Chamber
Meeting of the Parliament 18 March 2026 [Draft]
18 Mar 2026 · S6 · Meeting of the Parliament
Item of business
Portfolio Question Time
Health and Social Care Partnerships (Budget 2026-27)
As we have heard, East Ayrshire faces a staggering £10 million health and social care budget gap next year. To mitigate that, the council will be forced into management actions, including reducing care home capacity and re-evaluating care packages to find £5.6 million in savings.
Although East Ayrshire currently boasts low community assessment waits, the average hospital discharge delay has doubled to 64 days. Given that NHS Ayrshire and Arran is now at stage 4 on the intervention framework, does the cabinet secretary truly believe that the budget is fair when it forces local authorities to choose between financial insolvency and cutting the very front-line care that prevents our local health boards from total collapse?
In the same item of business
7. Katy Clark (West Scotland) (Lab)
Lab
To ask the Scottish Government what steps it is taking to ensure that its budget 2026-27 adequately funds health and social care partnerships to deliver serv...
The Cabinet Secretary for Finance and Local Government (Shona Robison)
SNP
I acknowledge the work that the health and social care partnerships have undertaken towards balancing their budgets in the difficult financial context that w...
Katy Clark
Lab
Despite opposition from service users, care workers and trade unions, North Ayrshire health and social care partnership has voted to make significant cuts to...
Shona Robison
SNP
We want to ensure that local services are retained, and that is of course the responsibility of local partnerships. I am sure that my colleague Neil Gray wil...
The Deputy Presiding Officer (Annabelle Ewing)
SNP
I have a number of requests for supplementary questions. I am keen to accommodate them all, but I need succinct questions, and answers to match.
Brian Whittle (South Scotland) (Con)
Con
As we have heard, East Ayrshire faces a staggering £10 million health and social care budget gap next year. To mitigate that, the council will be forced into...
Shona Robison
SNP
I have set out that the budget provides real-terms increases, with £15.7 billion for local government and almost £22.5 billion for health and social care. If...
Foysol Choudhury (Lothian) (Ind)
Ind
With NHS Lothian and local social care services under real pressure from staff shortages and rising demands, can the cabinet secretary set out how the budget...
Shona Robison
SNP
The budget provides record funding for local government and for health. In fact, we have consistently gone beyond the health resource consequentials that we ...
Willie Rennie (North East Fife) (LD)
LD
As the former Deputy First Minister leaves the Parliament, I wish her well for the future and thank her for her public service over a couple of decades.Yeste...
Shona Robison
SNP
First, I thank Willie Rennie for his kind remarks, although his talking about a couple of decades made me feel rather old.Willie Rennie raises a very importa...
Emma Roddick (Highlands and Islands) (SNP)
SNP
The Scottish National Party’s budget provides welcome investment in Scotland’s primary care service. Can the cabinet secretary say any more about how the inv...
The Deputy Presiding Officer (Annabelle Ewing)
SNP
I ask the cabinet secretary to respond on matters within her responsibilities.
Shona Robison
SNP
I think that everyone should welcome the increased investment in primary care. We have provided general practice with a £531 million three-year funding deal ...