- Asked by: Paul Sweeney, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 24 May 2023
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Current Status:
Taken in the Chamber on 31 May 2023
To ask the Scottish Government, regarding its cross-government co-ordination on island connectivity, what discussions the rural affairs secretary has had with ministerial colleagues regarding any impact of the continued delay of vessels 801 and 802 on island communities.
Answer
Taken in the Chamber on 31 May 2023
- Asked by: Paul Sweeney, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Thursday, 04 May 2023
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Current Status:
Answered by Graeme Dey on 17 May 2023
To ask the Scottish Government when a final decision will be taken regarding funding allocation for student mental health counsellors for the next academic year.
Answer
We have made significant investment to introduce more than 80 extra counsellors across institutions and have committed funding to maintain support through to the end of this academic year.
No decision has yet been taken with regard to funding beyond the current academic year.
- Asked by: Paul Sweeney, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Friday, 05 May 2023
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Current Status:
Answered by Kevin Stewart on 16 May 2023
To ask the Scottish Government what its position is on whether the provisions in the Heritage Railways and Tramways (Voluntary Work) Bill, introduced in the UK Parliament, if passed, will have an effect in Scotland, and, if they will not, whether it will consider introducing equivalent legislation in Scotland.
Answer
I note that the Heritage Railways and Tramways (Voluntary Work) Bill is going through the UK Parliamentary process. Railway Safety legislation is reserved to the UK Parliament, and would be expected to apply in Scotland.
The Scottish Government considers it sensible to permit young people to volunteer on heritage railways and tramways with appropriate safety and protection arrangements.
- Asked by: Paul Sweeney, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Thursday, 04 May 2023
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Current Status:
Answered by Neil Gray on 16 May 2023
To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S6W-17014 by Neil Gray on 28 April 2023, whether the Clydebridge Steelworks site in Cambuslang remains an operational asset of Liberty Steel Group Holdings UK Ltd for the manufacture of quenched and tempered steel plate; how many people are currently employed at the site; whether there is a future investment plan for the site, and what steps are being taken to secure and maintain existing machinery and fixed assets at the site.
Answer
I understand, from recent communication with Liberty Steel UK, that the Clydebridge Steelworks site in Cambuslang is not currently operational. The future of the site is an operational matter for Liberty Steel and I further understand that a number of options for the future of the site are being considered.
There are currently no staff employed at the Clydebridge site. Staff from Liberty Steel’s other Scottish facility, Liberty Steel Dalzell in Motherwell, are able to attend the site to attend to any necessary operational matters if required.
Liberty Steel have been working closely with Police Scotland and Securitas to ensure appropriate measures are in place to minimise intrusion and further damage to the Clydebridge site. There are significant security measures in place which are linked up to Securitas offices and security staff at Liberty Steel Dalzell. The Clydebridge facility itself is fully secure and further work has been carried out in reinforcing existing secure entrance points. Mobile security inspections are also being undertaken.
- Asked by: Paul Sweeney, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Thursday, 27 April 2023
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Current Status:
Answered by Maree Todd on 15 May 2023
To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on what progress it has made towards delivering the Bute House Agreement commitment to develop a long-term mental health workforce plan.
Answer
A programme of stakeholder engagement has taken place to develop our strategic approach to workforce planning for mental health and wellbeing. Our strategic approach, which will align with the Health and Social Care: National Workforce Strategy published March 2022, will be included within the forthcoming Mental Health and Wellbeing Strategy.
We continue to work closely with stakeholders to develop the Mental Health and Wellbeing Workforce Action Plan which will accompany the Strategy's delivery plan, with the intention of publishing in Autumn 2023.
- Asked by: Paul Sweeney, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Thursday, 27 April 2023
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Current Status:
Answered by Jenny Gilruth on 15 May 2023
To ask the Scottish Government what steps are being taken to raise awareness of mental health and wellbeing issues in schools and colleges.
Answer
The mental health and wellbeing of children and young people is an absolute priority for the Scottish Government and we continue to prioritise support for mental health and wellbeing in schools.
We support our local authority partners with £16 million in funding to ensure that every secondary school has access to counselling services to support delivery of the commitment. We also published a Whole School Approach Framework and a professional learning resource to assist school staff in supporting children and young people’s mental health in schools.
To help raise awareness of mental health and wellbeing, we currently support NUS Think Positive which sign-posts help for students, where colleges and universities can share good practice and where, through Student Mental Health Agreements, students’ associations and institutions collaborate on institutional mental health practices.
