- Asked by: Tess White, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 02 May 2023
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Current Status:
Answered by Michael Matheson on 11 May 2023
To ask the Scottish Government how much money from its Budget has been spent on primary care in each of the last five years.
Answer
This information is available in the Scottish Health Service Costs (often referred to as the 'Costs Book'), published annually by Public Health Scotland (previously Information Services Division).
The 2021-22 Costs Book was published in February 2023 and provides a high-level summary of health service costs, including the costs of delivering family health services. The 2022-23 Costs Book will be published in 2024.
- Asked by: Jamie Greene, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 02 May 2023
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Current Status:
Answered by Kevin Stewart on 11 May 2023
To ask the Scottish Government how many railway stations do not have CCTV monitoring on their premises.
Answer
ScotRail advises it has 284 stations that have live images streaming back to the centres. The rest have internet protocol cameras or cameras with secure digital cards. The only stations that do not have CCTV are Altnabreac and Dunrobin Castle.
- Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 02 May 2023
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Current Status:
Answered by Michael Matheson on 11 May 2023
To ask the Scottish Government how it plans to ensure alignment between the expected renewed cancer strategy, which is overseen by the Cabinet Secretary for NHS Recovery, Health and Social Care, and the extant Children and Young People's Cancer Strategy, which is overseen by the Managed Service Network for Children and Young People with Cancer.
Answer
I am accountable to parliament for both strategies. A dedicated strategy to support young people with cancer, “Collaborative and Compassionate Cancer Care, The Cancer Strategy for Children and Young People in Scotland 2021-2026”, was published in 2021 and is the first NHS Scotland strategy for this age group.
The implementation and delivery of this strategy is supported by the Managed Service Network for children and young people with cancer (MSN CYPC), which was established to support the specialist delivery of cancer care and support required by children and young people with cancer.
The MSN has representation on various national groups which impact both adult and children cancer patients. In addition, Scottish Government officials sit on the MSN Executive groups to ensure direct alignment across both strategies.
- Asked by: Katy Clark, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 02 May 2023
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Current Status:
Answered by Tom Arthur on 11 May 2023
To ask the Scottish Government whether it plans to set out guidance for local authorities on the implementation of community wealth building in the context of economic development.
Answer
The Scottish Government has consulted and sought views on Community Wealth Building (CWB) legislation, and as part of this, sought views on a duty and need for statutory or non-statutory guidance. Analysis of this consultation will take place over Summer 2023.
Further, a CWB Guide offering practical support for those seeking to pursue a CWB approach was published in January 2023. This guide was supported by the Scottish Government and produced by Economic Development Association Scotland (EDAS) and the Centre for Local Economic Strategies (CLES).
- Asked by: Mercedes Villalba, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 03 May 2023
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Current Status:
Answered by Kevin Stewart on 11 May 2023
To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S6W-16075 by Kevin Stewart on 6 April 2023, which confirmed that no Dundee taxi drivers had been successful in applying for the Low Emission Zone Retrofit Fund due to their vehicles' unsuitability for retrofitting, what additional support it will provide for taxi drivers in Dundee in 2023-24.
Answer
The Scottish Government provides annual funding to Energy Saving Trust (EST) an independent organisation working to address the climate emergency, to provide a range of services including delivery of the Switched-on Taxi Loan on behalf of Scottish Ministers.
The Switched-on Taxi loan provides an interest-free loan with a repayment term of up to 6 years to support both private and hackney taxi owners and operators with the purchase of zero and ultra-low emission vehicles.
Since 2019 taxi drivers and operators in the North East of Scotland electoral region have received interest free loans worth almost £800,000. Currently the Switched-on Taxi loan is closed and Scottish Ministers are considering the position for the current financial year. Taxi drivers and operators can register their interest with Energy Saving Trust should future rounds of funding become available.
- Asked by: Monica Lennon, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Friday, 05 May 2023
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Current Status:
Answered by Michael Matheson on 11 May 2023
To ask the Scottish Government, in light of the Brain Tumour Charity report, Brain Tumours: Fighting for a Faster Diagnosis, whether a National Optimal Cancer Diagnostic Pathway is being developed for brain tumours.
Answer
The Scottish Government has worked collaboratively with partners, patients and third sector organisations in recent months to develop a ten year cancer strategy for Scotland.
Due to publish Spring 2023, the strategy will take a comprehensive approach to improving patient pathways, from prevention and diagnosis through to treatment and post-treatment care. It aims to improve cancer survival and provide excellent, equitably accessible, care across Scotland, including those affected by brain cancer.
A new earlier diagnosis vision will feature within the strategy and will include similar actions to those outlined in The Brain Tumour Charity’s report. This includes continuing to deliver our Detect Cancer Earlier Programme, working with primary care clinicians to ensure they have direct access to diagnostic tests and quality education sources; optimal cancer diagnostic pathways are designed and implemented across NHS Scotland; and public campaigns educate and empower those with possible symptoms to act early.
- Asked by: Jamie Greene, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 02 May 2023
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Current Status:
Answered by Kevin Stewart on 11 May 2023
To ask the Scottish Government how many staff are employed in ScotRail’s customer service centres in (a) Paisley and (b) Dunfermline, and how many full-time equivalent staff are directly involved in CCTV monitoring.
Answer
ScotRail advises that in Paisley there are 34 positions with 27 monitoring CCTV as part of their duties. 4 Managers and 3 Announcers who can monitor CCTV but it is not their primary role. In Dunfermline there are 20 positions with 13 monitoring CCTV as part of their duties. 4 Managers and 3 Announcers who can monitor CCTV but it is not their primary role. ScotRail has 1 additional position which covers both centres and ScotRail now has 24/7 coverage between the centres. Each centre has the capability to monitor sites across the ScotRail network.
- Asked by: Graham Simpson, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 02 May 2023
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Current Status:
Answered by Kevin Stewart on 11 May 2023
To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on how many customer complaints ScotRail has received since it was brought into public ownership.
Answer
ScotRail submits complaints data to the rail regulator, the Office of Rail and Road (ORR). This data is published quarterly on the ORR website and can be obtained via the following link:-
Passenger rail service complaints | ORR Data Portal
- Asked by: Beatrice Wishart, MSP for Shetland Islands, Scottish Liberal Democrats
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 02 May 2023
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Current Status:
Answered by Kevin Stewart on 11 May 2023
To ask the Scottish Government what assistance it can provide to local authorities to accelerate any construction of pavement infrastructure.
Answer
Local authorities have a duty under the Roads (Scotland) Act 1984 to manage and maintain local roads and pavements in their area.
The vast majority of funding to local authorities from the Scottish Government is provided via a block grant and we do not stipulate how local authorities should utilise their individual allocations. It is therefore the responsibility of each local authority to manage their own budget and to allocate the financial resources available to them on the basis of local needs and priorities, having first fulfilled their statutory obligations and the jointly agreed set of national and local priorities.
- Asked by: Alex Cole-Hamilton, MSP for Edinburgh Western, Scottish Liberal Democrats
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 02 May 2023
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Current Status:
Answered by Neil Gray on 11 May 2023
To ask the Scottish Government whether TikTok has had any association with, or taken part in, any Scottish Government employability schemes.
Answer
Delivery partners are responsible for awareness raising and promotion of Scottish employability services, and use a variety of channels for this including social media. The Scottish Government’s Employability social media promotional activity to date has not used the TikTok platform.