COSLA is urging the Scottish Government to provide a £16 billion boost in revenue in the Scottish Budget, to secure fair and sustainable funding for councils.
A demand for a £844 million general capital settlement has also been requested, plus a restoration of the Affordable Housing Supply Programme to £955 million, to maintain, repair, expand and secure the future of Council estates.
COSLA has today launched a lobbying campaign urging the Scottish Government to use the upcoming Scottish Budget to provide councils with the fair, sustainable and multi-year funding needed to protect essential local services.
The campaign – ‘Strong Councils, Strong Communities’ – highlights growing pressures facing local government and the very real consequences of continued underfunding for communities across Scotland. The financial pressures in social care and housing are two key areas COSLA are asking the Scottish Government to specifically address in their upcoming budget.
COSLA warns that without urgent action in January’s Budget, councils will be unable to maintain essential services such as social care, education, housing support, roads, and community safety.
COSLA Resources Spokesperson, Councillor Ricky Bell, said:“Scotland’s councils deliver the services that people rely on every single day — from caring for older and vulnerable people to keeping schools open, streets safe and communities thriving. Councils are facing greater demand than ever and are required to do more with significantly less. This is unsustainable.
“The upcoming Scottish Budget is a pivotal moment. The Scottish Government must deliver a settlement that matches the scale of the challenge. Without fair funding, communities will see services reduced and inequalities deepen, and we will struggle to meet national targets in key areas such as child poverty, housing, and net zero”
This year, councils continue to face rising inflation, increasing demand for services, and the continued impact of workforce pressures across social care and education. COSLA’s analysis shows that even maintaining current services requires substantial additional investment.
As a fair and sustainable overall financial settlement COSLA’s key asks from the campaign include:
An immediate £750m investment in social care.
Flexibility for councils to make local decisions that respond to community needs.
Recognition of local government as an equal partner in delivering national priorities and tackling inequalities.
COSLA President, Councillor Shona Morrison, added:“Councils work tirelessly to deliver for Scotland’s communities, however, continued pressure on resources makes this increasingly challenging.
“This is about safeguarding what matters most, support for the most vulnerable, opportunities for young people, support for families, and safe, thriving communities. We hope the Budget will reflect the vital role Local Government plays in Scotland’s public services.”
Diversifying landownership and strengthening community ownership and control is not just a fair approach; it is the key to putting Scotland’s future in the hands of its people and ensuring a more equitable and sustainable future.
That is why our first policy priority ahead of the 2026 election is to ask for 10% of Scotland to be community owned by the end of the Parliament delivered by a clear plan to significantly increase community landownership and reduce the concentration of private landownership in Scotland – including a Land Reform Bill with a meaningful Public Interest Test on all landownership and targeted taxation to deliver land reform outcomes.
Community landownership has repeatedly shown its value, giving people the ability to shape their local economies, create housing and jobs, restore nature and generate clean energy. But to unlock this potential at scale, it is essential that Scotland addresses its concentrated pattern of landownership and ensures a revitalised democracy rooted in communities themselves.
A new Land Reform Bill is a crucial mechanism to do that. Within this Bill, there needs to be a meaningful public interest test on large-scale landownership – a concept proposed by the Scottish Land Commission over the past five years, and which the Scottish Government had previously committed to with 72% of respondents strongly supporting the proposed measure within their consultation on this matter.
Combined with targeted taxation and a clear national plan to expand community ownership, these measures can shift the archaic status quo.
Reaching 10% community ownership is ambitious; but it is achievable, necessary and the clear next step to build a Scotland where land is owned and managed for the public good.
4 out of 5 Students Give Grief Support a Failing Grade – Young Local Calls for Change with New Ask Me Campaign
Edinburgh studentMiranda Kidman (19) is sharing her story of grief to help launch a groundbreaking new campaign, Ask Me: Education, a new initiative which seeks to place bereaved students at the heart of the decisions surrounding what support they need to make a success of their school experience.
Members of the Winston’s Wish Youth Team will be launching Ask Me: Education today (17th November), at the start of National Children’s Grief Awareness Week.
The campaign calls on education settings and professionals throughout the UK to sign the Ask Me Education Manifesto, implement the new bereavement plan, and most importantly, give bereaved students the right to be asked how they would like to be supported after the death of someone important to them.
