Questions and answers

Question reference: S6W-30295

Asked by: Alexander Burnett, MSP for Aberdeenshire West, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 02 October 2024
Current Status: Answered by Maree Todd on 30 October 2024

To ask the Scottish Government what information it (a) currently makes available and (b) plans to make available to the Scottish Parliament for the purposes of evaluating the efficacy of community mental health funding.

The Scottish Government has published the following reports relating to the Communities Mental Health and Wellbeing Fund for Adults.

Year 1 (2021-2022)

Communities Mental Health and Wellbeing Fund: year 1 - monitoring and reporting summary - gov.scot (www.gov.scot)

External Evaluation of Year 1

Communities Mental Health and Wellbeing Fund for adults: evaluation - gov.scot (www.gov.scot)

Year 2 (2022 -2023)

Communities Mental Health and Wellbeing Fund for adults: year 2 - monitoring and reporting summary - gov.scot (www.gov.scot)

Year 3 (2023-2024)

Communities Mental Health and Wellbeing Fund for Adults - year 3: monitoring and reporting summary - gov.scot (www.gov.scot)

Year 4 of the Fund opened for applications on 30 September 2024. As with previous years, data in respect of Year 4 will be published when it is available.

In addition, we are currently working with Third Sector Interface organisations to gather information on the impact of the Fund and we intend to make key findings available in due course.

In relation to the children and young people’s community mental health and wellbeing supports and services funded by the Scottish Government, the Scottish Youth Parliament conducted an independent evaluation which was published in August 2023 and is available at https://syp.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2023/08/Independent-Evaluation-of-Community-Mental-Health-Supports-and-Services-April-2023.pdf.

Local authorities also report annually on data including numbers of people accessing support, age and gender of service users, reasons for presenting at the services, and numbers of people reporting an improved outcome. Summaries of this information are published retrospectively by the Scottish Government at https://www.gov.scot/publications/access-to-counsellors-in-secondary-schools-and-children-and-young-peoples-community-mental-health-services-summary-reports/.

Question reference: S6W-30297

Asked by: Alexander Burnett, MSP for Aberdeenshire West, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 02 October 2024
Current Status: Answered by Maree Todd on 30 October 2024

To ask the Scottish Government how the funding of £15 million to the Children and Young People’s Community Mental Health and Wellbeing Supports will be distributed to recipients, and what account is made of how those funds are spent.

The £15 million per annum funding for Children and Young People’s Community Mental Health and Wellbeing Supports and Services is provided by grants from the Scottish Government to all 32 local authorities. The funding allocations are calculated and distributed based on the number of children and young people in each local authority area, with appropriate adjustments made to take account of the deprivation level and rurality of each area.

Local authorities administer the funding at a local level and determine which supports and services to implement on the basis of locally-identified need and in line with the Children and Young People’s Community Mental Health and Wellbeing Supports and Services Framework.

Local authorities are required to provide the Scottish Government with annual profiles of expenditure and statements of compliance at the end of the financial year, and must keep the Scottish Government informed of any changes to estimated expenditure each year.

Local authorities also report annually on data including numbers of people accessing support, age and gender of service users, reasons for presenting at the services, and numbers of people reporting an improved outcome. Summaries of this information are published retrospectively by the Scottish Government at https://www.gov.scot/publications/access-to-counsellors-in-secondary-schools-and-children-and-young-peoples-community-mental-health-services-summary-reports/.

Question reference: S6O-03874

Asked by: Alexander Burnett, MSP for Aberdeenshire West, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 23 October 2024
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 31 October 2024

To ask the Scottish Government when the health secretary last met the Scottish Ambulance Service to discuss rural ambulance provision.

Question reference: S6W-30461

Asked by: Alexander Burnett, MSP for Aberdeenshire West, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 04 October 2024
Current Status: Answered by Neil Gray on 22 October 2024

To ask the Scottish Government, further to its news release of 25 July 2024, £30 million to reduce waiting times, whether it will provide a breakdown on how much of this funding will be allocated to each (a) specialty area where it believes that it can have the greatest impact and (b) NHS board.

As part of the Scottish Government’s commitment to reduce waiting times, significant activity is already underway following an additional £30 million investment to target backlogs, announced in the spring1.

This will see around 12,000 new outpatient appointments, around 12,000 inpatient procedures and over 40,000 diagnostic procedures delivered2. A breakdown of the committed funding at both Specialty & Health Board levels are shown in the tables. The final allocations will be made to respective NHS boards following delivery of the activity.

We will continue to work with all NHS boards to maximise current resources and productivity. I refer the member to the answer to question S6W-29287 on 12 September 2024. All answers to written Parliamentary Questions are available on the Parliament's website, the search facility for which can be found at https://www.parliament.scot/chamber-and-committees/written-questions-and-answers.

Specialty	Committed funding (rounded)
Cancer	£2,750,000
Dermatology	£2,150,000
Endoscopy	£60,000
Ear, Nose & Throat	£950,000
Gastroenterology	£20,000
General Surgery	£330,000
Gynaecology	£470,000
Imaging	£6,900,000
Neurology	£200,000
Ophthalmology	£1,900,000
Orthopaedics	£7,160,000
Paediatrics	£170,000
Endoscopy	£5,740,000
Urology	£800,000
Cardiology	£400,000
Total	£30,000,000

