- Asked by: Pam Gosal, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
-
Date lodged: Monday, 19 February 2024
-
Current Status:
Answered by Jenny Gilruth on 4 March 2024
To ask the Scottish Government whether it will commit to reviewing its guidance document, Supporting Transgender Pupils In Schools, in light of the publication of the full Cass Review.
Answer
As is indicated in the answer to question S6W-25608 on 4 March 2024, the Scottish Government will review the Supporting Transgender Young People in Schools Guidance in due course. This would include taking account of any significant legislative or policy developments. The CASS Review is considering clinical gender identity healthcare for young people. How this care is provided by the NHS is beyond the responsibilities of schools and education authorities. The guidance makes clear that school staff are not required to be involved in the process of a young person seeking or accessing gender identity healthcare. That is a matter for the young person themselves and their family.
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 .
- Asked by: Maurice Golden, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
-
Date lodged: Monday, 19 February 2024
-
Current Status:
Answered by Maree Todd on 4 March 2024
To ask the Scottish Government what tailored support it is providing to NHS Tayside, in addition to headline funding, to reduce any long waiting times for child and adolescent mental health services (CAMHS).
Answer
I refer the member to the answer given to question S6W-25599 on 4 March 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 .
- Asked by: Maurice Golden, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
-
Date lodged: Monday, 19 February 2024
-
Current Status:
Answered by Maree Todd on 4 March 2024
To ask the Scottish Government how many specialist child and adolescent mental health services (CAMHS) staff have (a) been recruited and (b) left the health service, in each NHS board in each of the last three years.
Answer
Child and adolescent mental health services (CAMHS) workforce data is publicly available in NHS Education for Scotland (NES) Turas Data Intelligence at: NHS Scotland Workforce Data .
This also provides data on staff joining and leaving rates by each Health Board.
- Asked by: Maurice Golden, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
-
Date lodged: Monday, 19 February 2024
-
Current Status:
Answered by Maree Todd on 4 March 2024
To ask the Scottish Government whether it has been advised by NHS Tayside that child and adolescent mental health services (CAMHS) waiting times are expected to worsen.
Answer
Scottish Government Ministers and officials are aware of the current challenges faced by NHS Tayside in meeting waiting time standards set out for child and adolescent mental health services (CAMHS).
NHS Tayside are receiving additional support which includes providing access to professional specialist advice, making sure that they have robust improvement plans place and are continually monitoring their implementation. Regular and structured engagement with NHS Tayside at both Ministerial and official level is continuing. This is in addition to requesting formal quarterly written updates.
In addition all Boards have been asked to submit trajectories setting out a timeline for clearing long waits. These will be updated annually and used to inform further targeted improvement work to ensure all Boards meet CAMHS waiting times standards.
- Asked by: Maurice Golden, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
-
Date lodged: Monday, 19 February 2024
-
Current Status:
Answered by Maree Todd on 4 March 2024
To ask the Scottish Government how many instances of long child and adolescent mental health services (CAMHS) waiting times have been raised by the public with (a) each NHS board and (b) the Scottish Government, in each of the last three years.
Answer
Information on enquiries to Boards about CAMHS is not held centrally by the Scottish Government. Each NHS Board in Scotland has their own system in place for managing complaints raised by the public.
The Scottish Government records and processes enquiries and correspondence addressed to Scottish Ministers on its Ministerial and Corporate Correspondence (MiCase) System and any correspondence related to CAMHS is answered via this system. Over the last 3 years, 27 cases specifically mentioned CAMHS waiting times.
- Asked by: Miles Briggs, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
-
Date lodged: Friday, 16 February 2024
-
Current Status:
Answered by Angela Constance on 4 March 2024
To ask the Scottish Government how many car thefts have been recorded in the past three years, and, of those, how many involved (a) a perpetrator breaking into the home to take keys and (b) the use of so-called cloning equipment to steal the car without the keys.
Answer
The Scottish Government does not hold information specifically on the number of car thefts. Information on the number of thefts of a motor vehicle is provided below, but it is not possible to break that down by type of motor vehicle.
In terms of a perpetrator breaking into a home to take keys, it should be noted that this is recorded as a crime of housebreaking and not as a theft of a motor vehicle. The data held by the Scottish Government does not include information on what was stolen during any recorded crime of housebreaking.
