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Of the £12.9 million allocation into gynaecology services in 2025-26, over £9.4 million has been directed to inpatient/day-case activity.

The impact of this investment is tracked centrally through routine self-reported returns submitted by NHS Boards and via Public Health Scotland’s (PHS) monthly Stage of Treatment publication.

As of 31 January 2026 (latest), PHS data shows that waits of over 52 weeks for gynaecology inpatient or day-case had reduced by 21.8% since 31 July 2025.

The three Accredited Endometriosis Specialist Centres in Scotland provide coordinated, multidisciplinary treatment to individuals with complex symptoms of endometriosis and to those requiring complex surgery. Understanding the potential capacity of services such as the Specialist Endometriosis Centres will be a central aspect of the National Gynaecology Plan.

Gynaecology waits of over 52 weeks reduced by 44.6% for new outpatients and by 21.8% for inpatient/day-case between 31 July 2025 and 31 January 2026 as a result of the almost £13 million additional funding we allocated to health boards in 2025-26 for gynaecology services.

The 2026-27 Budget provides almost £22.5 billion investment in health and social care services.

NHS Board planning for 2026-27 is underway, and dedicated funding will support the continuation of the progress delivered this year. However; NHS Boards are responsible for deciding the distribution of funding that they receive from the Scottish Government across the services they manage, including any funding directed towards laparoscopic diagnostic surgery and multidisciplinary care.

The Ministerial Oversight Board in relation to the Union Street fire first met on 11 March 2026 and has subsequently met a further three times. These meetings drew together Cabinet Secretaries and Ministers with a role in the response to and recovery from the fire, as well as policy and operational teams across the Scottish Government and Transport Scotland. We also extended the invitation to the meetings to senior leaders from Glasgow City Council. Processes to ensure effective Ministerial oversight will be kept under review by the group as we move from the immediate response into the longer-term recovery phase.

Scottish Government has no plans to provide specific funding for the initiatives proposed by FSB in their 2024 report The Future of the High Street. However, we remain committed to supporting vibrant, thriving towns and town centres, and we are continuing our long standing commitment to regeneration with investment of up to £52 million in 2026-27.

This investment supports the revitalisation of our towns and town centres, helps to bring vacant properties back into productive use, and unlocks opportunities for town centre living, business and community enterprise activity. It also includes support for the Scotland Loves Local programme and Business Improvement Districts.

Since 2014, South Lanarkshire Council has received £25.8 million in regeneration capital funding. This investment has supported a number of projects, including the recently completed Carnwath Business and Community Hub which has transformed a vacant and derelict site in Carnwath town centre.

The Scottish Budget sets out a decrease in the three non-domestic property rates for 2026-27 and offers more than £320 million of support through transitional relief schemes and retail hospitality and leisure relief over the next three years.

Information on the number of community paediatrician vacancies is not held centrally.

Information on the number of consultant paediatrician vacancies are available on the NHS Education for Scotland Data and reports | Turas Data Intelligence website.

Health Boards actively manage their turnover and vacancies throughout the year. Where vacancies do occur the Scottish Government expects Boards to take reasonable steps to ensure the continued delivery of services, including, when necessary, the use of supplementary staffing.

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

NHS Scotland has separate waiting lists for planned care, including one for new outpatient (NOP) appointment and another for inpatient/day-case (IPDC) procedures.

A clock starts for a NOP appointment once the referral is received by the Health Board and only stops once the patient has had their appointment. Patients may be triaged to the optimal, evidence-based pathway, based on a review of the patient’s records, including any imaging and laboratory results, but their NOP waiting time clock will not be paused during triage.

Most patients will agree any necessary treatment at their NOP appointment and this is when the patient’s waiting time clock for their IPDC treatment should start. Health Boards cannot list a patient for IPDC treatment prior to this appointment because healthcare staff have a responsibility to ensure they obtain valid and informed consent from a patient before putting them on a waiting list for any type of care or treatment intervention. To ensure patients can give informed consent, clinicians must provide information about what the treatment involves, including the benefits and risks, whether there are alternative options, and what will happen if treatment does not go ahead. The NOP appointment provides the opportunity for these discussions to take place.

On 14 March, the First Minister announced a financial package worth up to £10 million to help businesses rebuild and renew the part of Glasgow affected by the Union Corner fire. Glasgow City Council will administer the scheme based on engagement with local businesses to understand how they have been affected.

All Scottish Government funding provided to Argyll and Bute Women’s Aid is subject to monitoring and reporting requirements to ensure it is being used for agreed purposes. From 2016, oversight by the Voluntary Action Fund included project visits and six-monthly progress reports. Since late 2020, Inspiring Scotland has reviewed quarterly financial and forecast reports for this funding.

We are satisfied that the current oversight arrangements are proportionate and robust. Funded organisations are subject to random financial spot checks to verify reported spend, or to more in-depth financial monitoring visits to review financial procedures against best practice. In addition, all registered charities are required to submit annual accounts to the charity regulator, OSCR, and companies must file their annual accounts with Companies House.

It is not appropriate for the Scottish Government to comment on individual organisations’ employment and grievance handling processes, other than to note that all organisations should ensure that they comply with relevant legislation. These are a matter for the Board of Argyll and Bute Women’s Aid and I will not comment on individual cases. As such, the Scottish Government has not engaged Audit Scotland, the Care Inspectorate or the Pensions Regulator in relation to the historic financial mismanagement at Argyll and Bute Women’s Aid.

I refer the member to the answer to question S6W-44387 on 20 March 2026. 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.