References

1.www.gov.scot/news/first-instalment-of-gbp-300-million-to-reduce-waiting-times/

2.www.gov.scot/news/30-million-to-reduce-waiting-times/

Health Board	Sum of Approved funding	Sum of Funding 'Approved in principle' (Q2 - Q4) (rounded)
Ayrshire & Arran	677,122
Borders	231,000
Dumfries & Galloway	215,638
Fife	1,930,432	248,000
Forth Valley	986,257	1,640,000
Forth Valley (for Fife)	50,855
GG&C	196,366
Golden Jubilee National Hospital	1,392,690	162,000
Grampian	4,574,186	216,000
Greater Glasgow & Clyde	1,599,470
Highland	3,880,867	300,000
Lanarkshire	2,276,392	920,000
Lothian	1,898,395
National Elective Coordination Unit	4,474,000
Shetland	138,629
Tayside	1,758,701
Grand Total	26,514,000	3,486,000

Question reference: S6W-30195

Asked by: Alexander Burnett, MSP for Aberdeenshire West, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 26 September 2024
Current Status: Answered by Shona Robison on 9 October 2024

To ask the Scottish Government which national public awareness health campaigns it has funded since the end of the COVID-19 pandemic.

National public health marketing campaigns which have run since the end* of the COVID-19 pandemic are as follows:

Financial Year 2023-24

Paid-for media public health campaigns

Detect Cancer Early
Dentistry Reform
Mental Health
Organ Donation
Right Care Right Place
Vaping
Winter Vaccines
Low cost/no cost public health campaigns
Women and Girls in Sport Week
Lyme Disease
Smoking Cessation

Campaigns funded by Scottish Government, working in partnership with executive agencies or other public sector organisations

Childhood flu - Public Health Scotland
Sperm and Egg - NHS Grampian

Public health campaigns which have run so far in financial year 2024-25 are as follows:

Paid-for-media public health campaigns

Dementia Stigma
Detect Cancer Early
Organ Donation Week

* The World Health Organization declared COVID-19 was no longer a public health emergency of public concern on 5 May 2023. For the purposes of answering this question, we have used this definition as a guide to defining the 'end' of the pandemic.

Question reference: S6W-30166

Asked by: Alexander Burnett, MSP for Aberdeenshire West, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 26 September 2024
Current Status: Answered by Alasdair Allan on 4 October 2024

To ask the Scottish Government what financial support is available to people seeking to install (a) solar photovoltaic (PV) systems and (b) wind generators.

Financial support is available for the installation of solar photovoltaic (PV) systems through the Social Housing Net Zero Heat Fund, which provides support for the retrofit of Registered Social Landlords' existing housing stock, and targeted support is also available through our Warmer Homes Scotland and Area Based schemes.

The Home Energy Scotland Grant and Loan scheme currently provides an interest-free loan to contribute towards the cost of domestic wind turbine installation.

The Scottish Government has also made capital grant funding available over the course of this parliamentary term to public sector bodies through Scotland’s Public Sector Heat Decarbonisation Fund and the Scottish Central Government Energy Efficiency Grant Scheme. These schemes support retrofit decarbonisation of public sector estates, including support to install solar PV and other electricity generation measures when integrated with an existing or new clean heating system.

Question reference: S6W-30165

Asked by: Alexander Burnett, MSP for Aberdeenshire West, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 26 September 2024
Current Status: Answered by Ivan McKee on 3 October 2024

To ask the Scottish Government what guidance it issues to local authorities in relation to granting or refusing consent for the installation of domestic (a) solar photovoltaic (PV) systems and (b) wind generators.

It is for local planning authorities to implement relevant planning legislation, policies and guidance as they deem appropriate and to ensure that the provisions of the planning system are applied properly within their areas. General guidance on the processing and determination of planning applications is available in Planning Circular 3: Development Management Procedures.

In line with long-established planning legislation, planning applications are determined in accordance with the development plan unless material planning considerations justify a departure from the plan. National Planning Framework 4 (NPF4) forms part of the development plan, alongside the local development plan for each area.

NPF4 signals the key priorities for ‘where’ and ‘what’ development should take place and is combined with national planning policy on ‘how’ development planning should manage change. It places climate and nature at the centre of our planning system. NPF4 Policy 11 provides support in principle for all forms of renewable, low-carbon and zero emission technologies including small-scale renewable energy generation proposals. However, it also confirms that potential impacts on communities and individual dwellings, the environment and other receptors are important considerations in the decision-making process.

In some instances, solar panels and wind turbines can be installed on domestic properties under permitted development rights without the need for a planning application. Guidance on this is contained in Section 6 of Planning Circular 1/2024: Householder Permitted Development Rights.

Question reference: S6W-30100

Asked by: Alexander Burnett, MSP for Aberdeenshire West, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 23 September 2024
Current Status: Answered by Jenni Minto on 1 October 2024

To ask the Scottish Government how much funding it provided to the Asthma and Allergy Foundation in (a) 2022-23 and (b) 2023-24.

Question reference: S6W-30124

Asked by: Alexander Burnett, MSP for Aberdeenshire West, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 24 September 2024
Current Status: Answered by Jenni Minto on 30 September 2024

To ask the Scottish Government when it last had correspondence with the UK Health Security Agency.

Question reference: S6W-30125

Asked by: Alexander Burnett, MSP for Aberdeenshire West, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 24 September 2024
Current Status: Answered by Jenni Minto on 30 September 2024

To ask the Scottish Government what regular communication it has with the UK Health Security Agency.

The Scottish Government maintains regular and ongoing communication with the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) on shared priorities. The Scottish Government and UKHSA do this through formal meetings, working groups, and collaborative efforts on public health issues such as disease surveillance, pandemic preparedness, emerging health threats and emergency response. UKHSA also provides expert advice and support to Public Health Scotland and other relevant bodies to ensure a coordinated approach to health security across the UK.

This collaboration plays a vital role in ensuring robust public health surveillance, managing health risks effectively and protecting Scotland’s population.

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