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The Scottish Government’s Chief Scientist Office (CSO) funded with other health research organisations the James Lind Alliance Priority Setting Partnership that has published priorities for myalgic encephalomyelitis/chronic fatigue syndrome (ME/CFS) research. In addition, CSO with other research funders have developed a toolkit for researchers to guide them on funding streams that provide opportunities for ME/CFS research. These streams include CSO’s open competitive grant and fellowship schemes that fund applied health research across a wide remit, inclusive of ME/CFS research as well as National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR) programmes that can also fund ME/CFS research in Scotland with CSO’s financial contribution to NIHR opening these programmes to applications from researchers in Scotland. Applications submitted to these schemes are assessed through independent expert peer-review with funding recommendations made by independent expert committees.

There are no devolved elements of the UK Government’s delivery plan on ME/CFS. It covers the population of England only.

We are unable to formally endorse the Plan due to differing healthcare systems and statutory structures.

However, the UK Government shared anonymised responses to its public consultation on the draft Plan from stakeholders living in Scotland with the Scottish Government. We are taking these views into account as we progress our ongoing work on ME/CFS.

The 2025-26 Scottish Budget includes an additional £4.5 million to deliver new specialist support across the country for long COVID, ME/CFS and other similar conditions. We want this money to have maximum impact and we are working closely and carefully with health boards across Scotland to allocate it as quickly and effectively as possible.

The number of credit unions in Scotland is publicly available through the Bank of England’s annual statistics, which are published online.

The information requested is not held centrally. Thrombolysis is available 24/7 across Scotland.

The Scottish Government does not hold information regarding clinical outcomes in relation to delays in receiving hyperacute stroke care. We remain committed to implementing a high quality and clinically safe thrombectomy service that is available across Scotland whenever people need it.

Scottish Government officials and NHS planners are working at pace on developing a plan for the next steps for service expansion.

The information requested is not held centrally. This is a matter for Public Health Scotland.

The Scottish Government has not conducted a national workforce assessment for the staffing requirements of a 24/7 thrombectomy service, although regional planning groups have previously assessed the staff in various roles required to deliver a 24/7 thrombectomy service.

Scottish Government officials and NHS planners have been asked to work at pace on developing a plan for the next steps for thrombectomy service expansion, and this will include assessment of workforce requirements.

Work is also progressing with a review of how the stroke specialist decision-making workforce works nationally, using telemedicine and cross board working, to improve resilience in rotas and increase capacity to be able to support hyperacute stroke care, such as thrombectomy, out of hours.

The information requested is not held centrally.

The information requested is not held centrally.

The Scottish Government regularly engages with the credit union sector in Scotland. At the most recent meeting of the Financial Services Growth and Development Board (FISGAD)in June, representatives of the sector confirmed they are working with Scottish Financial Enterprise (SFE) to establish a Scottish specific group that will bring all of the credit unions and industry bodies in Scotland together for the first time. This will enable a more unified approach to engagement and support for the sector going forward.