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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: S6O-02319

Asked by: Craig Hoy, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 24 May 2023
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 1 June 2023

To ask the Scottish Government what additional support it plans to provide to tourism, hospitality and leisure operators in the South Scotland region.

Question reference: S6W-17824

Asked by: Craig Hoy, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 11 May 2023
Current Status: Answered by Maree Todd on 22 May 2023

To ask the Scottish Government what work it has undertaken to build the evidence base for peer support for perinatal mental health, and whether new services are measuring their effectiveness using validated measures, to reinforce a commitment to a robust evaluation.

Question reference: S6W-17835

Asked by: Craig Hoy, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 10 May 2023
Current Status: Answered by Maree Todd on 22 May 2023

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the recommendation in its Peer Support in Perinatal Mental Health action plan, what it has done to support specific perinatal mental health peer support services for men.

Through the Perinatal and Infant Mental Health Fund And Small Grants Fund, we provide funding for both father specific and whole family work. From 2021 to March 2023, we have provided over £1 million to groups including Home-Start Glasgow North and North Lanarkshire, Quarriers, CrossReach, Sure Start Midlothian, Dads Rock and Fathers Network Scotland. This includes funding for peer support groups for new fathers, which can provide a valuable source of support.

We have also committed to working with Fathers Network Scotland to better understand the evidence around mental health within the perinatal period for fathers and partners.

Question reference: S6W-17831

Asked by: Craig Hoy, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 10 May 2023
Current Status: Answered by Maree Todd on 22 May 2023

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the recommendation in its Peer Support in Perinatal Mental Health action plan, what it has done to ensure that evidence-based, and quality-assured resources are utilised when creating peer support services for perinatal mental health to ensure high-quality practice from the start.

The Scottish Government has worked alongside Inspiring Scotland, Evaluation Support Scotland and third sector partners to co-produce an Evaluation Toolkit for perinatal peer support, which was published on 1 March 2023.

The Scottish Government also worked with Scottish Recovery Network to develop a Perinatal Peer Support Resource, which launched on 20 April 2023 and can be found at the following link - Let's do Peer Support: Bump, Birth & Beyond - Scottish Recovery Network . The resource includes guidance plus links to good practice and specialised training from more established organisations, should peer support workers or volunteers feel they need further information and guidance.

Question reference: S6W-17834

Asked by: Craig Hoy, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 10 May 2023
Current Status: Answered by Maree Todd on 22 May 2023

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the recommendation in its Peer Support in Perinatal Mental Health action plan, what targeted peer support in perinatal mental health services it has created to meet the particular needs of groups who are, or were, underserved by services, and what any such services are.

The Scottish Government Perinatal and Infant Mental Health Fund provides £80,000 per year to support Amma Birth Companions which provides trauma-informed emotional and practical support to vulnerable women who would otherwise experience birth without a partner or who are likely to face significant barriers to accessing perinatal care. The individuals they support are mostly refugees, asylum seekers and people living in poverty. Amma's service include birth and postnatal companionship, antenatal classes and peer support activities and aims to support the wellbeing and life chances of both mothers and fathers.

Remote and rural services face challenges due to how geographically isolated some of the communities are throughout Scotland. The Perinatal and Infant Mental Health Fund therefore also supports multiple organisations across rural Scotland to provide services to remote areas, these services include Action for Children services in the Western Isles, Home Start Caithness, South Lanarkshire and many more. They provide non-clinical, community based parenting and peer support services which help women and families affected by, or at risk of, perinatal mental health difficulties.

Question reference: S6W-17830

Asked by: Craig Hoy, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 10 May 2023
Current Status: Answered by Maree Todd on 22 May 2023

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the recommendation in its Peer Support in Perinatal Mental Health action plan, what it has done to ensure that peer supporters of perinatal mental health have access to robust support systems and additional flexibility in their roles to enable them to maintain their own recovery and wellbeing.

The Scottish Government has worked with the Scottish Recovery Network to develop a Perinatal Peer Support Resource, which launched on 20 April 2023 and can be found at the following link - Let's do Peer Support: Bump, Birth & Beyond - Scottish Recovery Network . The toolkit includes advice, hints and tips for peer support workers, including how to deal with difficult topics which they may find triggering. The toolkit also helps to ensure that peer supporters are also maintaining their own recovery and wellbeing. Peer support workers also have access to the National Wellbeing Hub, which supports everyone working in health and social care services in Scotland.

Question reference: S6W-17833

Asked by: Craig Hoy, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 10 May 2023
Current Status: Answered by Maree Todd on 22 May 2023

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the recommendation in its Peer Support in Perinatal Mental Health action plan, what it has done to ensure that peer support for perinatal mental health is available in a variety of formats, so that it meets the needs of a wide range of mothers and carers.

Peer Support is available in a variety of forms across Scotland. The Scottish Government has recently worked with the Scottish Recovery Network to develop a Perinatal Peer Support Resource , which launched on 20 April 2023. This is a toolkit to inform the planning and delivery of perinatal peer support activities which are easily accessible across Scotland.

Through its Perinatal and Infant Mental Health Fund, the Scottish Government is supporting third sector organisations which are delivering peer support services through a variety of means. These range from facilitated drop-in sessions to online support groups which can reach parents and carers who do not want to or are unable to attend groups in person. To meet the needs of a wide range of mothers and carers, we also fund peer support groups for family units; peer support volunteers who offer emotional and practical support to families; and paid peer support workers.

Question reference: S6W-17828

Asked by: Craig Hoy, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 10 May 2023
Current Status: Answered by Maree Todd on 22 May 2023

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the recommendation in its Peer Support in Perinatal Mental Health action plan, what it has done to create regional perinatal mental health networks with statutory and third sector services to share best practice and aid appropriate referrals.

The Scottish Government, in conjunction with the clinical support of the Perinatal Mental Health Network Scotland, has funded regional roles across the North, East and West of Scotland. Nurse Consultants in each region are responsible for coordinating regional support. Scottish Government continues to support boards to work across regions to improve equity of service provision and ensure that smaller and rural health boards are able to provide specialist perinatal services across their populations.

Question reference: S6W-17829

Asked by: Craig Hoy, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 10 May 2023
Current Status: Answered by Maree Todd on 22 May 2023

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the recommendation in its Peer Support in Perinatal Mental Health action plan, what it has done to ensure that specialised approaches to recruitment, robust and ongoing training, appropriate and timely clinical supervision and support for ongoing good practice in perinatal mental health exist.

Since 2019, the Scottish Government has invested over £26 million in improvements to perinatal services and support for parents, infants and families across Scotland. This investment has facilitated a substantial increase in services and workforce across Scotland.

The Scottish Government also supports the Perinatal Mental Health Scotland Network which provides support to health boards on all aspects of service development, training, supervision and good practice.

Our investment also supports NHS Education Scotland to undertake workforce development and training, including a suite of training accessible to all professionals across Scotland.

The Scottish Government will continue to invest in perinatal and infant mental health to enable boards to recruit the required staff; to further establish specialist community perinatal and infant mental health services and to deliver on Scottish Government commitments towards perinatal and infant mental health in the long term.

Question reference: S6W-17837

Asked by: Craig Hoy, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 10 May 2023
Current Status: Answered by Maree Todd on 22 May 2023

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the recommendation in its Peer Support in Perinatal Mental Health action plan, how it is ensuring that peer support services for perinatal mental health recognise and celebrate the benefits of peer experience.