Surprisingly, despite estimates highlighting that there is a bereaved pupil in every classroom, there is no mandatory bereavement training for education professionals. Where bereavement policies do exist, often they foster a one-size-fits-all all approach which doesn’t allow for the student’s individual needs and requirements.
Miranda’s father passed away in the summer between Year 12 and Year 13, when she was just 17. Returning to school after his death, a school where her dad had also worked as assistant headteacher, was an especially emotional challenge.
“On my first day back, I felt extremely vulnerable. The whole school knew that my Dad had died, so I felt like all eyes were on me,” said Miranda.
“I was extremely fortunate to have many wonderful teachers, one in particular who had looked after me for years even though that wasn’t her official job title, and she allowed me to wait in her office until the assemblies mentioning my Dad’s death were over.
“Throughout the day and the weeks and months following, she was always available when I needed someone to talk to, and was not afraid to listen to me and have open and honest conversations about grief.
“My Dad’s funeral was the same week that I returned to school, and a lot of my teachers attended the funeral – my whole family have been very fortunate to have a very loving and supportive school community who tried their best to help when it was hard for me to complete schoolwork or manage during the school day.”
Miranda, who is from Harrogate, and her family first came across Winston’s Wish through resources provided by her mum’s local hospice.
Miranda has since become a Youth Ambassador for the charity. As part of this role, she contributed to the creation of Ask Me: Education, helping to shape the campaign’s message and ensure that the voices of bereaved young people are at its heart.
“Creating Ask Me: Education has been incredibly rewarding,” Miranda explains. “I was shocked to learn how many other bereaved young people didn’t get the same support I did.
“Hearing their stories made me realise how vital it is that every student has the chance to be listened to and asked what would help them.”
Miranda, who is now a student in Edinburgh, highlights the importance of individualised support. “Every young person grieves differently,” she comments. “Teachers and staff shouldn’t make assumptions about what a bereaved student needs. The most important thing is to ask, to have open, honest conversations that give the student control over how they’re supported.
“I really hope that people could benefit from an open conversation about their own needs – others I know, for example, would not have liked such an official meeting, and therefore it can be really harmful to make assumptions about what a young person needs.
“I think it’s very important to check in with them and ask and be specific about what they need, without skirting around the topic of grief. I also hope that trigger warnings can be made readily available for all students in classes discussing death.”
The Ask Me: Education campaign aims to change the culture of grief support in schools, colleges, and universities by empowering educators with practical guidance and encouraging them to implement bereavement support plans for every student affected by grief.
“My life would look very different if I hadn’t had such patient, understanding teachers,” Miranda added. “Everyone deserves to be listened to like I was. That’s what Ask Me: Education is all about.”
Winston’s Wish is encouraging education settings and professionals to find out more about the Ask Me: Education and sign the manifesto and implement the bereavement plan to support bereaved students.
For further information about the Ask Me: Education please visit:
winstonswish.org/askme
About Ask Me: Education
Why is it important?
In a recent survey of over 300 bereaved students (aged 8 to 25):
72% said they did not feel adequately supported during education
79% rated the support they received as 5 or less out of 10
72% said they were never asked what support they needed
Ask Me: Education is a new campaign created by the Winston’s Wish Youth Team, it will launch during Children’s Grief Awareness Week 2025. The campaign invites education settings and professionals to:
Sign the Ask Me Education Manifesto to commit to improving bereavement support.
Implement the bereavement plan to give each bereaved student a voice in how they would like to be supported.
Give bereaved students the space to be asked how they would like to be supported.
THE PRESIDENT of the body representing Scotland’s 32 councils has urged a room of leading political figures to rebuild trust by giving people and places a stronger voice in how decisions are made locally.
Speaking at the COSLA Annual Conference in St Andrews this week, Councillor Shona Morrison used her opening address to urge political leaders to back a bold, long-term vision for local democracy – one that gives communities the powers, trust, and resources they need to thrive.
The call comes at the first major event following the launch of COSLA’s manifesto, which acknowledges 50 years of the organisation and sets out a clear roadmap for strengthening local government and empowering communities across Scotland.
In introducing the overarching theme of the event, “The Future of Localism”, Councillor Morrison told delegates: “Localism means trusting communities, empowering councils and rejecting unnecessary centralisation. It means recognising that Scotland’s strength lies in its diversity, urban, rural, island – and that one-size-fits-all solutions rarely work.
