Chamber and committees

My officials are in regular contact with NHS Highland regarding the opening of the Invergordon GP walk-in clinic. NHS Highland is responsible for the operational management of the pilot however the Scottish Government is providing support where required. I appreciate the hard work of the health boards to get these services up and running and my thanks go to our hard-working NHS staff for delivering these.

National Planning Framework 4 (NPF4), adopted by the Scottish Ministers in February 2023, sets out national planning policy and a long term spatial strategy for Scotland. It was subject to extensive consultation, including with rural stakeholders, and impact assessment and Parliamentary scrutiny.

The last Scottish Parliament’s Local Government, Housing and Planning Committee conducted annual reviews of NPF4 to assess its impact in practice.

The Scottish Government, in partnership with the National Planning Improvement Champion, monitors performance of planning policy and the planning system through close engagement with key stakeholders, including planning authority colleagues.

We are keen to develop potential rural planning reforms, informed over the early period of this new Parliament by stakeholder engagement and consultation. This will build on the findings of previous engagement on issues relevant to how planning policy and the planning system impact on rural areas, for example, through the development of the National Planning Framework and on permitted development rights.

I will be making a statement to Parliament shortly on how maternity services across Scotland will be improved. This will include detail on what the independent review will consider and how it will be led.

The Scottish Government has a clear focus on ensuring women have access to safe, person-centred and high quality maternity care, and I look forward giving a statement to Parliament in the coming weeks on how the Scottish Government will be further improving maternity services across the country.

It is already a matter of public record that the Scottish Maternity and Neonatal Taskforce is reviewing the issues facing rural communities, including Caithness.

The Scottish Maternity and Neonatal Taskforce has met three times, most recently on 25 March 2026, and the minutes from all three meetings have been published on the Taskforce webpage Maternity and Neonatal Taskforce - gov.scot.

I will shortly be setting out to Parliament a statement detailing what the independent review will consider, how it will be led and how it will engage with stakeholders, including in Caithness. As has been the case under the previous Cabinet Secretary for Health and Minister for Public Health, there will continue to be close engagement with groups such as Caithness Health Action Team (CHAT), indeed Ms Minto engaged regularly with CHAT and with local stakeholders to discuss the issues women face and this Government will continue to do so.

The safety of our maternity services is a priority to this government, which is why we have committed to undertake an independent review of maternity services in Scotland. I will shortly be setting out a statement to Parliament detailing what the review will consider, when it will be delivered, how it will engage with stakeholders and how it will be led.

I look forward to giving a statement to Parliament before summer recess which will set out further detail on what the independent review will consider, how it will be led and how it will engage with stakeholders, including in Caithness.

Ministers are at the early stages of taking forward the commitment to introduce a Rural Renewal Bill. Further details on stakeholder engagement will be available in due course.