- Asked by: Stephen Kerr, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Monday, 29 January 2024
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Current Status:
Answered by Michael Matheson on 6 February 2024
To ask the Scottish Government what objectives it set for any funding that it has provided to the John Shivas Memorial Trust since 2019.
Answer
The Scottish Government has not provided funding for the John Shivas Memorial Trust.
- Asked by: Alex Cole-Hamilton, MSP for Edinburgh Western, Scottish Liberal Democrats
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Date lodged: Thursday, 25 January 2024
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Current Status:
Answered by Maree Todd on 6 February 2024
To ask the Scottish Government how many mental health first aiders (a) have been trained in each of the last five years and (b) are currently being trained; how many people are currently employed to train mental health first aiders, and how much money it (i) has spent in each of the last five years and (ii) is currently spending on training mental health first aiders.
Answer
The following table shows the number of participants undertaking Mental Health First Aid (MHFA) training over the last 5 years, including numbers to date in 2024, based on the latest available data, as well as the total number of MHFA trainers (active and inactive) since 2020 to date.
1 April –
31 March | Number of people who have participated in the SMHFA programme | Number of trainers (active and inactive)* | Number of active Trainers |
2019-2020 | 7906 | Data not available** | 176 |
2020-2021 | 443 | 290 | 167 |
2021-2022 | 828*** | 290 | 167 |
2022-2023 | 5133 | 324 | 201 (34 new trainers) |
2023-2024 | 4604**** | 324 | 201 |
TABLE NOTES :-
*total number of trainers who have completed the programme to become a trainer. Active trainers have completed the required number of training sessions in each year and have completed General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) requirements. Inactive trainers might not have delivered the required training sessions or completed GDPR compliance
**work was undertaken during period to review all trainer accounts
***programme restarted course in November 2021 following a programme break due to COVID
**** up to January 2024
The following table shows the total spend on MHFA over the last 5 complete financial year.
This includes spend which is allocated by the Scottish Government to Public Health Scotland for this purpose and does not cover any training fees charged to participants by independent trainers to deliver the MHFA programme. Actual spend data is not available yet for the whole of financial year 2023-24, so an estimated figure is provided.
Financial Year | Amount |
2023-2024 | £43526 (estimated) |
2022-2023 | £42014 |
2021-2022 | £59740 |
2020-2021 | £28350 |
2019-2020 | £49000 |
- Asked by: Katy Clark, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Thursday, 25 January 2024
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Current Status:
Answered by Fiona Hyslop on 6 February 2024
To ask the Scottish Government how many of the 357 stations that are managed by ScotRail, as at 31 March 2023, have access to Changing Places toilet facilities, and, of these, how many have restricted hours of access to the facilities based on the hours that the station is staffed.
Answer
This is an operational matter for ScotRail. The Member may wish to contact ScotRail directly.
- Asked by: Miles Briggs, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 24 January 2024
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Current Status:
Answered by Jenni Minto on 6 February 2024
To ask the Scottish Government what urgent steps are being taken to reach undiagnosed individuals living with hepatitis C (HCV).
Answer
The most recent surveillance report from Public Health Scotland (PHS) indicates that the number of people tested for HCV antibody in Scotland in 2022 had almost recovered to the level seen before the pandemic in 2019, however we know that further work is required to reach undiagnosed individuals living with HCV.
Current work includes ensuring that opt-out testing is proactively and consistently offered in key settings such as drug services and prisons, and we are also working with three Health Boards to pilot opt-out testing for HCV and other blood borne viruses (BBVs) in emergency department settings.
The Scottish Government has also funded research to identify the optimal approach to testing for BBVs for people at highest risk in Scotland, in order to reduce undiagnosed infections, increase linkage to care for those not in treatment, improve health and prevent BBV transmission. The findings will inform future testing strategies.
- Asked by: Miles Briggs, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 24 January 2024
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Current Status:
Answered by Jenni Minto on 6 February 2024
To ask the Scottish Government what urgent support is being offered to NHS boards to ensure that the elimination of hepatitis C (HCV) as a public health concern in Scotland is achieved by the end of the 2024-25 financial year.
