Seòmar agus comataidhean

As set out in answer S6W-41307 on 13 October 2025, 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.

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 is unable to disclose this information as it is considered commercially sensitive.

As set out in answer S6W-41307 on 13 October 2025, 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.

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.

As set out in answer S6W-41307 on 13 October 2025, 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.

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.

New Entrants to Crofting:

The information requested is not held centrally by the Scottish Government. More detailed information on cleft lip and palate surgery waiting times will be held locally by NHS boards.

Although the Scottish Government has not made any specific assessment of the impact of public exposure to fire related fine particulate matter, we are implementing a wide range of actions to further improve air quality which are set out in our Cleaner Air for Scotland 2 strategy.

The Scottish Government recognises the wide-ranging benefits of community growing, not only for physical and mental wellbeing, but also for fostering social cohesion and resilience within local communities. Community food growing activities have potential to support our ambition to become a Good Food Nation by providing inclusive spaces where people can learn to grow their own food and improve access to nutritious, local produce.

Since 2012, we have provided over £2.4 million in grant funding to directly support organisations who promote, encourage and establish community food growing sites and initiatives. This funding has helped increase the land under cultivation and has supported a variety of organisations to build the skills and capacity needed to empower individuals and groups to engage in food growing activities.

In addition, the Scottish Government provides support to local authorities in fulfilling their statutory duties under Part 9 of the Community Empowerment (Scotland) Act 2015, including development of food growing strategies. In its food growing strategy, a local authority must identify areas of land that could be used as allotments as well as land that could be used by a community for the cultivation of vegetables, fruit, herbs or flowers.

It is for each local authority to determine whether the inclusion of urban food forests and community growing sites are appropriate to their local needs and requirements. This includes the development of food growing strategies, which must identify land suitable for allotments and other locally appropriate forms of community growing. Support provided by the Scottish Government has included providing guidance, arranging workshops, and enabling collaborative networks to strengthen local expertise and encourage best practice.

Scottish Government officials met with Dumfries and Galloway Council and SWestrans earlier this year to obtain updates on changes to bus services in the area. However, the Scottish Government is not involved in decision making in relation to local bus services.

Under the Transport Act 1985, local authorities have a duty to identify where there is a social need for particular bus services and can subsidise these at their discretion. In this case, Dumfries and Galloway Council and SWestrans carried out a procurement exercise to award contracts to operate local authority subsidised bus services and school transport services.

The Scottish Government recognises the contribution colleges make to widening access, and the important role they provide in delivering higher education.

We are working with the Scottish Funding Council (SFC), colleges, and universities to improve articulation agreements, particularly for students from disadvantaged backgrounds. This includes expanding opportunities for direct entry into degree programmes with advanced standing.

We are promoting stronger partnerships between colleges and universities to ensure smoother transitions for learners, including joint curriculum planning and shared support services.

Articulation from college to university is a key route into degree level study for many learners from disadvantaged backgrounds. With so many more young people from deprived areas successfully securing places directly to university, this inevitably reduces articulation figures and also allows those young people to enter the job market sooner. School-leaver destinations stats published in June 2025 showing the proportion of leavers in positive follow-up destinations 9 months after leaving school, show that 24.6% of school leavers from the most deprived areas in Scotland are in Higher Education, an increase from 24.0% the previous year.

However, the data shows there is still a need for articulation, with over a third (33.5%) of new entrants at university from deprived areas in 2022-23 progressing from Higher Education courses at college.

We continue to invest in guidance and support services to help students from deprived backgrounds navigate their options and make informed decisions about progressing to university.