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Questions and answers

Parliamentary questions can be asked by any MSP to the Scottish Government or the Scottish Parliamentary Corporate Body. The questions provide a means for MSPs to get factual and statistical information.

Written questions must be answered within 10 working days (20 working days during recess)
Other questions such as Topical, Portfolio, General and First Minister's Question Times are taken in the Chamber

Urgent Questions aren't included in the Question and Answers search. There is a SPICe fact sheet listing Urgent and emergency questions.

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Question reference: S6W-03049

Asked by: Tess White, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 16 September 2021
Current Status: Answered by Kate Forbes on 28 September 2021

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the proposal in its Programme for Government, whether it will provide further details of the short-life Business Purpose Commission for Scotland, including the Commission’s (a) chair, (b) membership and (c) remit.

The 2021 Programme for Scotland announced a short-life Business Purpose Commission for Scotland to promote more purposeful businesses and better corporate governance.

The Business Purpose Commission is tasked with considering whether there would be benefits to a distinct agenda for Purposeful Business in Scotland, and how business and government can better embed this to become a leading Purposeful Business nation. It aims to shed light on purposeful business in Scotland, to gather an evidence base identifying champions of the issue in Scotland and to generate new ideas of ways to drive change towards purposeful business policies and practice in Scotland, whether through advocacy, influence, or policy.

The current membership of the Commission is as follows. A small steering group of around 7 people will be drawn from the Commission’s full membership of around 25:

Co-Chairs

Colin Mayer CBE, Professor of Management Studies, Saïd Business School, The University of Oxford/ Academic Lead, The Future of the Corporation Programme, The British Academy*

Amanda Young, Global Head of Responsible Investment, Aberdeen Standard Investments*

Commission

Stephen Boyd, Senior Economic Policy Officer, Scottish Government*

Sarah Davidson, Chief Executive, Carnegie Trust UK

Patricia Findlay, Professor of Work, Employment and Organisation, University of Strathclyde*

Crawford Gillies, Chair, Edrington

Alison Graham, Company Secretary, Baillie Gifford

Jamie Grant, Owner & Director, Glen Lyon Coffee

Poonam Gupta OBE, CEO, PG Paper Company Ltd

Dr Ifeyniwa Kanu, CEO & Founder, IntelliDigest

David McNeill, Director of Development, Scottish Council for Voluntary Organisations

Jamie Maxton, Head of External Relations (Scotland), SSE Renewables

Andrew Murphy, Group Operations Director, John Lewis Partnership*

Paula Murphy, Chief Communications and Marketing Officer, Wood Group

Brie Read, Entrepreneur and Founder, Snag Tights

Clare Reid, Director of Policy and Public Affairs, SCDI*

Dr Lesley Sawers OBE, Non-Executive Director, Crosswind Developments

Ian Walker, Global Programme Lead, Essential Surgery, Janssen*

Scott Wilson, Executive Director – Development, Robertson Group

Eliot Wishlade, Director, Ove Arup & Partners Ltd

* Members of Steering Group

Question reference: S6W-02900

Asked by: Tess White, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 14 September 2021
Current Status: Answered by Richard Lochhead on 28 September 2021

To ask the Scottish Government by what date it will publish the Just Transition Plan for the energy sector.

Question reference: S6W-03174

Asked by: Tess White, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 20 September 2021
Current Status: Answered by Shirley-Anne Somerville on 28 September 2021

To ask the Scottish Government what direction it has provided to local authorities regarding the model of delivery for the school counselling services that they have been asked to implement.

The commitment to invest in access to school counselling services across education in Scotland was announced in our 2018/19 Programme for Government.

The Scottish Government provided guidance ( https://www.gov.scot/publications/guidance-education-authorities-establishing-access-counselling-secondary-schools/ ) and agreed a set of aims and principles with local authorities ( https://www.gov.scot/publications/delivery-of-access-to-counsellors-through-schools-aims-and-principles/ ) to support delivery of the commitment.

Our local authority partners have confirmed that access to counselling support services through secondary schools is now in place across Scotland. It was up to local authorities to determine how they would deliver the commitment to best suit the children and young people in their area.

Question reference: S6W-03052

Asked by: Tess White, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 16 September 2021
Current Status: Answered by Kevin Stewart on 23 September 2021

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide data on non-attendances for child and adolescent mental health services (CAMHS) in NHS Grampian between April and June 2021.

In their most recent CAMHS Waiting Times Data Quality Report, Public Health Scotland published that NHS Grampian are experiencing challenges reporting on “did not attend appointment” (DNA) due to the functionality of their current patient management system and database. Work is ongoing to rectify this and NHS Grampian anticipate that they will be able to provide this to Public Health Scotland by the end of 2021 when they expect to have transitioned to their new patient management system.

https://publichealthscotland.scot/media/8867/data-quality.pdf

Question reference: S6W-03051

Asked by: Tess White, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 16 September 2021
Current Status: Answered by Kevin Stewart on 23 September 2021

To ask the Scottish Government what its response is to reports that 9.9% of children starting treatment within child and adolescent mental health services between April and June 2021 had experienced a waiting time of more than 53 weeks, and what the reasons are for its position on this matter.

