Chamber and committees

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: S5W-12094

Asked by: Monica Lennon, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 19 October 2017
Current Status: Answered by Shona Robison on 2 November 2017

To ask the Scottish Government what action it has taken to support World Menopause Day on 18 October 2017, and what further action it will take to support this awareness day in 2018.

The Scottish Government supports World Menopause Day. Through SPIRE and other systems the Scottish Government will continue to support General Practice to identify patients with conditions, for example osteoporosis and cardiovascular disease, which are clearly directly associated with the menopause, to anticipate their future health needs and ensure the best care possible for Scotland’s patients.

Question reference: S5W-12092

Asked by: Monica Lennon, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 19 October 2017
Current Status: Answered by Shona Robison on 2 November 2017

To ask the Scottish Government what support is available to women experiencing menopause.

Question reference: S5W-12093

Asked by: Monica Lennon, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 19 October 2017
Current Status: Answered by Shona Robison on 2 November 2017

To ask the Scottish Government what its response is to the findings of a survey by the British Menopause Society, published on 18 October 2017, on the impact that the menopause has on women’s lives.

high-quality menopause care to all and specialist referral if needed.

The Scottish Government provides policies, frameworks and resources to NHS Boards to allow them to deliver services that meet the needs of their local populations. All healthcare professionals receive high quality training and education on women’s health needs, as part of their respective curriculums, which are developed and informed by professional organisations, and approved and overseen by the respective regulators of each profession.

Question reference: S5O-01429

Asked by: Monica Lennon, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 01 November 2017
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 8 November 2017

To ask the Scottish Government what action it is taking to improve air quality in Central Scotland.

Question reference: S5W-12091

Asked by: Monica Lennon, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 19 October 2017
Current Status: Answered by Maureen Watt on 1 November 2017

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S5W-02049 by Maureen Watt on 1 September 2016, what support is available to armed forces veterans with PTSD.

NHS Scotland works with their partners to provide a range of evidence based services, care and support to veterans with mental health problems, including PTSD, across a range of community and hospital based settings.

Treatment for PTSD is determined by clinicians and will be based on a detailed assessment and tailored to the needs of the individual. Treatments can vary from low to medium level interventions such as the range of psychological therapies available on the NHS; to more specialist care and treatment such as Eye movement desensitization and reprocessing (EMDR) or trauma focused CBT. Individuals with PTSD can also have other mental or physical health needs, and the NHS is ideally suited to consider a holistic approach to care and treatment and to respond appropriately.

The Scottish Government also continues to fund the provision of specialist mental health services by Combat Stress for veterans resident in Scotland through commissioned service arrangements with NHS Scotland at £1.224 million this year.

Question reference: S5W-12004

Asked by: Monica Lennon, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 12 October 2017
Current Status: Answered by John Swinney on 31 October 2017

To ask the Scottish Government what meetings it has held with the Scottish Council of Independent Schools in the last 12 months and what was discussed.

Question reference: S5W-12086

Asked by: Monica Lennon, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 18 October 2017
Current Status: Answered by Maureen Watt on 27 October 2017

To ask the Scottish Government whether it plans to review the availability of intensive psychiatric care unit beds for under-18s.

Question reference: S5W-12085

Asked by: Monica Lennon, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 18 October 2017
Current Status: Answered by Maureen Watt on 27 October 2017

To ask the Scottish Government what its response is to each of the recommendations made by the Mental Welfare Commission for Scotland in its paper, Young person monitoring report 2016-17.

We welcome the publication of the Mental Welfare Commission for Scotland's Young person monitoring report 2016-17. We also warmly welcome the MWC’s conclusion that the significant and continued reduction in the number of admissions of young people to non-specialist settings “appears to have come about as a result of targeted investment and focussed, co-ordinated service re-design of key elements of CAMH services across the country”.

The report contains two recommendations as follows:

Hospital managers of the regional adolescent units should continue to review admission procedures to establish whether access to the unit can be improved for all new referrals out-of-hours and at the weekend.
The Scottish Government, together with health boards should review the availability of IPCU beds nationally for young people under the age of 18 in Scotland to ensure that young people requiring such provision have timely access to these environments when required.

We would expect Boards and Health and Social Care Partnerships to give very careful consideration to the first recommendation.

Regarding the second recommendation, work has previously been carried out on behalf of NHS Directors of Planning and the conclusion was that CAMHS IPCU capacity should be developed at regional level. We expect NHS Boards to deliver on this, and to give careful consideration to the MWC’s recommendation.

Question reference: S5W-12099

Asked by: Monica Lennon, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 19 October 2017
Current Status: Answered by Maureen Watt on 26 October 2017

To ask the Scottish Government what its response is to the BMJ recommendation that there is an urgent need to develop and implement effective interventions for girls in their early to mid-teens who self-harm.

As stated in our Mental Health Strategy, we want evidence-based interventions to address behavioural and emotional issues in children and young people to be available across Scotland. To this end:

we are investing £150 million over five years to improve mental health; this includes £15 million to support better access to CAMHS and innovation; and £10 million to support new ways of improving mental health in primary care;
we fund NHS Boards to provide safe and effective care to meet the needs of all population groups, including girls in their early to mid-teens who self-harm. Guidance on the safe and effective care and management of those aged 8 and over who self harm is available from the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE).

Question reference: S5W-11634

Asked by: Monica Lennon, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 28 September 2017
Current Status: Answered by Shona Robison on 25 October 2017

To ask the Scottish Government what assessment it has made of the (a) short- and (b) medium-term goals of its Strategy for Autism.

The Scottish Strategy for Autism is a ten-year strategy. In 2014 the Scottish Government published a progress report on the strategy’s first two years – the foundation stage – which can be accessed here http://www.autismstrategyscotland.org.uk/strategy/key-documents.html.

In 2015 the Scottish Government reframed the strategy’s recommendations into an outcomes-based approach, which identified priorities for the period 2015-17. The outcomes focus on improving services so that autistic people live healthier lives, have choice and control over the services they use and are supported are support to be independent and active citizens. The medium-term priorities referenced in the original strategy document, including ensuring autistic people have access to integrated service provision across the lifespan, remain priorities.

The Scottish Government continues also to review the progress of the strategy through quarterly meetings with the national autism governance group. This group provides service expertise, strategic leadership and challenges the delivery of the strategy’s outcomes. The strategy’s progress is highlighted at the annual autism conference, which was most recently held in January 2017.

The Scottish Government are currently refreshing the Scottish Strategy for Autism. There are plans to undertake a full evaluation of the strategy in due course.