We will also be producing a Student Mental Health Plan which, by linking to our Suicide Prevention Strategy and the forthcoming Mental Health and Wellbeing Strategy, which will assist in bringing all aspects of mental health to the fore.
- Asked by: Paul Sweeney, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Thursday, 27 April 2023
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Current Status:
Answered by Maree Todd on 15 May 2023
To ask the Scottish Government what progress it has made towards delivering the Bute House Agreement commitment to embed the NHS Education Scotland mental health knowledge and skills framework to support the training of all staff working with children and young people.
Answer
The Scottish Government continues to invest in a range of mental health and wellbeing training and education materials to support all staff working with children and young people.
This includes the NHS Education Scotland (NES) Children and Young People's Mental Health and Wellbeing Knowledge and Skills Framework , published in 2021 and available to the entire children and families workforce through the Turas learn platform. The knowledge and skills framework is accompanied by a Digital Learning Map, which has been available since December 2022. This enables staff to access high quality training resources and plan their learning journeys; whilst assisting leaders in the development of learning and development pathways for staff groups.
Through the Scottish Government/COSLA Children and Young People’s Mental Health and Wellbeing Joint Delivery Board, NES worked with a range of stakeholder groups to identify ways to encourage wider use of the Knowledge and Skills Framework and Digital Learning Map. This work led to the development of new resources and improvements such as a training checklist, a ‘One Good Adult’ job description and an evaluation toolkit to make it easier for all professionals to make best use of the Framework and Learning Map.
In addition, in June 2021, Scottish Government launched a new professional learning resource available to all school staff as part of our Mental Health and Wellbeing: Whole School Approach Framework. This new resource, developed by the Mental Health in Schools Working Group, will help to ensure all school staff can recognise the range of mental health and wellbeing concerns that young people may experience and work effectively to support them.
- Asked by: Paul Sweeney, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Friday, 28 April 2023
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Current Status:
Answered by Jenni Minto on 15 May 2023
To ask the Scottish Government how much funding has been allocated to its Health Inequalities Unit from 2020 to 2023, broken down by financial year.
Answer
The following table shows Scottish Government staffing costs for Health Inequalities (HI) policy functions from 2020 to 2023, and the total over this period.
| | April 2020-March 2021 | April 2021-March 2022 | April 2022-March 2023 | Total (April 2020-March 2023) |
Total | £418,000 | £866,000 | £900,000 | £2,184,000 |
Health Inequalities policy functions include specific work in relation to socioeconomic determinants of health and inequalities experienced by particular groups. However, all of the work of the Population Health Directorate seeks to reduce health inequalities, as does wider work taken forward within other Health Directorates, e.g. Primary Care and Mental Health, and the wider Scottish Government, e.g. Tackling Child Poverty and Social Justice.
- Asked by: Paul Sweeney, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 26 April 2023
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Current Status:
Answered by Maree Todd on 12 May 2023
To ask the Scottish Government how the additional £15 million funding for the Communities Mental Health and Wellbeing Fund will be allocated, and when it expects to have reached a final decision on which community organisations will be awarded grants from the fund.
Answer
The Communities Mental Health and Wellbeing Fund for Adults is distributed through by Third Sector Interfaces (TSI) across all regions of Scotland, who deliver the Fund locally to grassroots community organisations, in partnership with others including Health and Social Care Partnerships, local councils and people with lived experience. This ensures that the Fund, is able to respond to local needs and circumstances, whilst adhering to national guidance. This will continue to be the case in 2023-24.
The share of the fund that each TSI receives is calculated by using the National Resource Allocation Formula (NRAC) to ensure a fair distribution of the fund.
Timing of local fund processes including award decisions will vary across regions, with each TSI led partnership agreeing their own process and timetable. Information on how to apply for this year’s funding will be accessible in due course on the TSI Scotland website . All TSIs will have distributed funding no later than 31 March 2024.
- Asked by: Paul Sweeney, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 25 April 2023
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Current Status:
Answered by Michael Matheson on 11 May 2023
To ask the Scottish Government whether it will consider the redevelopment of the Institute of Neurological Sciences in Glasgow as an opportunity to establish a Centre of Excellence for brain tumour research in Scotland.
Answer
The Scottish Government meet weekly with the team at NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde to discuss their capital investment plans, including redevelopment of the Institute of Neurological Sciences in Glasgow. The Scottish Government would be happy to discuss with NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde any plans they have to establish a Centre of Excellence for Brain Tumour Research in Scotland.