It is encouraging to see a record number of new patients – including those who have waited longest – starting treatment in CAMHS in the last quarter, as our NHS continues to remobilise.

Long waits are unacceptable and we remain committed to meet the standard that 90% of children and young people begin treatment within 18 weeks of referral.

Over the last 6 months Scottish Government officials provided enhanced improvement support to Boards with unacceptable backlogs to increase CAMHS capacity and reduce waiting lists. £4.25m of the Renewal Fund has been allocated to all Boards to reduce backlogs this year.

Question reference: S6W-02901

Asked by: Tess White, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 14 September 2021
Current Status: Answered by Richard Lochhead on 23 September 2021

To ask the Scottish Government how the £500 million Just Transition Fund for the North East and Moray will be (a) developed and (b) distributed, and who the target recipients will be.

We will work collaboratively with partners, communities and other stakeholders to take forward the ten-year £500m Just Transition Fund for the North East and Moray. The delivery of the Fund will exemplify our co-design and co-delivery approach that will be supported by a programme of broad engagement in the area. This Fund is a new commitment which will require detailed policy design work and implementation planning. We will provide further information on the process in due course.

The Just Transition Fund will support and accelerate energy transition, create good, green jobs and maximise the region’s future economic potential. We are determined to tackle climate emergency and mitigate the impacts of the transition on communities across Scotland, and will work at pace to deliver our sectoral plans for a just transition.

Question reference: S6O-00229

Asked by: Tess White, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 22 September 2021
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 30 September 2021

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on progress with the dualling of the A96.

Question reference: S6W-02745

Asked by: Tess White, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 08 September 2021
Current Status: Answered by Richard Lochhead on 22 September 2021

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the Programme for Government for 2021-22, whether it can provide details regarding the Just Transition Commission's (a) chair, (b) membership and (c) remit in the new parliamentary session.

We announced the launch of the new Just Transition Commission and confirmed Professor Jim Skea as returning Chair on 15 September. Further announcements on the wider membership will be made in due course.

Our response to the previous Just Transition Commission’s report was published alongside Programme for Government and set out our ambitious agenda to achieve a fairer, greener future for all. We are determined to get this right for the people of Scotland, bringing all affected communities with us while learning from unjust transitions in our recent history.

The previous Commission called on the Scottish Government to pursue an orderly, managed transition through the creation of Just Transition Plans for high-emitting industries. In our response, we set out our approach to just transition planning across the Scottish economy and I want the new Commission to play a crucial role in this.

Our new Commission will be delivery focused. It will support (and scrutinise) the production and delivery of Scottish Government-led transition plans.

Specifically, the Commission will be tasked with:

Providing scrutiny and advice on the ongoing development of Scotland’s Just Transition Plans, including the application of the planning framework, as they are developed;
Advising on the most suitable approaches to monitoring and evaluation;
Supporting the Scottish Government’s ambition to be a leader in the international community and to take decisions informed by international best practice;
Meaningful engagement with those most likely to be impacted by the transition; hearing from a broad range of representative voices to help shape just transition planning in Scotland;
Publishing an annual report to reflect on Scotland’s progress.

Question reference: S6W-02705

Asked by: Tess White, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 07 September 2021
Current Status: Answered by Humza Yousaf on 21 September 2021

To ask the Scottish Government whether it anticipates that NHS boards and health and social care partnerships will be ready to assume responsibility for all vaccinations from October 2021, and what the reasons are for its position on this matter.

The Scottish Government has been working closely with Health Boards to ensure they will be ready to assume responsibility of routine vaccination programmes by the April 2022 deadline of the Vaccination Transformation Programme. Health Boards regularly report on their progress in transferring vaccination programmes and attend regular meetings with Scottish Government officials, ensuring appropriate oversight of plans, and providing a forum for any issues or challenges to be addressed.

Question reference: S6W-02704

Asked by: Tess White, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 07 September 2021
Current Status: Answered by Humza Yousaf on 21 September 2021

To ask the Scottish Government whether it (a) will provide an update on the progress of the Vaccination Transformation Programme (VTP) and (b) anticipates that the VTP will be completed by April 2022.

The Scottish Government is continuing to support Health Boards to develop and implement their plans to transfer routine vaccination delivery from GPs under the Vaccination Transformation Programme. Health Boards are making progress at varying stages, with some Boards having already completed the transfer of vaccination services. The Scottish Government and Health Boards have agreed that the programme will be completely rolled out by the deadline of April 2022.