“It means giving councils the powers and resources to empower those voices in their communities, so that decisions are shaped together, with local knowledge at the heart of every choice.”
Marking COSLA’s 50th anniversary, the 2025 Conference brings together leaders from across local government, business, academia and public life.
The event features high-profile contributions from First Minister John Swinney MSP, Douglas Alexander MP, and Alastair Campbell, alongside figures such as Olympic champion Duncan Scott OBE, David Duke MBE, and Professor Sir Gregor Smith, Chief Medical Officer for Scotland.
Building on the momentum of the manifesto, the President reiterated COSLA’s key asks of all political parties ahead of the 2026 election:
A fair, multi-year financial settlement to protect and plan local services. Empowerment of local democracy, ensuring decisions are taken as close as possible to communities.
A valued workforce, recognising the essential role of council staff in delivering public services.
Action for future generations, embedding children’s rights and opportunities at the centre of policy-making.
Investment in thriving and cohesive communities, to tackle inequality and strengthen local resilience.
Support for thriving places, through sustainable economic growth, housing and transport investment, and a just transition to net zero.
COSLA’s manifesto, launched last month, outlines what the organisation describes as a “turning point” in the relationship between national and local government. It calls for full implementation of the Verity House Agreement, reform of local taxation, and new powers for councils to make local choices based on local priorities.
Councillor Morrison added: “The manifesto is about ensuring we set our own agenda, rather than merely responding to that of others. COSLA is a voice of influence, and we want it to be heard strongly by those seeking parliamentary election and those that wish to form the next Scottish Government.
“It calls for a relationship between local and national government that is based on trust, respect, and parity of esteem. We are asking those who make up the next Scottish Government to empower local democracy and our communities. Decisions must be taken as close to communities as possible.
“Our asks are not optional, they are essential if Scotland is to thrive. We want to work constructively with all parties, but we will not accept anything less than fairness and the power to act for our communities.”
Taking place in St Andrews, The COSLA Annual Conference, sponsored by CCLA, took place over two days with plenary sessions, panels, and fringe discussions on topics including care reform, climate leadership, community cohesion, and online life for future generations.
Councils Leaders have issued a stark warning about the growing crisis in social care, urging the need for social care funding to be a clear and focused national priority.
Following a meeting of Council Leaders, COSLA’s Health and Social Care Spokesperson Councillor Paul Kelly said: ‘Social care underpins everything we value most within our communities – from dignity in later life, supporting people in their unpaid caring roles, to enabling people to live independently and participate fully in society.
“Local Government has consistently prioritised social care, protecting budgets where possible and working tirelessly to maintain services despite severe and well-evidenced financial pressures.
“But Local Government cannot do this alone. Demand is increasing, costs are rising, and the workforce is under immense strain. Without fair and sustainable funding, we risk the viability of services that people rely on every single day.
“Local Government is doing everything possible to sustain vital care and support services, but without urgent investment from Scottish Government to enable us to commission and deliver more care, the system is at breaking point. That is why as part of COSLA’s manifesto we are calling on the next Scottish Government to invest £750m into social care services.
“We urge a national focus on addressing the workforce and financial crisis social care is experiencing, to ensure those who need support are not left without the help they need to live fulfilling lives.”
COSLA, Scottish Government, care providers, and system leaders had been meeting in the first half of 2025 as part of the jointly convened Financial Viability Response Group to address risks and impacts of funding challenges across the health and social care sector.
Cllr Kelly continued: ‘It is crucial that we reconvene the social care Financial Viability Response Group immediately.
“We urge the Scottish Government to engage with us and our valued partners in the third and independent sector through the work of the Group to address the financial and workforce crisis in social care.”
COSLA’s 2026 Manifesto calls for sustainable finance for local services, including calling for an additional investment of £750m for social care:
We’re delighted to share with you our Manifesto for a #WellbeingEconomy co-created with our members.
Our manifesto highlights how we can change the rules of our economy, using bold, achievable and transformative policies that put people and planet first.
People with lived experience of homelessness are uniting with dozens of leading organisations to demand urgent action on Scotland’s worsening housing crisis.
