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Between the introduction of the Baby Box in August 2017 and 31 March 2025, 7,916 Baby Boxes have been delivered to families in NHS Dumfries and Galloway, and 5,948 in the Scottish Borders. Over the past six years, the uptake rate has been over 91%. The Baby Box is offered to all parents in Scotland and provides essential items for the first 6 months of a baby’s life worth around £400.

In 2021, Scottish Government commissioned an evaluation of the Baby Box by Ipsos MORI and a link to the report can be found here: https://www.gov.scot/publications/baby-box-evaluation/

The evaluation highlighted the positive impact of the scheme on families, particularly for first-time, younger and low-income parents.

NHS Dumfries & Galloway and NHS Borders did not have any hospitals where car parking was charged for, therefore their saving since 2008 has been zero.

The estimated saving for patients, visitors and staff who used NHS car parks that previously charged for car parking is over £90 million.

Scotland’s universal Baby Box programme opened for registration on 15 June 2017, and delivery of Baby Boxes nationwide began on 15 August 2017 for all babies born and resident in Scotland.

The total number of Baby Boxes issued since the introduction of the Baby Box programme up to 31 March 2025 is 335,775.

The Scottish Government records the number of Baby Boxes distributed by Health Board areas. Since the start of the programme the following number of Baby Boxes have been distributed in NHS Dumfries and Galloway and NHS Borders:

The UK Pesticides National Action Plan (NAP) was published on 21 March 2025.

The NAP is a UK-wide document which sets out the shared ambition of the Scottish Government, Defra, the Welsh Government and the Northern Ireland Executive. It aims to minimise the risks and impacts of pesticides to human health and the environment, while ensuring that our land managers in the agriculture, horticulture and amenity sector have effective tools to manage pests and pesticide resistance.

Supporting uptake of Integrated Pest Management (IPM) is central to the actions set out in the NAP. This includes targeting use of conventional chemical pesticides to when environmentally and economically justified. It also includes equipping pesticide users with the knowledge and support needed to adopt a range of sustainable crop protection practices, including innovative precision application technologies, to continue to reduce the use of conventional chemical pesticides whilst retaining the ability to address the crop protection challenges arising from climate change. The NAP also commits to improving and supporting compliance with regulations to ensure that pesticides are used safely.

Measuring progress is a key commitment of the NAP and as such sets the first domestic reduction target for pesticides in the UK, with an aim of reducing a suite of representative pesticide load indicators by 10% by 2030. The target is designed to measure progress against reducing environmental pressure from pesticides, rather than representing a simple usage reduction target. This reduces the potential for unintended consequences, which could risk the removal of important tools for farmers, growers and other land managers. The NAP sets a target for the arable sector, using data from the existing pesticide usage surveys, but also acknowledges that we want to improve our understanding of the nature of pesticide use in the amenity and amateur sectors in future.

We welcome publication of this plan, which commits us to measuring our progress over the next five years, and we look forward to working with stakeholders during the implementation of these actions.

The plan can be viewed at the following link: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/uk-pesticides-national-action-plan-2025.

The Scottish Hospitals Inquiry concluded its hearings on the Royal Hospital for Children and Young People and the Department of Clinical Neuroscience, Edinburgh (RHYCP/DCN) last summer. Today, the Chair of the Scottish Hospitals Inquiry, Lord Brodie, published his interim report. I would like to thank Lord Brodie and all the members of the Inquiry for their dedication in delivering this report and I am extremely grateful to the many witnesses, especially patients and families, who have provided evidence to the Inquiry’s hearings. I welcome the progress made by the Inquiry in delivering this report. In line with the requirements of the Inquiries Act 2005, the report has been laid in Parliament.

The report totals more than 370 pages and makes 11 recommendations. It is now important that the Scottish Government takes the time to reflect on the findings of the report and to consider and respond to each of its recommendations. Subject to the agreement of Parliament, I will make a statement to Parliament on the report soon.

The Scottish Government also recognises that this report does not represent the conclusion of the Inquiry. Its investigations into the Queen Elizabeth University Hospital, Glasgow (QEUH) continue with further hearings due to start in May 2025. It is vital that the work of the Inquiry continues so that patients, families and all those affected have the answers that they deserve.

The Ministry of Defence’s (MOD) consultation on its proposals regarding its approach to safeguarding the Eskdalemuir Seismological Array closed on 20 December 2024. The MOD is currently reviewing the consultation responses.

The Eskdalemuir Working Group (EWG) receive a verbal update from the MOD on the timescales for completion of the review process at each EWG meeting. The next EWG meeting is scheduled for 1 April 2025.

The Scottish Government is committed to working with the UK Government, including the Ministry of Defence, with the aim of developing a solution that opens up the possibility of onshore wind deployment in the Eskdalemuir area whilst ensuring the protection of the seismological array. Any such development would be subject to the normal consenting consideration process.

The Onshore Electricity Policy Unit leads on Eskdalemuir related matters for the Scottish Government. Discussions within the Eskdalemuir Working Group are ongoing, with the Scottish Government aiming to publish a consultation on new draft Eskdalemuir guidance in due course.

Before any Scottish Government guidance is put out to public consultation, a series of related work packages must be completed and then approved by the Ministry of Defence.

NHS Boards have exceeded the commitment to deliver 64,000 appointments and procedures in 2024-25, funded through our additional investment of £30 million to drive action to address the longest waits.

To the end of January 2025, Boards are reporting delivery of 75,500 appointments and procedures, as follows:

• Over 9,800 of 12,000 new outpatient appointments;
• almost 9,200 of 12,000 surgeries delivered;
• and almost 56,500 diagnostic procedures delivered, exceeding the original plan to deliver 40,000 by 41%.

Funding was targeted in specialties including Ophthalmology, Orthopaedics, Urology, Diagnostics and Cancer. Since April 2024, Scottish Government has been closely monitoring progress and impact and will continue to do so until the end of March 2025.

Across Scotland, the latest published data in the PHS Stage of Treatment Statistics show that, between April 2024 and September 2024, compared to the same period in 2023, there has been an 8.3% increase in activity for inpatient/daycase procedures and 2.5% increase for new outpatients appointments. While the activity through the additional investment cannot be directly attributed to the increased activity, we are confident that has supported increased throughput.

The targeted funding has also helped reduce the total national diagnostics waiting list size. Between April 2024 and September 2024 imaging list size reduced by 7.5% and scopes by 7.3%.

At Board level, we have seen significant percentage reductions in waiting times across a number of specialities where funding has been targeted, as set out in the following table: