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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-22046

Asked by: Sharon Dowey, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 05 October 2023
Current Status: Answered by Maree Todd on 2 November 2023

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide the most recent data on current rates of diagnosis of dementia, and what steps are being taken to address any barriers to diagnosis.

To estimate diagnosis rates in Scotland we are developing an approach that compiles a dataset of CHI numbers of people with a dementia diagnosis from multiple health and social data sources. Based on this approach, and using our current model for estimating the number of people living with dementia (known as Eurocode), we estimate that 56% of this group received a diagnosis in 2020-21 (the latest year for which we have data).

It should be noted that the rest of the UK uses a different system for estimating the number of people living with dementia (known as CFAS II). For comparative purposes, applying this in Scotland would suggest 79% of people living with dementia are receiving a diagnosis.

The issue of dementia diagnosis rates is highlighted in Everyone’s Story: A New Dementia Strategy for Scotland , including around the need for a greater range of settings in which to access it. We recognise there is more work to be done to improve timely, accessible access to a dementia diagnosis, and this will be reflected in the priorities for our initial 2-year Delivery Plan which is in development. This includes developing actions through a Delivery Subgroup focused on extending the reach of diagnsotic and post-diagnostic support, made up of people living with dementia, care partners and stakeholders.

Question reference: S6O-02702

Asked by: Sharon Dowey, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 01 November 2023
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 9 November 2023

To ask the Scottish Government what support it offers to local authorities to help reduce the number of people on social housing waiting lists.

Question reference: S6W-22351

Asked by: Sharon Dowey, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 23 October 2023
Current Status: Answered by Shirley-Anne Somerville on 1 November 2023

To ask the Scottish Government when the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (Incorporation) (Scotland) Bill will be reintroduced to the Scottish Parliament at reconsideration stage.

I moved a motion for Scottish Parliament to reconsider the United Nations Convention on the Rights Of the Child (Incorporation)(Scotland) Bill on 14 September 2023, which was passed unanimously by Parliament. The amendments to the Bill were formally lodged with Parliament on 18 September and the Equalities, Human Rights and Civil Justice Committee is currently taking evidence on the amendments. It is for Parliament to set the date for the Reconsideration debate which it is hoped will be before the end of the year.

Question reference: S6W-22043

Asked by: Sharon Dowey, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 05 October 2023
Current Status: Answered by Jenni Minto on 30 October 2023

To ask the Scottish Government whether it plans to include dementia as a key priority area in the next Women’s Health Plan, in light of recent data from the National Records of Scotland showing that dementia is the leading cause of death for women in Scotland.

Question reference: S6W-21759

Asked by: Sharon Dowey, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 27 September 2023
Current Status: Answered by Angela Constance on 27 October 2023

To ask the Scottish Government how many antisocial behaviour orders have been issued to people by Police Scotland in relation to shoplifting in 2023 to date.

Police Scotland do not have the legal powers to directly issue antisocial behaviour orders. Local authorities and registered social landlords, in consultation with the police, can apply to the sheriff court for an order where there is evidence that a person (aged at least 12 years) has behaved in an antisocial manner and that an order is necessary for the protection of persons from further antisocial behaviour. There is also the power for a court to make an ASBO on conviction in the criminal court as part of a sentence.

Question reference: S6W-21409

Asked by: Sharon Dowey, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 28 September 2023
Current Status: Answered by Michael Matheson on 25 October 2023

To ask the Scottish Government how many people are currently on a secondment, to the Scottish Government from all NHS boards, that is governed by a service level agreement.

Question reference: S6W-21408

Asked by: Sharon Dowey, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 28 September 2023
Current Status: Answered by Michael Matheson on 25 October 2023

To ask the Scottish Government how many people are currently on a secondment, to the Scottish Government from NHS Ayrshire and Arran, that is governed by a service level agreement.

Question reference: S6W-22096

Asked by: Sharon Dowey, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 09 October 2023
Current Status: Answered by Michael Matheson on 25 October 2023

To ask the Scottish Government what plans are in place to increase capacity in NHS Ayrshire and Arran to prevent operations being cancelled for reasons related to capacity and other non-clinical issues.

The Scottish Government is working closely with NHS Ayrshire and Arran to increase capacity and reduce cancellations. A number of improvement actions to enable the prioritisation of resources to areas where the capacity gap has the greatest impact are already underway, including:

A bottom-up review of operating capacity within surgical teams;
Increase resilience of the planned care service through protection of planned care beds to ensure that operations are not cancelled as a result of bed capacity; and
Introduction of new enhanced roles across the wider multi-disciplinary teams to increase capacity and improve sustainability, such as surgical care practitioners, anaesthesia associates and theatre assistant practitioners.

These actions will help NHS Ayrshire and Arran deliver its plans to increase capacity which include targeted recruitment, extended workforce roles and new models of service delivery.

Question reference: S6W-21854

Asked by: Sharon Dowey, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 28 September 2023
Current Status: Answered by Maree Todd on 25 October 2023

To ask the Scottish Government how much funding for mental health services has been allocated to prevention in each financial year since 2021-22.

Funding for mental health services is drawn from the overall funds allocated to NHS Scotland by the Scottish Government. The latest available data from the Public Health Scotland Scottish Health Service Costs shows that for 2021-22 total expenditure by NHS Scotland on mental health was £1.299 billion. The figures for 2022-2023 are yet to be published.

As part of the block funding provided to NHS Boards by the Scottish Government, NHS Boards make operational decisions on how to deploy spend, in a way which best meets local needs. The detail of this is not held by the Scottish Government.

Prevention and early intervention remain a priority for the Scottish Government.

We have placed a stronger focus on preventing mental health issues and tackling the underlying causes and inequalities through our recently published Mental Health and Wellbeing Strategy. The provision of advice and support will continue to be an important part of our approach.

We continue to undertake a range of preventative and early intervention mental health work, key examples include:

We have invested a total of £51m since 2021 in our Community Mental Health and Wellbeing Fund for Adults, with approximately 3,300 grants made to local projects across Scotland in the first two years alone.
We have allocated a total of £45m since 2021-22 for local authorities to provide over 300 community mental health and wellbeing supports and services for children, young people and their families.
We published an ambitious Suicide Prevention Strategy and Action Plan with COSLA in 2022, with the vision of reducing suicide deaths and tackling the inequalities which contribute to suicide. The strategy is supported by record funding to double the annual suicide prevention budget to £2.8m by 2026 and we are well on track to achieving this target.
Since 2016, we have invested over £21m in our world-leading Distress Brief Intervention (DBI) programme, which offers timely, compassionate support to people in distress who come into contact with frontline services. Over 50,000 people have already been referred for DBI support. We are on track to have DBI available in all NHS Board areas by March 2024.

Question reference: S6W-21413

Asked by: Sharon Dowey, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 28 September 2023
Current Status: Answered by Michael Matheson on 25 October 2023

To ask the Scottish Government how many people on a secondment to the Scottish Government that is governed by a service level agreement have had their secondment renewed on an annual or bi-annual basis in the last five years.

As at October 2023, our records show that across the whole of the Scottish Government there are currently 155 individuals procured to provide specialist services under a Service Level Agreement.

The Agreements that are put in place stipulate the length of the service period, and so will often set that Agreement in place for a period of two years, or more. Some Agreements have been established with short service periods, such as 6 months, but the norm is for two to three years. Agreements are reviewed annually to consider the service being provided and whether there is a business need for that service continuation.