The Scottish Government does not hold information on the use of so-called cloning equipment to steal a car without the keys.
Crimes of theft of a motor vehicle, Scotland, year ending December 2021 to year ending December 2023
| | Year ending December 2021 | Year ending December 2022 | Year ending December 2023 |
Theft of a motor vehicle | 4,240 | 4,975 | 5,438 |
Source: Recorded Crime in Scotland Accredited Official Statistics, year ending December 2023
- Asked by: Pauline McNeill, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Labour
-
Date lodged: Wednesday, 14 February 2024
-
Current Status:
Answered by Angela Constance on 4 March 2024
To ask the Scottish Government whether (a) it and (b) the Scottish Prison Service has any concerns regarding prison officers having to work until the age of 68.
Answer
It is well established that some occupations are restricted by capacity and age due to the physical demands of those roles, making it untenable to expect them to be carried out until the State Pension Age. This was recognised by the Public Service Pensions Act 2013 which set a pension age of 60 for firefighters, police officers and the armed forces.
Prison officers do not have a dedicated pension scheme as they are members of the Civil Service pension scheme, which is a reserved matter for the UK Government. We recognise that prison officers carry out frontline operational duties, including control and restraint, until the State Pension Age, which is due to rise to age 68. This can be particularly challenging and carries with it significant stresses and strains. We have previously raised the concerns around physical demands of prison officers role with the UK Government.
Scottish Prison Service do not assess age to determine whether a prison officer is capable of carrying out their duties but recognises that front line staff work in a very challenging environment. SPS has arrangements in place to support staff who may no longer be able to fulfil the physical demands of their role and these cases are managed in accordance with the circumstances of each individual.
- Asked by: Pauline McNeill, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Labour
-
Date lodged: Wednesday, 14 February 2024
-
Current Status:
Answered by Angela Constance on 4 March 2024
To ask the Scottish Government what analysis (a) it and (b) the Scottish Prison Service has undertaken of any impact of prison officers having to work until the age of 68.
Answer
It is well established that some occupations are restricted by capacity and age due to the physical demands of those roles, making it untenable to expect them to be carried out until the State Pension Age. This was recognised by the Public Service Pensions Act 2013 which set a pension age of 60 for firefighters, police officers and the armed forces.
Prison officers do not have a dedicated pension scheme as they are members of the Civil Service pension scheme, which is a reserved matter for the UK Government. The Scottish Government has raised concerns with the UK government regarding the requirement for prison officers to carry out frontline operational duties including control and restraint until the age of 68. We have always accepted that some jobs are restricted by capacity and age, and need to be viewed and treated as such.
The Scottish Government and SPS both duly recognise that prison officers work in a very challenging environment and are committed to a person centred approach to all employees and their circumstances.
- Asked by: Douglas Lumsden, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
-
Date lodged: Tuesday, 13 February 2024
-
Current Status:
Answered by Fiona Hyslop on 4 March 2024
To ask the Scottish Government what economic impact assessment has been carried out in relation to any potential delay to the north east rail improvement project to reduce rail travel times between Aberdeen and the central belt by 20 minutes.
Answer
No economic assessment has been carried out in regard to any potential delay to the Aberdeen – Central Belt Enhancement Project. An economic assessment of the impact of the proposed delivery, including cost and programme, of the Aberdeen – Central Belt Enhancement Project will be undertaken as part of the Outline Business Case assessment for the project.
- Asked by: Carol Mochan, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Labour
-
Date lodged: Friday, 09 February 2024
-
Current Status:
Answered by Tom Arthur on 4 March 2024
To ask the Scottish Government what recent assessment it has made of the community space that is available for hire to allow local community groups and clubs to run affordable sessions.
Answer
The Scottish Government does not undertake assessments of available community spaces to local community groups and clubs. This is a matter for the relevant public authorities with responsibility for the land or buildings available in their authority area and the decision to undertake an assessment would be for them to consider. Under the Community Empowerment Act (2015), communities are, however, able to request a right to buy, lease, manage or use land and buildings belonging to local authorities, Scottish public bodies or Scottish Ministers. Scottish Government encourages relevant authorities to work with their communities to make sure they can access and make use of available spaces.