Seòmar agus comataidhean

Scottish Forestry have undertaken a strategic environmental assessment (SEA) for Scotland’s Forestry Strategy, which includes consideration of pests and diseases including Phytophthora ramorum and the legislation relating to plant health. Overall, and with appropriate adherence to the requirements of the United Kingdom Forestry Standard (UKFS) and existing environmental regulation, effects were expected to be positive. Legislation relating to plant health matters does not override other legislative requirements – and vice versa. The Phytophthora ramorum on larch action plan was developed in conjunction with scientists and industry representatives and reiterates adherence to Scotland’s Forest strategy and the need for due diligence to identify sites that will require to be protected.

Public Health Scotland (PHS) routinely publish ongoing waits for all planned care specialities, including dermatology, detailing the median wait (days) and 90th percentile (days). This information is published via the Stage of Treatment Publication.

Table 1. New Outpatients: Dermatology (Ongoing Waits) as of 31 March 2025

The Scottish Government has a number of contingent liabilities, which are disclosed in its consolidated accounts each year. The Scottish Government seeks the prior approval of Parliament, via the Finance and Public Administration Committee, before entering into any specific contingent liability unless it arises in the normal course of business or the sum of the risk is £2.5m or less.

The Scottish Government seeks to manage the impact of contingent liabilities crystallising within existing departmental budgets, in line with portfolio accountabilities. Only where necessary would these be funded centrally.

The budget treatment of crystallised contingent liabilities depends on the nature of the underlying transaction, in line with HM Treasury’s Consolidated Budgeting Guidance and accounting regulations. At present based on the latest contingent liabilities, if these were to crystalise there would be more call on capital over resource budgets.

Social Security Scotland is successfully delivering 16 benefits - seven of them only available in Scotland. Since it was established in 2018 it has provided essential support to help more than one million people heat their homes, feed their families and meet the additional costs of disability.

The importance of value for money is clearly stated in the unanimously agreed Social Security (Scotland) Act 2018 and was reiterated by the Cabinet Secretary for Finance in her Medium Term Financial Strategy statement on 25 June where she set out Social Security Scotland’s “focus on how to process and deliver benefits with dignity, fairness and respect, while driving important efficiency savings and ensuring that people access the support they are entitled to.”

We are working with all health boards to develop a whole-system NHS infrastructure plan. This will reflect on needs across Scotland and support continued safe operation of existing facilities, as well as determination of longer term investment priorities. The National Treatment Centre (NTC) programme is currently paused and the development of the NTC Ayrshire and Arran remains under review at the current time.

As detailed in the 2025-26 budget, we are funding a £139 million additional investment across NHS infrastructure to support improvement and renewal. We will seek to progress the development of business cases projects and invest an extra £20 million in equipment to bolster productivity. Any final decision to progress to construction will be subject to the outcome of the Scottish Government Investment Infrastructure pipeline.

We recognise the critical importance of ensuring that patients can access targeted cancer medicines promptly when associated genomic tests are required.

The development of a sustainable and more reactive funding model for genomic testing is a core commitment within the Genomics in Scotland strategy. Work to develop new funding mechanisms continues to progress, however, this process takes time and significant negotiation across Scottish Government and the entirety of the NHS in Scotland.

The Scottish Government remains committed to delivering equitable access to genomic tests associated with Scottish Medicines Consortium (SMC) approved medicines without unnecessary delay.

We are committed to developing Just Transition Plans that provide certainty for workers and communities. To that end, we published our draft Transport Just Transition Plan in February, our Grangemouth Just Transition Plan in June, and we intend to publish the consultation on our Land Use and Agriculture plan later this summer.

The judgements and issues we are considering will be informed and influenced by recent developments in the UK Government’s energy policy and court decisions. We are taking time and care to analyse the impact of these developments on Scotland. Our just transition planning to date will also be reflected in the next Climate Change Plan, which will be published in draft form later this year.

Scottish Government does not hold the information requested.

Day-to-day management, including that of specific funding, of the Transforming Cancer Care Programme is managed by Macmillan Cancer Support. Scottish Government allocates overall funds to Macmillan Cancer Support to distribute according to locally agreed processes.

During the period 2019-2023, Scottish Government and Macmillan awarded £18 million to the programme. An additional £9 million investment was agreed in 2023 to support the programme until 2032. Funds are to be allocated over that period as per Macmillan and the corresponding local authority/partnership agreement.

Following discussions facilitated by the Scottish Government between the Scottish Ambulance Service and trade unions, a working group has been established to seek to resolve the complex issues surrounding rest break compliance. The group will meet fortnightly, with an oversight group established which includes representation from the Scottish Government. This oversight group will meet regularly to monitor the progress of the working group.

The Biosecurity for Scotland project is currently leading a series of co-design workshops to develop a plan for a long-term biosecurity programme and discussions are taking place around securing funding for this work beyond March 2026. The project has received over £350,000 from the Scottish Government’s Nature Restoration Fund.

In addition, work is underway on developing a Scottish Plan for Invasive Non-native Species Prevention, Surveillance and Control which we aim to publish later this year. In developing our plan we will be considering what measures we need to put in place to ensure the continued biosecurity of Scotland’s islands. In particular we recognise that it is vital that Scotland’s globally important seabird populations are protected from invasive mammalian predators such as rats and mice. Discussions are underway with NatureScot and stakeholders to ensure the new National Islands Plan features tangible actions in support of our islands’ biosecurity, including in relation to invasive non-native species.