Their joint manifesto will be launched today at Scotland’s Annual Homelessness Conference, hosted by Homeless Network Scotland, on 27 and 28 October in Perth.
It calls on all political parties to commit to a programme of housing justice that will ensure everyone in Scotland has a safe, secure place to call home.
The scale of the crisis has been laid bare in recent statistics, with more than 17,200 households currently trapped in temporary accommodation, a 6% increase in one year, including over 10,000 children.
Nearly 250,000 people are on waiting lists for a social home, and 40,688 households have applied to their local council for help with homelessness last year. On average, those in temporary accommodation wait 238 days for a settled home.
The call comes from members of Everyone Home, a collective of nearly 40 third and academic sector organisations focused on ending homelessness, and All In for Change, a platform that unites lived experience and practitioner insight of homelessness across Scotland to enable decision-makers to drive real change.
All in for Change said: “In the Change Team, we see every day how the housing emergency hurts people who are homeless and those trying to help them. Frontline workers do amazing work, but they’re trapped in a broken system with too little housing and support to fix it.
“Some of us have been homeless ourselves, so we know the reality first-hand. But we believe this can be made better for others, with real political commitment and funding being used more wisely.
“We’ve laid out clear expectations for party manifestos, and we’ll keep pushing to shield people from the worst of homelessness in this housing emergency.”
Set almost 18 months after Scotland’s housing emergency was formally declared, the manifesto outlines a practical, values-led approach to resolving a crisis that continues to deepen inequality and exclusion.
It sets out five priority actions for the next Scottish Government, under the banner of SCALE. It calls for the launch of a national ‘Big Build’ programme to dramatically increase the supply of social housing, with a target of nearly 16,000 new homes each year of the next parliament backed by at least £8.8bn.
The manifesto urges political leaders to coordinate support services more effectively, so that housing is fully integrated with health, social care and justice to ensure no-one falls through the cracks.
It demands that public funding decisions align with housing priorities, including the use of tax powers and long-term investment plans that can give frontline workers and those they support greater certainty.
It insists that housing rights must be protected and fully resourced, warning that too many local authorities are currently struggling to meet their legal obligations.
Finally, it calls for fast-track housing and support for groups facing systemic exclusion, including people affected by poverty, discrimination, trauma, gender-based violence and UK immigration policy.
Maggie Brünjes, chief executive, Homeless Network Scotland, said: “Scotland’s housing emergency is a plan gone wrong, driving homelessness and deepening inequality. To reverse this, we must invest in more social housing, higher incomes, proactive prevention and support that is fully integrated across health, housing, justice and social care.
“The Everyone Home collective manifesto is a plan to put that right and a call for Housing Justice. Combining first-hand, professional and academic insight, the manifesto outlines real-world measures to reduce inefficient spending, prevent the worst harm among the worst off, and scale solutions for a Scotland where everyone has a home.”
The manifesto launch will take place at Scotland’s Annual Homelessness Conference, this year titled ‘It’s Personal: the human face of the housing emergency’.
The two-day event will shine a light on the real-world, human impact of the crisis, through people with lived experience, advocates and experts sharing knowledge and practical ideas to deliver lasting change.
Helen Murdoch, Asst. Director of Strategic Operations & Development (Scotland) at conference delivery partner The Salvation Army, said: “This year’s conference takes place in the shadow of a housing and homelessness crisis that tests our compassion, our resources and our collective resolve.
“The demand for services that support people experiencing homelessness is far outstripping supply – that must change and change quickly. Conference is an opportunity to explore our role in bringing about that change and The Salvation Army is proud to be an event partner.
“It is also a time to look beyond the headlines and statistics, to recognise and celebrate the extraordinary courage and resilience of teams working in communities, the third sector, local authorities and religious bodies to support people experiencing homelessness.”
Keynote speakers include Cabinet Secretary for Housing, Màiri McAllan MSP, who will address the event, renowned children’s rights campaigner and author Baroness Floella Benjamin, and rising social justice advocate Eireann McAuley, named one of the Young Women’s Movement’s ‘30 under 30′.
Baroness Floella Benjamin OM DBE said: “Having a safe and secure home is the key building block for living a happy and fulfilling life, yet today that basic human need is being denied to too many people. The impact on them is heartbreaking.
