The RSM report, published on 29 May 2024, New Model of Neonatal Care – RSM UK Consulting - Report, included data collection and modelling alongside engagement with both operational and strategic stakeholders, to validate data, generate and test planning assumptions.

Activity and capacity data was collected from each of the eight units included within the model scope, as well as Public Health Scotland (PHS) and, Scottish Specialist Transport and Retrieval (ScotSTAR) / Scottish Ambulance Service (SAS). The report has undergone a detailed review by the Perinatal Sub Group (PSG) and has benefited from discussion with the three elected Regional Planners and Chief Executives.

The report to date has been well received and supports the findings of the options appraisal report.

In February 2019, at the request of the then Cabinet Secretary for Health, in order to enable a better understanding of the processes required to implement the new model of care, it was rolled out first in two sites in Scotland to enable testing of the entire model ahead of wider implementation.

The test sites were announced as University Hospital Crosshouse and Queen Elizabeth University Hospital in the west, and the Victoria Hospital and Edinburgh Royal Infirmary in the east.

The Boards were asked to roll out a range of aspects of the new model of neonatal care, including the new model of neonatal intensive care, to enable better understanding of the implications for patient flow associated with other aspects of the new model.

Outcomes of the testing process can be found within the published Options Appraisal.

A full EQIA was carried out covering the implementation of The Best Start as a whole thematically, as some of the individual recommendations are more complex and multi-faceted than others. In this way, implementation of each of the 76 recommendations is considered in a proportionate manner.

• Continuity of carer.
• Person-centred maternity and neonatal care.
• Multi-professional working.
• Safe, high quality and accessible care.
• Re-designing neonatal care and services.
• Supporting the changes.
• Wider implications.

For the implementation of recommendations which were led locally, it is expected that Health Boards will undertake their own Impact Assessments to satisfy their local requirements. This EQIA therefore takes national implementation as its primary focus. The EQIA was commenced in 2020 and remains a live document as implementation of the Best Start continues.

The recommendations for the new neonatal model of care are underpinned by strong clinical evidence that population outcomes for the most premature and sickest babies are improved by delivery and care in units looking after a “critical mass” of these babies.

The Scottish Government is committed to working in partnership with our recognised trade unions. The decision on the revised hybrid policy was informed by a working group which included trade union representatives. Following a decision being made by the Executive Team, full consultation took place with the recognised trade unions ahead of the revised policy coming into effect, for core Scottish Government directorates, in October 2025. While PCS initially entered into a dispute with regard to the Executive Team decision on hybrid, this dispute was resolved through further detailed consultation and ahead of the new policy coming into effect.

New figures show that the number of planned and performed operations in Scotland has reached its highest level since January 2020.

Data collected and published by Public Health Scotland (PHS) is unable to be broken down into the cancellation reasons (a) staff shortages, (b) flu outbreaks and (c) bed pressures. This is due to the aggregate nature of the cancellations data collection.

PHS publish cancellation data monthly, and you can find the latest release here.

We expect Health Boards to plan for their workforce in conjunction with their responsibilities under the Health and Care (Staffing) (Scotland) Act 2019. The Act places duties on Health Boards to ensure that at all times suitably qualified and competent individuals are working in such numbers as are appropriate for the health, wellbeing and safety of patients, the provision of high-quality care and the wellbeing of staff.

On 29 October I announced the establishment of the Scottish Maternity and Neonatal Taskforce. The Scottish Maternity and Neonatal Taskforce will complement the existing audit and inspection system in place in Scotland, and provide support and expertise on implementation of policy, service standards, and improvement activity across NHS Boards. It will be chaired by the Minister for Public Health and Women’s Health.

The Scottish Government is also taking action as part of the Nursing and Midwifery Taskforce (NMT) to drive lasting change to improve retention and attraction into these professions. The NMT recommended actions are designed to have a meaningful and lasting impact on workforce wellbeing. They aim to address key issues such as workload, professional development, and workplace culture—to create a more supportive and sustainable environment for Nurses and Midwives to work.

The Scottish Government is represented at all committees and subgroups of the Scottish Negotiating Committee for Teachers (SNCT), including the SNCT subgroup on Reducing Teacher Class Contact Time.

Government officials regularly provide updates and table proposals to SNCT committees and subgroups, in line with Government policy positions and ministerial direction. It’s quite appropriate for ministers to signal a desired policy direction in advance of this being taken as a formal proposal to be discussed at the SNCT.

Local authorities are responsible for managing their statutory duties in relation to school safety and child protection.

The vast majority of funding allocated to councils is provided by means of a block grant. It is then the responsibility of individual local authorities to manage their own budgets and to allocate the total financial resources available to them, including on school safety and child protection services, on the basis of local needs and priorities, having first fulfilled their statutory obligations and the jointly agreed set of national and local priorities.

The 2025-26 budget delivered record funding of over £15.1 billion for Local Government, a real terms increase of 5.5 per cent.

Scottish Government officials regularly meet with COSLA officers to discuss operational matters related to the delivery of education.

Through our announcement of a ‘New National Deal for Scotland’s teachers’, we have set out a range of proposed changes to the teaching and learning week, which we intend to pilot with the assistance of Schools and Local Authorities.

This approach will allow us to gather the data and evidence needed to fully consider issues such as the feasibility and funding implications of a restructured teaching and learning week and discuss these with local government partners.

The use and funding of campus-based officers is a matter for each local authority to decide in line with local needs. It is for individual schools to identify how to provide early intervention and deterrence programmes for young people who are at risk of involvement in crime. They can use a number of approaches, including good behaviour management and behaviour support teams, solution-orientated, nurture and restorative approaches and programmes to help develop social, emotional and behavioural skills.

We also actively work with schools and local authorities to provide both targeted education and programmes for our young people to help tackle violence and disruptive behaviour, including those delivered through our Violence Prevention Framework which we have supported with more than £6 million since 2023.