Questions and answers

Chamber and committees

Questions and answers

Parliamentary questions can be asked by any MSP to the Scottish Government or the Scottish Parliamentary Corporate Body. The questions provide a means for ��˿�� to get factual and statistical information.

Written questions must be answered within 10 working days (20 working days during recess)
Other questions such as Topical, Portfolio, General and First Minister's Question Times are taken in the Chamber

Urgent Questions aren't included in the Question and Answers search. There is a SPICe fact sheet listing Urgent and emergency questions.

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Question reference: S6W-13287

Asked by: Tess White, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 15 December 2022
Current Status: Answered by Kevin Stewart on 5 January 2023

To ask the Scottish Government how many claims have been made to the Mother and Baby Unit Family Fund since its introduction in 2020, broken down by month, and, of those, how many were made by individuals residing in the North East Scotland region.

From the establishment of the Fund in April 2020, until the latest reporting in June 2022, there were 88 successful claims to the Mother and Baby Unit (MBU) Family Fund. NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde and NHS Lothian who administer the Fund on behalf of Scottish Government, do not hold comprehensive information about a claimant’s home Board. Since April 2020:

32 families made a claim to NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde MBU, with an average amount claimed of £303.
56 families made a claim to NHS Lothian MBU, with an average amount claimed of £250.

Question reference: S6W-13285

Asked by: Tess White, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 15 December 2022
Current Status: Answered by Kevin Stewart on 5 January 2023

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S6W-11581 by Kevin Stewart on 28 October 2022, whether a decision has been made regarding replacing the Perinatal and Infant Mental Health Programme Board in its current format when it is disbanded in March 2023, and what role organisations representing the third sector can expect to have in any future strategic oversight and delivery of perinatal and infant mental health services.

Perinatal and infant mental health is a key priority for the Scottish Government and the continued development and implementation of perinatal and infant mental health services across all sectors will continue to be supported. A Delivery/Implementation Group is currently being planned to build upon the successes of the Perinatal and Infant Mental Health Programme Board from April 2023.

The Third Sector play a key role in access to perinatal mental health support and has been pivotal in delivering the programme to date, including as members of the Programme Board. Third Sector organisations will continue to play a key role in the next iteration of the strategic oversight of perinatal and infant mental health across Scotland.

Question reference: S6W-13284

Asked by: Tess White, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 15 December 2022
Current Status: Answered by Kevin Stewart on 5 January 2023

To ask the Scottish Government, in light of the consultation analysis on the options to increase mother and baby unit capacity, which was published in August 2022, what consideration it has given to increasing the £500 cap on claims to the Mother and Baby Unit Family Fund for those individuals travelling long distances.

Question reference: S6W-13286

Asked by: Tess White, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 15 December 2022
Current Status: Answered by Kevin Stewart on 5 January 2023

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on work to establish a mother and baby unit in the North East Scotland region, in light of the consultation analysis on the options to increase mother and baby unit capacity, which was published in August 2022.

The consultation analysis report for the Mother and Baby Unit Capacity in Scotland consultation was published in August 2022. This report and other resources are being fed into an options appraisal which is setting out the next steps in improving specialist perinatal mental health care for women and their babies in Scotland. This will consider the geographical need and variation across Scotland. This options appraisal will be undertaken by NHS National Services Scotland and will commence in January 2023 with a view to being completed by the end of September 2023.

Question reference: S6O-01676

Asked by: Tess White, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 07 December 2022
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 14 December 2022

To ask the Scottish Government whether it has taken a decision regarding the extension of the temporary provisions in the Coronavirus (Recovery and Reform) (Scotland) Act 2022.

Question reference: S6T-01010

Asked by: Tess White, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 28 November 2022
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 29 November 2022

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on the cyber-attack on 4 August 2022 which reportedly targeted NHS Scotland's patient management software.

Question reference: S6F-01565

Asked by: Tess White, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 21 November 2022
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 24 November 2022

To ask the First Minister what assessment the Scottish Government has made of the emergency response to flooding in the north east of Scotland in recent days.

Question reference: S6W-11987

Asked by: Tess White, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 10 November 2022
Current Status: Answered by Maree Todd on 18 November 2022

To ask the Scottish Government how many women aged 75 and over have self-referred for a breast screening appointment since the programme restarted on 29 August 2022, broken down by screening centre, and whether it plans to widen the eligibility criteria for this age group to self-refer to the breast screening programme.

The Scottish Government does not hold this information centrally as it is a matter for Regional Screening Centres.

Self-referral appointments have begun in a careful, phased manner. At present, women aged 71 to 74 (up to their 75 th birthday), and women over 75 with a history of breast cancer, who have completed their hospital follow-up, can ask for a screening appointment.

The screening programme recognises the desire for clarity around when eligibility will be widened. However, it is essential to understand the impact the initial re-instatement is having on both programme capacity and overall wait times before any decisions on additional eligibility are taken. The programme is monitoring impact on an on-going basis, and I will provide an update to Parliament once any further decisions on expansion are possible.

Question reference: S6W-11583

Asked by: Tess White, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 17 October 2022
Current Status: Answered by Keith Brown on 1 November 2022

To ask the Scottish Government how much funding has been allocated to the Ready Scotland campaign in (a) each of the past three years and (b) 2022, and how much of this funding has been (i) spent on or (ii) allocated to (A) digital, (B) radio and (C) other forms of advertising.

The Scottish Government allocates a budget of £70,000 per annum to the Ready Scotland campaign, comprising a website, social media, radio and digital advertising. If required spend is likely to exceed this figure, facility exists within the relevant Scottish Government Directorate to increase the available funding.

This £70,000 budget has been in place each year since 2019-20. The actual amount spent on the Ready Scotland campaign in each financial year fluctuates markedly due to the variable number of Amber or Red weather warnings each year which require a campaign activation.

The costs in the table show the actual spend at financial year end. In the case of 2022-23 the total costs is shown as the actual spend at 31 October 2022.

Financial Year	Website	Severe Weather Activations		Other, e.g. design and printing	Total spend on Ready Scotland Campaign
Radio	Digital
2019-20	£16,176	£9,519	£11,824	£790	£38,309
2020-21	£18,343	£9,844.50	£30,141	£6,873	£59,441
2021-22	£3,011	£8,230	£40,201	£3,324	£54,766
2022-23	£14,119	£2,150	£11,906	£0	£28,175

Question reference: S6W-11581

Asked by: Tess White, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 17 October 2022
Current Status: Answered by Kevin Stewart on 28 October 2022

To ask the Scottish Government whether the Perinatal and Infant Mental Health Programme Board will be extended beyond March 2023.