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Bringing the 2027 Tour de France Grand Départ to Edinburgh is a tremendous opportunity for our country. We are delighted that Scotland is co-hosting the biggest free spectator event alongside our partners in England and Wales and are committed to ensuring it will demonstrate that Scotland is the perfect stage for major events. The Grand Depart will consist of the first 3 Stages of the 2027 Tour, starting in Edinburgh then visiting Wales and England.

The Scottish Government will invest up to £9.25 million, which includes a contingency provision. This funding will help Scotland realise the full potential of the social and economic benefits the Tour de France will bring to our country, as well as ensure that the event is delivered safely, securely and successfully.

Our investment sits alongside funding contributions from the UK and Welsh Governments and includes investment into a UK-wide social impact programme. We are also extending this investment into a Scotland-specific social impact programme, which will seek to improve health by increasing cycling participation, supporting the Scottish Government’s wider active travel commitments, driving community cohesion and supporting economic growth. Scottish Cycling will play a pivotal role in this programme as our national governing body for cycling and are already seeking to recruit to their team to help with delivery. We look forward to sharing more details on this programme in due course.

As a natural progression from hosting the 2023 UCI Cycling World Championships, the Tour de France will be part of an incredible pipeline of major events in Scotland – sitting between the Commonwealth Games in 2026 and the UEFA European Football Championships in 2028. Hosting the Grand Départ for the 2027 Tour de France will enhance Scotland’s already stellar reputation as an international events destination, and will allow us to further showcase our country on the world stage, with the event being broadcast in 190 countries, with around 150 million viewers in Europe alone.

Through the relevant budget review processes, the Scottish Government will continue to scrutinise budget lines and engage with the Scottish Parliament’s Finance and Public Administration Committee as appropriate.

NHS Boards are responsible for investigating incidents of harm. If an incident occurs, we expect NHS Boards to fulfil their statutory duty to be open with patients about what happened and to learn lessons to prevent it happening again.

Currently there is no requirement or ability for NHS Boards to record and submit data on corridor care to Public Health Scotland for publication, not least as there is not an agreed definition for ‘corridor care’.

The Scottish Government expects all healthcare to be safe, effective and person-centred. On the occasions where non-standard care areas have to be used, it is the NHS Boards who are responsible for ensuring that effective and documented risk assessments, that detail the mitigating measures, are in place to support staff who are required to deliver care to patients in these areas.

The use of non-standard areas of care is scrutinised by Healthcare Improvement Scotland as part of their inspection process. HIS has encouraged NHS Boards to implement strategies to enhance patient flow and eliminate the routine use of non-standard care areas for patient care.

This year the Scottish Government published our Operational Improvement Plan and we continue to work with local system leaders to support their health and social care improvement reforms to improve access to treatment and shift the balance of care from acute hospital services to the community, and to ensure people receive the right care in the right place.

The Scottish Government does not hold the information you have requested.

We are in active discussions with PHS regarding the feasibility of a national data collection however, our absolute focus is on addressing the cause of the conditions which lead to care in non-standard areas.

That is why through our NHS Scotland Operational Improvement Plan we are investing £200 million to address high hospital occupancy and improve patient flow.

Key to this work is addressing the capacity challenges which lead to care in nonstandard areas by: increasing focus on discharge planning to ensure that patients leave hospital as soon as they are medically fit; strengthening Same Day Emergency Care services to avoid unnecessary hospital admissions where appropriate; and increasing acute capacity by expanding Hospital at Home services to 2,000 beds by the end of 2026.

I attended the 44th British-Irish Council meeting held in the Vale Resort, Cardiff, Wales on 5 December.

The summit was hosted by the First Minister of Wales and attended by ministers from across the UK and Ireland. The Prime Minister attended, as did the Taoiseach and Tnaiste, the First Minister and Deputy First Minister of Northern Ireland and the Chief Ministers of Jersey, Guernsey and the Isle of Man.

The theme of this year’s summit was a creative future: unlocking the potential of the creative industries across these islands.

