Seòmar agus comataidhean

I refer the member to the answer to question S6W-17450 on 11 May 2023. 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 .

The former Minister for Mental Health and Wellbeing, Kevin Stewart, wrote to the Health, Social Care and Sport Committee on 23 March to inform them that the Scottish Government was happy to accept all 10 of the recommendations made by the National Autism Implementation Team in their report published on adult neurodevelopmental pathways in Scotland.

Neither the Scottish Government nor Health Boards hold data on privately paid prescriptions provided by independent healthcare providers.

The Scottish Government welcomes the continued and significant benefit that horseracing brings to the Scottish economy, providing investment, tourism, and jobs in communities across Scotland. The annual review recently produced by Scottish Racing, clearly demonstrates this and the forecasted growth in the industry is hugely encouraging.

The Scottish Government was pleased to be able to support Scotland’s racecourses who were impacted so severely by Covid-19 and we look forward to working with Scottish Racing going forward to maximise the benefits the industry brings.

The Mental Welfare Commission produces annual reports on admissions of young people under the age of 18 to non-specialist wards in Scotland. The latest report was published on 1 December 2022, and can be found here: ChildrenYoungPeople_MonitoringReport_2021-22.pdf (mwcscot.org.uk) . Table 1 provides a breakdown of numbers of young people admitted to non-specialist facilities by year from 2012/13 (177 admissions relating to 148 young people) to 2021/22 (90 admissions relating to 80 young people).

Information on young people placed in adult mental health services has more recently also become available through the Mental Health Quality Indicator Profile publication. Under the “Equitable” theme of indicators, indicator EQ4 provides data on the percentage of under 18 year old psychiatric admissions admitted out with NHS specialist Child and Adolescent Mental Health (CAMH) wards. Please note this information is only published at a national level. The Mental Health Quality Indicators were produced in September 2018 and data on these was first published on 17 March 2020. Indicator EQ4 was first published on 23 March 2021.

The most recent Mental Health Quality Indicator Profile publication can be found here: https://www.publichealthscotland.scot/publications/mental-health-quality-indicator-profile/mental-health-quality-indicator-profile-25-april-2023/.

Details of how the exclusion will apply are currently being worked out in consultation with the sector, and once published the stadium and other hospitality businesses will be able to assess if they eligible for an automatic exclusion. If they are not then they may still be eligible for an exclusion on the grounds specified in the regulations.

The most recent instance of Scottish Ministers declining to consent to a first grant of temporary release of a life sentence prisoner was in January 2018, where the Minister indicated that on the basis of the information presented in regard to the individual, they were not willing to give consent.

It would not be appropriate to publish information regarding the circumstances of an individual prisoner.

The Scottish Government funds for drug and alcohol programmes and services through a range of channels.

• In 2021-22 the total annual budget for drugs and alcohol was around £140 million, increasing slightly in 2022-23 to £141.9 million.

I refer the member to the answer to question S6W-16986 on 11 May 2023. 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

Collaboration and engagement is a cornerstone of all transport activity and there is community engagement at all levels of transport decision making. My predecessors and I, and Transport Scotland officials, have engaged with communities in developing and implementing strategies and on specific projects such as the Islands Connectivity Plan and Project Neptune, and will, of course, continue to do so in the future.

The previous Minister for Transport and the Cabinet Secretary for Rural Affairs, Land Reform and Islands met with the Islands Strategic Group (ISG) on 9 March 2023. The ISG was established in 2016 to consider issues affecting our inhabited island communities, and to ensure greater involvement of the relevant councils in helping identify and design solutions to the unique needs and challenges we know these communities face. The next ISG, which includes the Islands Transport Forum, that I chair, is scheduled to meet next month.

In addition, in May I met with the leader of Orkney Islands Council, Councillor James Stockan, following the grounding of the MV Pentalina. In our discussion, I informed Councillor Stockan that I, and the Government, will continue to monitor the situation. Following discussions, I am pleased to confirm that NorthLink will be increasing sailings across the Pentland Firth to 4 sailings initially for three nights a week, with a review to assess on-going demand as we move further into the summer season.

Furthermore, the Cabinet Secretary for Rural Affairs, Land Reform and Islands launched the Young Islanders Network (YIN) on Orkney on the 31 August 2022 on behalf of the Scottish Government, providing children and young people with a platform to support meaningful contributions to National Islands Plan (NIP) delivery and to their current and future life on islands.

YIN members are empowered to set their own agenda – based on how they want to address the local and national priorities that matter to them the most.