“All it takes is the grit, perseverance and determination to face the challenges and to keep on pushing for positive change. There is no shortage of people willing to fight this fight and I support all those who are working to change people’s lives.
“When I address Scotland’s annual homelessness conference I hope to energise and inspire the audience, to bring them joy amid the struggle. I want to remind people that even though it sometimes doesn’t feel like it, the work they do every day can and does change lives. So never give up.”
The launch marks the start of a national conversation aimed at ensuring housing and homelessness are top-tier priorities ahead of the 2026 election.
The John Muir Trust publishes three key manifesto asks for the upcoming Scottish parliamentary elections
In May 2026, voters in Scotland will head to the polls for the last time before we hit the critical 2030 deadline for nature and climate action. The next cohort of parliamentarians and the Government will have the monumental task of delivering a nationwide effort to restore nature by 2030.
Wild places are absolutely critical to the success of this national mission. Without proper protection for wild places, nature will not be able to rebound.
With so little time left, the Trust has decided to focus its advocacy efforts on three key asks.
To reach the Scottish Government’s nature restoration targets, we need a significant reduction in Scotland’s deer population. For this to happen at scale, it also needs happen at pace. The National Deer Management Plan financially rewards landowners and land workers who are being proactive and enabling nature restoration by carrying out sustainable deer management.
We are asking political parties to commit to:
The principle of a National Deer Management Plan
Funding that plan by redirecting existing subsidies to total £59 million over the first four years of its implementation
Increasing the annual deer cull from 180,000 to 250,000
Such actions will help triple Scotland’s total woodland creation target while saving £900 million in taxpayers’ money. They will enable natural regeneration and colonisation at scale – creating an additional 350,000ha of native woodland. And they will put an end to peatland degradation caused by overgrazing and trampling.
This policy is supported by all major landowning environmental charities alongside Scottish Environment LINK, Stop Climate Chaos Scotland, the Scottish Rewilding Alliance, Community Land Scotland and the Scottish Tenant Farmers Association. It is being co-developed with the Association of Deer Management Groups as part of a pilot scheme for 2025-26 announced by the Scottish Government in its last Programme for Government.
Read more about the National Deer Management Plan here.
Introduce a CELT (Carbon Emissions Land Tax) Bill
The Carbon Emissions Land Tax is a great example of a tax that enacts the key principles of Polluters Pay and Just Transition. It is a grown-up, transparent behavioural-change tax that rewards nature and climate conscious landowners and penalises those who are unwilling to manage land in the public interest.
The tax will help local communities build wealth and resilience in the face of the climate and nature crises. The tax would be implemented on a local authority level, and the proceeds would therefore also go back to the local community. Earmarked for climate and nature initiatives, this revenue would empower local councils to fuel a growing environmental sector, providing livelihoods in rural areas.
Here, we are asking political parties to commit to:
Introducing a CELT Bill by May 2026
Ensuring that the CELT Bill follows the principles of behavioural change taxes by creating an escalating system for tax rates over time
Ensuring that the CELT Bill applies to all large landowners in Scotland, defined as owning over 1,000ha.
Doing all of the above will result in three essential outcomes. It will remove 6m tonnes of greenhouse gases from the atmosphere annually by 2040. It will enable nature restoration at an unprecedented scale by positively impacting more than 60% of Scotland’s land, owned by the approximately 800 largest landowners. And it puts the Polluter Pays and Just Transition principles into action by disincentivising harmful environmental practices, while ensuring revenue from the tax is reinvested in the communities most affected by polluters.
Our Carbon Emissions Land Tax proposal is supported by over 50 organisations, community groups, trade unions, churches and businesses representing over a million people in Scotland. It is also backed by a 4-to-1 majority of Scots according to a YouGov poll.
You can find more details about the tax mechanism and answers to common questions here.
Legislate for a new Nature Restoration designation and review the planning system
In difficult times, we must make choosing nature easier. The Nature Restoration designation does just that by giving communities, private and charitable landowners the choice and autonomy to protect wild places now and into the future.
This new designation focuses on reducing the threats and pressures to nature and biodiversity, as opposed to current designations which focus on protecting the little that is left, condemning the country to work from a degraded baseline.
Rather than protecting specific characteristics, the new Nature Restoration designation focuses on combating a variety of threats, from INNS to pollution, helping us empower nature to do what it does best: grow, diversify, thrive. This is a nature designation for the 21st century that allows nimbleness in the face of changes brought on by the climate and nature crises.