The main summit plenary provided an opportunity to highlight the strength of Scotland’s creative industries as well as outline the Scottish Government support extended to our creative sector.

During the main plenary discussion on latest political developments, I took the opportunity to restate the Scottish Government’s ongoing concerns over the intolerable situation in Gaza.

I also welcomed the UK government’s headline agreement with the European Union, while making clear that further progress was required to address trade barriers and promote freedom of movement.

Ahead of the main summit I held bilateral meetings with the Tnaiste and Irish Trade Minister (Helen McEntee).

We discussed the close relationship between Scotland and Ireland; whisky tariffs and the United Kingdom’s new approach to the European Union.

I also held a wide-ranging discussion with the Prime Minister, during which I raised the impact of the UK Budget on Scotland’s oil and gas and renewables sectors and pressed for immediate action on the Energy Profits Levy.

I also discussed the future key economic infrastructure including Grangemouth and Mossmorran, and pressed for an update on UK-US Trade negotiations including the tariff on whisky.

Finally, I welcomed the recent UK Government announcement on the lifting of the two-child benefit cap, noting that this would allow the Scottish Government to further deliver on our commitment to address child poverty.

The Communiqué that was issued by the British-Irish Council after the meeting can be found on its website at: www.britishirishcouncil.org/resources/

44th British-Irish Council Summit

Vale of Glamorgan, Wales

5 December 2025

Communiqué

The British-Irish Council (BIC) held its 44th Summit meeting today, Friday 5 December 2025, hosted by the Welsh Government in the Vale of Glamorgan, Wales.

The theme of the Summit was A Creative Future: Unlocking the Potential of the Creative Industries Across These Islands. The meeting was chaired by the Rt Hon Eluned Morgan MS, Prif Weinidog Cymru (First Minister), Welsh Government.

A Creative Future: Unlocking the Potential of the Creative Industries Across These Islands.

The Summit plenary focussed on Member Administrations’ respective screen sectors. Leaders discussed the importance of the sector to the Creative Industries, both culturally and economically, as well as the opportunities and challenges facing the sector, and efforts by administrations to support the industry and those working within it.

Latest Political Developments

Council members reflected on significant recent developments within their administrations and discussed a number of domestic and international topics of mutual interest.

Next Summit Meeting

The Council noted that the next BIC Summit will be hosted by the Government of Guernsey in summer 2026.

BIC Secretariat

5 December 2025

Plenary Participants

We welcomed the publication of the UK Covid-19 Inquiry’s Module 2 report on core decision-making and political governance on 20 November 2025.

Further to my statement to Parliament on that date, and following further consideration of the report, we can confirm today that the Scottish Government intends to publish its response before the dissolution of Parliament in 2026, in line with the timeframes set out by the Chair of the UK Covid-19 Inquiry.

The Scottish Government will now take the necessary time to engage with stakeholders, including through the dedicated Covid Inquiry Response Engagement Group. This group brings together members representing a broad range of stakeholder expertise, including organisations working with communities disproportionately impacted by the pandemic and those furthest from decision-making. Their participation ensures that the Scottish Government’s response reflects diverse perspectives and is grounded in real-world impact, while carefully considering the report’s findings and recommendations.

This morning, I will visit the site of MiAlgae’s new bio-reactor project Grangemouth, which will see omega-3 being produced and sold at scale. The construction of the new plant at Grangemouth is being made possible as a direct result of up to £3 million in grant funding being allocated by the Scottish and UK Governments, with £1.5 million coming from the Scottish Government’s Grangemouth Just Transition Fund.

Subject to final negotiations and confirmation of public funding conditions, we are also allocating up to £6.23 million from the Grangemouth Just Transition Fund to Celtic Renewables to support pre-construction costs associated with its at scale ABE bio-refinery project at Grangemouth.

A further additional £595,000 from the Fund to be utilised by Scottish Enterprise to progress essential enabling activities that will make progress towards Grangemouth’s transition.

I look forward to providing a fuller update to Parliament later today on the progress being made by this Government to support Grangemouth’s Just Transition to Net Zero.