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-08527

Asked by: Sharon Dowey, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 12 May 2022
Current Status: Answered by Humza Yousaf on 24 May 2022

To ask the Scottish Government how many hospitals in the network of national treatment centres are (a) new hospitals, (b) old NHS hospitals and (c) private hospitals that have been taken over by the NHS.

The National Treatment Centres are all new build centres that are being developed on existing hospital sites as either a new stand-alone facility or as an extension to the existing hospital building. The exception to this is the NTC in Highland that is being built on a new site that is not an existing hospital site.

Carrick Glen is the only NTC that is being developed from a previously independent sector facility.

Question reference: S6W-08533

Asked by: Sharon Dowey, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 12 May 2022
Current Status: Answered by Humza Yousaf on 24 May 2022

To ask the Scottish Government what major orthopaedics surgery will be available to patients at Carrick Glen Hospital following its reopening.

Question reference: S6W-08530

Asked by: Sharon Dowey, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 12 May 2022
Current Status: Answered by Humza Yousaf on 24 May 2022

To ask the Scottish Government how many additional surgeries and procedures it estimates will be carried out in each year at Carrick Glen Hospital following its reopening.

Question reference: S6W-08532

Asked by: Sharon Dowey, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 12 May 2022
Current Status: Answered by Humza Yousaf on 24 May 2022

To ask the Scottish Government how many (a) high dependency unit (HDU) and (b) intensive care unit (ICU) beds there will be in Carrick Glen Hospital following its reopening.

Question reference: S6F-01137

Asked by: Sharon Dowey, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 23 May 2022
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 26 May 2022

To ask the First Minister what the Scottish Government's position is on whether burning waste is good for the environment.

Question reference: S6W-08329

Asked by: Sharon Dowey, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 03 May 2022
Current Status: Answered by Angus Robertson on 17 May 2022

To ask the Scottish Government how much funding it anticipates will be made available for the Scottish Council on Global Affairs in addition to the £27,000 secured for its first year.

Question reference: S6W-08330

Asked by: Sharon Dowey, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 03 May 2022
Current Status: Answered by Angus Robertson on 17 May 2022

To ask the Scottish Government how many staff will be recruited for the Scottish Council on Global Affairs; where it will be located, and what its remit will be.

Question reference: S6W-08327

Asked by: Sharon Dowey, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 03 May 2022
Current Status: Answered by Mairi McAllan on 12 May 2022

To ask the Scottish Government what projects will be launched in 2022 as part of the Climate Justice Fund.

In 2022, under the Climate Justice Fund, the Scottish Government will launch programmes to support the three pillars of distributive, procedural and transformative climate justice. These were identified as priorities by the independent evaluation of the Climate Justice Fund, as well as via stakeholder engagement, as central to achieving effective and sustainable climate justice.

We are in the process of finalising the procurement process, with the programmes due to be launched in Summer 2022. Additional details, including eligibility criteria, will be published on ScotGov’s website shortly.

Question reference: S6W-08324

Asked by: Sharon Dowey, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 03 May 2022
Current Status: Answered by Neil Gray on 12 May 2022

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on its plans to increase the International Development Fund by £1.5 million from April 2022.

The Scottish Government is proud to be increasing our International Development Fund by 50%, over this parliament, at a time when the UKG has reduced its bilateral programmes for the most vulnerable communities in the world by 53%.

Our first uplift towards that commitment to a £15 million per annum International Development Fund was introduced from April 2022, an additional £1.5 million this financial year, as announced in the Scottish Government Budget.

We have agreed a 1 year extension period with the majority of our cohort of competitively awarded Zambia and Rwanda projects (2017-22), to now take them also to a new finish date of March 2023. We are also discussing with our partner countries additional funding to support their sustainable recovery from COVID, including on areas like vaccine equity.

We are also currently considering our programmes in the light of the findings of our Review into our approach to International Development, working towards new Programmes commencing in 2023. We will provide further details to the Parliament in due course.

Question reference: S6W-08173

Asked by: Sharon Dowey, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 22 April 2022
Current Status: Answered by Kevin Stewart on 11 May 2022

To ask the Scottish Government how many mental health professionals (a) are available to help Ukrainian refugees and (b) it plans to recruit in the next 12 months.

(a) Available Mental Health Professionals to help Ukrainian refugee;

The Scottish Government does not hold data on the Mental Health Professionals currently available to provide support to Ukrainian refugees.

We recognise the importance of providing a warm welcome to displaced Ukrainians coming to Scotland and recognise that they will have their own unique emotional needs. To support this, the Scottish Government has produced three psychological wellbeing information packs, one for those arriving from Ukraine, one for host families and one for services and staff providing care.

These resources explain the principles of Psychological first aid and provide links to further information sources which can be used to support psychological wellbeing and direct people to appropriate services and support including for example the Scottish Refugee Council. We are ensuring accessibility of this resource by creating an easy read version, along with Ukrainian and Russian translations of the pack.

We expect Ukrainians needing to engage mental health services to do so through the existing, established routes. Health Boards will ensure that people have access to a level of primary and secondary health care services designed to ensure that their health needs are identified and addressed appropriately and effectively. Health Boards have established protocols, working with Health & Social Partnerships and Local Authorities, to provide services to patients who are asylum seekers or refugees, as well as specific learning from both the Syrian Refugee Resettlement Programme and Afghan Relocation & Assistance Policy.

We are already increasing the funding and workforce delivering Psychological Therapies. Equipping those arriving, their hosts and Scottish services to care for the physical and mental wellbeing of those fleeing the war remains a priority.

( b) Recruitment in the next 12 months; The future recruitment plans for mental health professionals are an issue for Health Boards to address as employers. While the Scottish Government provides the policies, frameworks and resources for high quality healthcare, it is for each NHS Board to decide best how to utilise funding, facilities and staff while taking account of national and local priorities to meet local health needs. We expect NHS Boards to plan their facilities and workforce to deliver these services, ensuring the provision of safe, effective and high quality patient care, delivered by the right professional at the right time.

Since 2006-7, NHS mental health expenditure has seen an increase of 65% and these unprecedented levels of direct investment in mental health services are enabling a significant expansion of the mental health workforce, as we continue to create new posts.

Over recent years, in line with our Mental Health Strategy, our Transition and Recovery Plan and the Health and Social Care Workforce Strategy, we have worked with Health Boards and Integration Joint Boards to increase the workforce. Through Action 15 of the Mental Health Strategy, we have been working to recruit 800 additional Mental Health Workers. We have also committed to creating a network of 1,000 additional dedicated staff in Primary Care Mental Health and Wellbeing Services by 2026. We are also providing funding for around 320 additional staff in CAMHS over the next 5 years; increasing student intake for Psychology Master’s and Doctorate training programmes; creating new roles, such as Psychology Wellbeing Practitioners in NHS24 and Enhanced Psychology Practitioners in primary care, community, early years, and schools; and increasing nursing student places.