In challenging times, we must make it easier to choose nature. The new Nature Restoration designation empowers communities, private landowners, and charities to protect wild places – now and for generations to come.
Unlike existing designations that focus on preserving what little remains, this forward-looking approach tackles the root causes of biodiversity loss. It shifts us away from a degraded baseline and toward a thriving future.
Rather than protecting isolated features, the Nature Restoration designation addresses a wide range of threats – from invasive species to pollution – giving nature the space and support it needs to grow, diversify, and flourish.
This is a designation built for the 21st century: adaptive, ambitious, and responsive to the twin crises of climate and biodiversity. It’s a bold step toward restoring Scotland’s natural legacy.
In this case, we are asking political parties to commit to:
Creating a new statutory designation aimed at setting aside land as areas where natural processes take the lead
Ensuring that the new designation protects land from industrial developments
Designating 10% of Scotland’s land as nature restoration areas.
Doing this will once again bring three essential outcomes. It will institutionalise the land management concepts that underpin nature restoration. It will protect areas of land of low biodiversity value from development long into the future.
And it will popularise the concept of nature restoration among the wider public, prompting people to see landscapes through a rewilding lens.
As we get closer to election day, the John Muir Trust’s policy team will be busy lobbying behind the scenes to get these commitments on party manifestos. To be successful, we will need strong public support.
800 EXCESS DEATHS ASSOCIATED TO LONG A&E WAITS IN SCOTLAND LAST YEAR
The Royal College of Emergency Medicine will today reveal that there were more than 800 deaths associated with long A&E waits before admission in Scotland last year.
Shockingly this is an increase of a third (202) from the 2023 figure.
The latest analysis will form part of a presentation by RCEM Scotland’s Vice President, Dr Fiona Hunter, at the College’s Future of Emergency Care event being held this afternoon (Tuesday 23 September 2025) in Edinburgh.
The event, which will be attended by RCEM Officers, clinicians, healthcare leaders, policy makers and politicians, will focus on Scotland’s Emergency Care crisis and what can be done to alleviate it.
Provide Scotland with enough Emergency Medicine staff to deliver safe and sustainable care
Resource NHS Scotland to ensure equitable care is provided throughout the emergency care system
It comes as Scotland’s Emergency Departments faced a summer of unrelenting pressure with an unacceptable number of people enduring long and dangerous waits.
Over the warmer months (1 June until 31 July 2025) one in 24 people (9,881) endured a stay of 12 hours or more from their time of arrival at an Emergency Department in Scotland.
This is 7,003 more patients than the entire year of 2018.
When looking at July alone, 4,686 people experienced this extreme wait – over 2,400 more than in the winter month of January 2022 (2,266).
Meanwhile, further analysis for the previous year (2024) reveals a record 76,510 patients waited 12 hours or more to be admitted, discharged or transferred from A&E.
That’s 20,432 more people who endured an extreme wait compared to 2023.
Of these patients, 58,906 people were waiting to be admitted to a ward for further care.
Using the Standard Mortality Ratio – a method which calculates that there will be one additional death for every 72 patients that experience an eight–12-hour wait prior to their admission – RCEM estimates that there were 818 associated excess deaths related to stays of 12-hours or longer before being admitted in 2024.
That’s equivalent to 16 people losing their lives every week.
Dr Fiona Hunter, Vice President of RCEM Scotland, said: “The fact that the deaths of more than 800 patients have been lost due to a system in crisis is a national tragedy.
“Behind this statistic are stories of heartbreak. Because these are people. Mums, dads, brothers, sisters, grandparents – their deaths shattering the lives of families and friends.
“These are patients who are sick and need further care on a ward. So they are forced to endure extreme wait times for an inpatient bed to become available for them. Often, they will be experiencing this, counting the hours they have been in ED, on a trolley in a corridor, cupboard, or simply any available floor space.
“It doesn’t have to be this way – the crisis is fixable and it comes down to patient flow in hospitals – getting people out of ED and into a ward bed and getting them out of hospital when they are well enough to go home.
“We urge all political parties to adopt the recommendations in our manifesto to give Scotland a Emergency Care system that we can be proud of once again. Because without government action, the cost will continue to be measured in lives.”
