Seòmar agus comataidhean

I refer the member to the answer to question S6W-07621 on 25 April 2022. 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

Through our £290 million Cost of Living support package, we will give 1.85 million (73%) of Scottish households £150 of extra support via the Council Tax. We have also allocated a further £10 million to continue our Fuel Insecurity Fund, which is aimed at those in greatest need.

The Fuel Insecurity Fund is delivered through trusted third sector partner organisations, providing direct support to people at risk of severely self-rationing their energy use, or self-disconnecting entirely, due to the cost of their fuel bills. Assistance can be accessed by households on any tariff type and using any fuel source.

The Scottish Government is committed to ensuring that everyone living in Scotland with Huntington’s Disease is able to access the best possible care and support, and benefit from healthcare services that are safe, effective and put people at the centre of their care.

The Scottish Huntington’s Association (SHA) submitted an application to the latest round of funding provided via the Neurological Care and Support – a National Framework for Action , to support the recruitment of a Peripatetic Huntington’s Disease Specialist.

Applications for funding were assessed and scored by a panel however, unfortunately, the SHA’s application was not successful.

Despite the application being unsuccessful, we want to better understand the need for further provisions and service development across neurological conditions, including Huntington’s Disease, and Scottish Government officials plan to meet with SHA to further explore the issue.

Pay is an ongoing issue for Agenda for Change trade unions and the position for 2022-23 has been discussed regularly in the meetings I have had with health trade unions, as well as at the Scottish Terms and Conditions Committee, and in meetings involving Scottish Government officials.

I refer the member to the answer to question S6W-07488 on 25 April 2022. 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 Scottish Government acknowledges the importance of the Growing Up in Scotland Study (GUS) longitudinal study which allows us to track the health and wellbeing of Scotland’s children and young people over an extended period of time. We also note with concern the initial findings from the most recent GUS ‘Life at Age 14’ report published on 15 February 2022.

The report, which is based on data collected in 2019/20, aligns with our understanding of the need to ensure that all children and young people are able to access the right support for their mental health and wellbeing as early as possible, without stigma.

That is why we continue to prioritise building and improving mental health and wellbeing support services for children and young people and continue to invest significantly in supporting the mental health and wellbeing of our children and young people. In the 2021-22 financial year this included: Investing £40 million in improving Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services, £16 million on our commitment for all secondary schools in Scotland to have access to a mental health counsellor, £15 million on provided to local authorities to fund over 230 new and enhanced community supports and services for children and young people and over £160 thousand to provide enhanced digital resources on mental health and wellbeing available via the Young Scot 'Aye Feel’ website, Scottish Youth Parliament ‘Mind Yer Time’ websites.

In addition we have invested in a range of resources to support parents, cares and adults working with children and young people to ensure they are fully equipped with the tools and knowledge needed to make a difference to children and young peoples lives. This includes investing in a suite of resources for all school staff , developed by our Mental Health in Schools National Working Group, and providing a range of advice and resources for parents and carers, available through ParentClub.scot , including specific resources for parents of teenage children .

I refer the member to the answer to question S6W-07562 on 19 April 2022. 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 Scottish Government is clear that deposit return schemes (DRS) are a form of extended producer responsibility (EPR). Therefore, producers will not have to purchase Packaging Waste Recycling Notes (PRNs) or Packaging Waste Export Recycling Notes (PERNs), or pay producer fees under packaging EPR once that is operational, for containers collected through our DRS. We are working with the other UK administrations to legislate to give effect to this position.

On the member’s questions regarding quantity and quality of glass collected through our DRS, I refer him to the answer to question S6W-07104, answered on 18 March 2022. Increased quantity and quality of glass cullet means more glass available to go to re-melt and we would expect Scotland’s glass industry to benefit from this economic opportunity.

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 .

We are aware that the percentage of eligible young people holding cards providing free bus travel under the new Young Persons’ Scheme varies between local authorities. There will be a variety of reasons for this, including different levels of local awareness and interest in the scheme and also variations in how different local authorities handle applications which come to them rather than through the national online portal, getyournec.scot, and Transport Scotland’s Pass Collect app (for people between 16 and 21 who already possess an active NEC or Young Scot NEC card). We estimate that the number of cards produced and dispatched for South Lanarkshire as of 19 April 2022 represented 14% of the eligible population.

We are working with our delivery partners, including the Improvement Service and local authorities, to identify and support improvements to both online and offline processes to maximise the uptake of scheme and get cards issued faster. One such measure, which we are encouraging, is to coordinate applications through schools on behalf of pupils. Some authorities are already doing this, including – we understand – South Lanarkshire for pupils moving up to secondary school.

There are currently five Confucius Institutes hosted by universities in Scotland.