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Since May 2021, Ministerial oversight of the National Library of Scotland (NLS) has been led by the Minister for Europe and International Development until January 2022, then the Minister for Culture, Europe and International Development from January 2022 until May 2024. I took over Ministerial oversight of NLS in May 2024.

In that time period, I have not attended any board meetings of NLS. However, the Ministers and I have met when required with the Chief Executive as is normal convention for non-departmental public bodies.

This is a matter for NHS Highland and Highland HSCP.

I have attended one board meeting of Creative Scotland since May 2021 which took place on 27 September 2023.

However, as part of normal management relationships between Scottish Ministers and non-departmental public bodies, I have regular meetings on a quarterly basis with the Chief Executive and the Chair of Creative Scotland.

NatureScot staff continue to engage with officials from the Highland Council Steering Group that is dealing with the issues of seagull management.

NatureScot staff are due to attend a Steering Group meeting with Highland Council in December. This was originally proposed to take place in November but has been rescheduled due to the unavailability of some staff.

NHS Health Boards are required to provide the Scottish Government with Complaints and Feedback Annual reports and complaints statistics on an annual basis, and these are published by Public Health Scotland. There are specific indicators that Boards must use when reporting their statistics, including total numbers of complaints received and closed, outcomes and timescales for completion. Complaints and Feedback Annual reports must cover, learning from complaints, complaints process experience and staff awareness and training. However, these do not include the specific themes areas requested about which complaints are made.

The most recent publication, which also includes links to each Board’s Complaints and Feedback Annual reports, was in January 2025 for the reporting year 2023/24 and can be found at the following link: Annual report on NHS complaints - 2023 to 2024 - Annual report on NHS complaints - Publications - Public Health Scotland.

Whilst the Scottish Government expects that ScotRail strives to provide the best possible service to people of Scotland, this is an operational matter for ScotRail.

Results of the passenger satisfaction survey carried out regularly by the independent transport watchdog, Transport Focus, show that ScotRail achieves better scores than many other train operators in GB. ScotRail performs better in all areas when compared to the GB average.

Improving access to primary care is a key priority for this Government. We recognise the vital role that GPs, community nurses, pharmacists, dentists and other members of the primary care team play as the foundation of healthcare in our communities.

We are committed to strengthening the whole primary care system, building on our ongoing commitment through the Service Renewal Framework to shift more care into community settings and make services more accessible for patients.

As part of this, we will develop options for new and innovative ways to improve access to primary care, including local walk-in models which will provide more flexibility for patients. It is our intention to develop proposals for a model would see these services open Monday-Sunday. We will develop these proposals first as a pilot model which will complement current core general practice and provide a range of same-day assessment and small-scale diagnostics. To do this we will work in collaboration with NHS Boards and primary care delivery partners to ensure they strengthen, rather than duplicate, existing primary care services.

The Scottish Government will set out further details as these plans develop.

The Scottish Government is confident that NHS 24 operates a robust triage system that prioritises patient safety.

NHS 24 will always refer patients on to other areas of the healthcare system when appropriate to do so and in the best interests of the patients care.

NHS 24 performance is subject to regular monitoring, and NHS 24 continues to meet statutory and clinical obligations.

The Scottish Government does not collect or hold data on the number of patients who make multiple calls to the NHS 24 111 service. The service operates as a clinical triage and advice service, and repeat contacts can occur for a range of legitimate reasons. These may include changes in a patient’s symptoms, clarification of previous advice, or the need for further support following an initial call. As such, without specific data collection, it is not possible to determine whether the number of repeat calls has increased since 2020.

There are no payments outstanding for applications approved in previous financial years.