivering disclosure processing and support services. Planning included that, from 1 April onwards, application volumes and resources were monitored daily through checkpoint meetings to enable timely decision-making.

Within normal resource, Disclosure Scotland has historically exceeded its Service Level Agreement (SLA) of 90% of applications processed within 14 days. In 2023-24, 95.3% of applications were completed within 14 days and in 2024-25, 97.7% within 14 days.

Disclosure Scotland is currently performing within its SLA to process 90% of applications within 14 days.

I have asked Gerard Hart, Chief Executive of Disclosure Scotland to respond. His response is as follows:

There has never been a provision in law for supervised working while organisations were waiting to obtain a Protecting Vulnerable Groups (PVG) scheme record. Until 1 April 2025, the PVG scheme was not a legal requirement therefore organisations could choose to have people in regulated work without seeing PVG scheme membership.

The Disclosure (Scotland) Act 2020 introduced a legal requirement for organisations to receive a Level 2 with PVG scheme information before a person can carry out a regulated role for them. This was in response to the 2017 Health and Sport Committee report into Child Protection in Sport which noted serious concerns that “the application of the current PVG scheme results in variations in practice as to whether coaches can work/volunteer in a limited capacity without a PVG check having been completed”.

The changes under the Disclosure Act closed this gap which undermined public confidence in the PVG scheme and safeguarding of children and protected adults.

All those aged 75 years and over are eligible for both flu and COVID-19 vaccination, and will be offered both vaccines at the same appointment. Invitations for these cohorts will have been sent out by the start of November.

Additionally, in October, the Scottish Vaccination & Immunisation Programme runs a flu and COVID-19 mid-programme data refresh. This is designed to pick up those who may have become newly eligible due to developing a new clinical condition, or for those who have moved into Scotland, since the initial data was run in the late summer. These new invites are sent throughout November.

The Energy Consents Unit does not formally recognise any organisation involved in the submission of representations regarding applications.

All submissions received by the ECU are treated in the same manner, provided that they meet the requirements as set out on our website: https://www.gov.scot/publications/energy-consents-how-to-support-or-object-to-an-application/

I refer the member to the answer to question S6W-41171 on 27 October 2025. All answers to written Parliamentary Questions are available on the Parliament's website, the search facility for which can be found at https://www.parliament.scot/chamber-and-committees/written-questions-and-answers