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The Scottish Budget 2025-26 identified funding of £5 million to help support independent hospices deliver pay parity with Agenda for Change (AfC) levels for 2025-26. Officials continue to work with the chair of the Scottish Hospice Leadership Group and Hospice UK to understand the requirements from each hospice. Officials are also undertaking work to explore the mechanisms for providing this funding, while respecting local commissioning arrangements. Funding will be provided in financial year 2025-26.

To note, it is the responsibility of Integration Joint Boards (IJBs) to commission palliative care services, including independent hospices, to meet the needs of their local populations.

The Scottish Government regularly engages with a wide range of stakeholders on energy policy matters, including business and industry, trade unions and communities.

Offshore oil and gas licensing, as well as consenting and the associated fiscal regime, are all matters that are currently reserved to the UK Government.

The Scottish Government is taking the appropriate time to carefully consider the UK Government’s current consultation on Building the North Sea’s Energy Future, and its potential outcomes.

The Public Health Scotland (PHS) scoping exercise of Fracture Liaison Services (FLS) across NHS Boards, and subsequent business case, identified a need for a Scotland-wide FLS audit. Scottish Government acted on these findings and commissioned PHS to implement a national FLS audit.

The audit will create high-quality, standardised data and consistency across NHS Boards in order to identify and evaluate gaps in osteoporosis care, preventable harm to drive improvements, support clinical decision-making and reduce health inequalities.

Whilst there was an initial delay regarding recruitment, this has now been completed and progress now continues at pace. We do not expect the initial set up delays to impact on the overall delivery and outcomes of the FLS audit.

I refer the member to the answers to questions S6W-35534 on 21 March 2025 and S6W-36002 on 1 April 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

The Scottish Government plans to lay secondary legislation in summer 2025 to add child contact services to the list of care services that the Care Inspectorate regulates. The Care Inspectorate will develop a Quality Framework for child contact services to help ensure the best outcomes for all children using these services, including those with additional needs.

The intention is that the Care Inspectorate will also be required to notify the Equality and Human Rights Commission where a child contact service provider has, or may have, failed to comply with their duties under the Equality Act 2010, and in particular any duty to make reasonable adjustments to premises to facilitate their use by disabled people.

The Children (Scotland) Act 2020 provides for a register of child welfare reporters, who can be appointed in child contact cases to obtain the child’s views or report on the child’s best interests. Once implemented, the register will help ensure reporters are skilled and trained in key areas, such as communicating with children and child development, including learning disabilities.

The Scottish Government will make further commencement regulations this year in relation to the 2020 Act, including provisions to enhance how the views of the child are heard. This was outlined to the Equalities, Human Rights and Civil Justice Committee on 11 March 2025: Letter from the Minister for Victims and Community Safety.

The Scottish Government has also consulted on a proposed Learning Disability, Autism and Neurodivergence Bill. Proposals include better identification of neurodivergence within the justice system and mandatory training. The Scottish Government has committed to publishing draft provisions for this Bill.

The Scottish Government recognises the importance of the findings of the UN report and the need to promote sustainable resource use.

As well as the recent UN report noted in S6W-35438, Zero Waste Scotland was also influenced by recent Circularity Gap Reports in setting its Corporate Plan target. These highlighted the importance of cutting material consumption by one third:

https://www.circularity-gap.world/2023#download

https://www.circularity-gap.world/2024#download

The Circular Economy and Waste Route Map sets out the Scottish Government’s intention to set its own circular economy targets by 2027.

https://www.gov.scot/publications/scotlands-circular-economy-waste-route-map-2030/

GP practices in Glasgow, and elsewhere, must meet minimum standards for their practice premises which comply with their obligations under the Equality Act. This includes taking such steps as are reasonable to provide for ease of access to the practice premises and ease of movement within the practice premises for all users of the practice premises (including wheelchair users) and to provide adequate sound and visual systems for the hearing and visually impaired.

NHS Greater Glasgow & Clyde is responsible for ensuring that its GP practices are meeting their contractual obligations.

Yes, the marine and coastal restoration plan will support delivery of policies and outcomes in the National Marine Plan, the Scottish Biodiversity Strategy, the UK Marine Strategy, and the Scottish Seabird Action Plan, amongst others.

The Scottish Government responded to this correspondence on the 20March 2025 and will be meeting with the Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC), virtually, on 24 April 2025. As the response was about arranging a meeting between EHRC and the Scottish Government only, it will not be published.

The Office of the Chief Statistician published guidance for public bodies in Scotland on the collection of data on sex and gender in 2021. This guidance recommends that statistics producers should collect data that best serves the needs of users in their specific context, an approach with aligns with the guidance published by the Office for Statistics Regulation in 2024.

Cancer remains a national priority, within the Scottish Government and across NHS Scotland, and I recognise that we must do more to ensure patients with cancer are treated faster.

We have invested over £40 million across NHS Scotland over the past five years to support cancer services and improve waiting times, with a focus on urology, colorectal and breast.

In NHS Grampian specifically, over £1.5 million of cancer funding has been provided to the board in 2024-25, to support delivery of diagnostics and treatment for patients referred with an urgent suspicion of cancer to reduce waiting lists.

Each territorial Health Board across Scotland has agreed performance improvement plans in place, detailing what is being done at local level to drive improvements. The Scottish Government has a sustained focus on the delivery of these plans and meet with Cancer Management Teams in all health boards across Scotland frequently, including NHS Grampian, to identify challenges, explore solutions, and share best practice.