Answer
The Scottish Government remains committed to achieving the elimination of hepatitis C (HCV) in Scotland by the end of the 2024-25 financial year. However, we know that achieving elimination and meeting our target will take a concerted effort at national and local level.
As outlined in the Scottish Government’s recently published Sexual Health and Blood Borne Virus (SHBBV) Action Plan 2023-26 , we will be reinstating SHBBV-focused visits to NHS Boards. This is part of our ongoing work to support boards on a case-by-case basis to understand their unique circumstances and help overcome barriers they may face to achieving HCV elimination and other SHBBV goals. We will also continue to work with the Hepatitis C Elimination Implementation Group to consider where support is most required.
- Asked by: Liam McArthur, MSP for Orkney Islands, Scottish Liberal Democrats
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 23 January 2024
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Current Status:
Answered by Richard Lochhead on 6 February 2024
To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S6F-02720 by Humza Yousaf on 18 January 2024, whether the First Minister plans to request the addition of a correction in the Official Report in relation to his claim that "All homes and businesses across Scotland can currently access a superfast broadband service", in light of Ofcom statistics reportedly showing that superfast availability across Scotland is at 94.7%.
Answer
As outlined in response to question S6W-24707 on 6 February 2024 every home and business across Scotland should be able to access a superfast broadband connection – either through fixed line broadband, mobile broadband, fixed wireless access or using newer technologies such as Low Earth Orbit (LEO) satellites.
The superfast broadband figure quoted in Ofcom’s latest Connected Nations Report published on 19 th December 2023 relates to the availability of fixed line broadband only, which currently stands at 95% across Scotland.
The same Ofcom 2023 report also states that “Starlink [an LEO satellite service] currently… delivers nationwide broadband coverage, including in harder-to-reach areas” and that “Ofcom home broadband performance measurements suggest measured speeds on its [Starlink] network average around 100 Mbit/s download and 14 Mbit/s upload.”
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: Graham Simpson, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 23 January 2024
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Current Status:
Answered by Graeme Dey on 6 February 2024
To ask the Scottish Government what impact assessment was conducted regarding the £9.3 million reduction to the “Skills Programmes” budget line in its Budget 2024-25.
Answer
Our children, young people, families and learners of all ages continue to be a key priority for this Government and we will continue to focus on our three central missions of equality, opportunity, and community. We also have to make difficult budget choices due to the pressures on our public services and the lack of funding from the UK Government resulting in the most challenging fiscal position since devolution.
We remain committed to supporting a high quality post-school education, research and skills system with over £2.4 billion investment. This will maintain Scotland’s reputation for world-leading research; provide opportunities for people to learn and develop their skills through further and higher education, apprenticeships and other programmes including Developing the Young Workforce. We are also honouring this government’s commitment to free tuition; and providing vital financial support to students to support them in completing their studies in the face of significant cost of living pressures.
The impact assessments which support the draft Budget 2024-25 can be found at this link: Scottish Budget - gov.scot (www.gov.scot) .
- Asked by: Paul O'Kane, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 23 January 2024
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Current Status:
Answered by Shirley-Anne Somerville on 6 February 2024
To ask the Scottish Government whether it can provide a list of voluntary sector organisations in receipt of Scottish Government funding that have received a reduction in their award, including the amount of any such reductions, in each of the last three financial years.
Answer
Information about third sector grants is not currently collated centrally.
The Scottish Government provides support to voluntary sector organisations from a range of budget lines across Ministerial portfolio. This includes direct grants as well as funding distributed as part of partner-led funding programmes and through public bodies.
- Asked by: Monica Lennon, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 23 January 2024
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Current Status:
Answered by Jenni Minto on 6 February 2024
To ask the Scottish Government whether it can detail what its policies are in relation to designing clinical models for independent hospices.
Answer
It is for Integration Joint Boards to govern, plan and resource adult palliative care in their areas, including independent hospice care. The Scottish Government is developing a national guidance framework to support local planning and commissioning of independent care between Integration Joint Boards and independent hospices.
- Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Monday, 05 February 2024
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Current Status:
Taken in the Chamber on 6 February 2024
To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on the reported recall of 150,000 women who were wrongly excluded from cervical cancer screening since 1997.
Answer
Taken in the Chamber on 6 February 2024