The College’s census highlights that there is a shortage of key decision makers to provide quality care to patients.
RCEM’s ‘Scotland Emergency Medicine Workforce Census 2025’ provides a comprehensive assessment of the state of the Emergency Medicine workforce, providing an insight into the working patterns of clinicians and allowing a forecast to be made around the future workforce needs of Emergency Departments in Scotland.
This is the second national Scottish census, the first having been conducted in 2021.
Responses were received from 28 major Emergency Departments, along with three Rural and Remote hospitals and found:
There is one whole time equivalent (WTE) consultant for every 4,692 attendances. While it’s an improvement compared to RCEM’s census in 2021, (1:6,444) it’s still below RCEM’s recommended figure of 1:4,000.
Of the 329 consultants, 38 are planning to retire in the next five years, along with 10 SAS doctors.
There were 16 gaps in the consultant rota – the same when compared to RCEM’s last census in Scotland. Meanwhile, there were 32 in the SAS rota, up from 23, and 26 in the resident doctor rota, down from 28 compared to four years ago. Recruitment issues were highlighted among the main reasons for rota gaps.
The average weekday consultant presence was 14 hours a day, down from 15 hours in 2021. Given RCEM’s recommendation that consultants are present at least 16 hours a day in all medium and large systems, this decline is a worrying find.
Responding to RCEM’s census, Dr Fiona Hunter said, “The College’s workforce census is a vital piece of work which reveals the true extent of workforce pressures our departments in Scotland are facing.
“While there have been some slight improvements compared to our first census in 2021, it is still abundantly clear that EDs are not adequately staffed, with senior decision makers, to deliver high quality patient care.
“Going into work, caring for patient, after patient, on a trolley in a corridor takes an immense toll. It’s no wonder they are burnout and stressed as they struggle to do the one thing they came into medicine to do, provide care.
“To futureproof our workforce, we have published a set of recommendations to the Scottish government. It must read this report and act. Because if they don’t, our Urgent and Emergency Care workforce will continue to be pushed beyond their limits, and patients will ultimately bear the brunt.”
Leading voluntary sector body outlines priorities for next Scottish Government
Scotland’s next Government must play its part in maintaining a strong, sustainable voluntary sector, a leading third sector body has said.
The Scottish Council for Voluntary Organisations (SCVO) has published ‘Scotland’s Essential Sector’, its manifesto for next May’s Scottish Parliament elections.
The sector is instrumental in the delivery of public services. Public sector funding makes up 40% of the voluntary sector’s income, with around £1.6billion from local authorities and £1bn from the Scottish Government – much of it through contracts and grants.
The manifesto has been shaped by the sector itself – with organisations asked what’s working, what’s not, and what needs to change.
Scotland’s Essential Sector sets out what the sector needs to be stronger, more sustainable, and more empowered – so it can play its full role delivering for communities, and tackling some of the biggest challenges we face as a country.
The six priorities outlined in the manifesto are:
• Delivering fair funding – reforming public sector funding to be multi-year, flexible, sustainable, and accessible.
• Creating a partnership of equals – establishing a formal, long-term partnership between government and the sector.
• Commissioning with communities – embedding ethical commissioning and ending default to commercial procurement.
• Modernising regulation – launching a comprehensive, independent review of charity regulation.
• Securing the future of volunteering – reversing the long-term decline in participation through targeted action.
• Protecting the sector’s voice – introducing anti-SLAPP legislation and safeguarding public interest advocacy.
SCVO Chief Executive Anna Fowlie said: “Voluntary organisations are at the heart of Scotland’s response to the biggest challenges we face — tackling poverty, improving health and wellbeing, supporting children and families, strengthening local economies, advancing climate action, building skills for the future, and much more besides.
“From mental health support to employability programmes, from sports clubs to social care, from community transport to creative arts — voluntary organisations deliver vital support to people and communities in every part of Scotland.
“They are trusted, rooted in communities, and are at the heart of a healthy society, a fair economy, and a strong democracy. They are Scotland’s Essential Sector.
“As we look ahead to the next Scottish Parliament elections, one thing is clear: government cannot meet the needs of people and communities alone.
“The next Scottish Government needs a strong, sustainable voluntary sector.”
Full details of Scotland’s Essential Sector can be found online:
