- 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 4 May 2023
To ask the Scottish Government what engagement it has had with NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde regarding the redevelopment of the Institute of Neurological Sciences in Glasgow.
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.
- Asked by: Paul Sweeney, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 03 May 2023
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Current Status:
Taken in the Chamber on 11 May 2023
To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on the delivery of the Scottish Welfare Fund.
Answer
Taken in the Chamber on 11 May 2023
- Asked by: Paul Sweeney, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Monday, 03 April 2023
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Current Status:
Answered by Maree Todd on 2 May 2023
To ask the Scottish Government how many mental health community link workers were recruited in each financial year from 2016-17 to 2021-22, broken down by NHS board.
Answer
Community Link Workers are generalists who support people with a range of social and economic issues which can include mental health. The Primary Care Improvement Fund (PCIF) funds Community Link Workers (CLWs) as part of primary care multi-disciplinary teams (MDTs). At March 2022, 249 WTE CLWs had been recruited to support GP practices.
The Scottish Government published information on the number CLWs recruited broken down by Integration Authority, on 21 June 2022.Further information, including the location by Integration Authority, of CLWs by both headcount and whole time equivalent, since 2018, can be accessed at: Supporting documents - Primary care improvement plans: summary of implementation progress - March 2022 - gov.scot (www.gov.scot) . This does not include CLWs recruited through funding other than PCIF funding.
The Scottish Government has already invested significantly to build mental health capacity including our Action 15 commitment to funding 800 additional mental health workers in key settings, including A&Es, GP practices, police station custody suite and prisons – ensuring local provision and support is at the heart of our plans. As at 12 July 2022, an additional 958.9 whole time equivalent (WTE) mental health roles have been filled using Action 15 funding, including 356.1 WTE posts in GP practices and a further 259.9 WTE mental health workers recruited under the Primary Care Improvement Fund (PCIF). A full performance report can be found here , Mental health workers: quarterly performance reports .
- Asked by: Paul Sweeney, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 18 April 2023
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Current Status:
Answered by Graeme Dey on 2 May 2023
To ask the Scottish Government what its response is to reports that the Scottish Training Federation has warned that thousands of young people across Scotland have been “left in limbo” as no new modern apprenticeships will be available “for the foreseeable future”, as a result of delays in Scottish Government funding to Skills Development Scotland, which is reportedly resulting in employers putting their recruitment plans on hold, and training providers looking at laying off staff due to the shortage of work.
Answer
Modern Apprenticeships are a vital resource for employers to invest in their workforce and for people to develop their skills. Investing in skills across people’s lifetimes is critical to our future productivity and success, underlining our commitment to a skilled workforce set out within the National Strategy for Economic Transformation.
Our priority is for high quality apprenticeships that provide sustainable jobs and careers, supporting our transition to net zero.
SDS have issued contract awards for new Modern Apprenticeships for this financial year to support up to 25,500 new Modern Apprenticeship starts in 2023-24. SDS previously issued contracts in March for over 39,000 Modern Apprentices in training for 2023-24 supporting businesses and individuals across Scotland.
- Asked by: Paul Sweeney, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 05 April 2023
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Current Status:
Answered by Maree Todd on 2 May 2023
To ask the Scottish Government what assessment it has made of the social impact of grassroots boxing clubs in local communities, and, if none, whether it will consider undertaking research to measure any such impact.
Answer
While the Scottish Government has not undertaken any assessment of the social impact of grassroots boxing we recognise that boxing as a sport is continuing to break down barriers. The wide reach of boxing related projects continues to grow with a lasting and positive impact on people and communities.
Boxing has the ability to reach into disadvantaged communities and engage young people who otherwise might not participate in sport, providing a significant opportunity to address a number of issues including improving health outcomes, reducing inequalities, and benefiting social regeneration.
We will continue to work with sport scotland and Boxing Scotland to ensure that grassroots boxing maintains its positive impact on communities throughout Scotland.
- Asked by: Paul Sweeney, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 05 April 2023
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Current Status:
Answered by Maree Todd on 2 May 2023
To ask the Scottish Government what assessment it has made of the financial viability of community boxing clubs in Scotland, and what steps it will take to prevent clubs from closing due to increased running and utilities costs in the next financial year.
Answer
While the Scottish Government has not undertaken any assessment of the financial viability of community boxing clubs, we recognise their importance to the overall physical, mental and social health of communities across Scotland.
sport scotland investment into Boxing Scotland supports a wide range of boxing activity that encourages and supports people to participate in boxing, including both club and coach development.
We understand the challenging financial circumstances facing many sports facilities and are fully aware that rising energy costs are a significant issue. Given that most of the levers to respond to these challenges are reserved, we strongly urge the UK Government to use all the powers at its disposal to tackle this cost of living crisis.
The Scottish Government will continue to work with sport scotland to explore how facility operators and the wider sporting sector can best be supported.
- Asked by: Paul Sweeney, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 18 April 2023
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Current Status:
Answered by Neil Gray on 28 April 2023
To ask the Scottish Government whether it has had any engagement with Liberty Steel Group Holdings UK Ltd regarding the reported concerns of dilapidation and vandalism affecting its Clydebridge Steelworks site in Cambuslang.
Answer
I can confirm that the Scottish Government regularly engage with Liberty Steel Group Holdings UK Ltd regarding their operations.
We are aware that last year there were instances of break-ins occurring at the Clydebridge site which were reported to the police and continue to be under investigation. Following this Liberty Steel Group put new security arrangements in place which have prevented subsequent attempts to break into the premises.
I understand that Liberty Steel Group are also undertaking work to remove graffiti from the outside of the building and are maintaining an open dialogue with Police Scotland regarding the security of the site.
- Asked by: Paul Sweeney, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Thursday, 20 April 2023
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Current Status:
Answered by Kevin Stewart on 28 April 2023
To ask the Scottish Government whether it has a development plan to grow shipping traffic and cargo tonnage handled by port facilities on the River Clyde and Firth of Clyde, and, if so, whether it will publish any such plan.
Answer
The Scottish Government have hosted a number of stakeholder meetings to explore options to help facilitate a growth of shipping traffic and cargo across ports in Scotland.
Scottish Government Trade and Transport Scotland officials are working closely with industry to identify barriers and unlock opportunities to increase volumes of exports leaving Scottish ports and airports. We have also analysed export data on routes which key Scottish exports take to market, and the underlying drivers of these route choices. We are continuing to explore how to support trade including ensuring that Scotland’s transport network is able to accommodate our export growth ambitions.
- Asked by: Paul Sweeney, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Monday, 03 April 2023
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Current Status:
Answered by Maree Todd on 27 April 2023
To ask the Scottish Government how many of the 1,000 additional dedicated roles committed to support community mental health resilience in its 2021-22 Programme for Government it has funded to date, broken down by NHS board.
Answer
As a result of the difficult decisions which had to be taken through the Emergency Budget review, recruitment of the 1,000 additional roles to support community mental health resilience, ensuring every GP Practice has access to a mental health and wellbeing service has not yet commenced. We have already prioritised significant investment to build mental health capacity in primary care through Action 15 of the Mental Health Strategy 2017-2027 and the Primary Care Improvement Fund.
We remain committed to improving mental health service provision in primary care settings. We are therefore working closely with stakeholders, including the Mental Health in Primary Care National Oversight Group, to develop plans to best use the resource available across the system in 2023-24, and in future years to improve support, assessment and treatment in primary care settings.
- Asked by: Paul Sweeney, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Monday, 03 April 2023
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Current Status:
Answered by Michael Matheson on 25 April 2023
To ask the Scottish Government what plans it has to ensure that young people with cancer have access to specialist psychological support (a) throughout and (b) beyond their treatment, wherever they live in Scotland.
Answer
Over the last year, the Managed Service Network for children and young people with cancer (MSN), reviewed the Psychology, Physiotherapy and Dietetic Resource. As a result, we agreed to make the existing provision of psychological service permanent to provide certainty and ensure young people have access to psychological support.
In addition, the Scottish Cancer Network, alongside the MSN, is currently undertaking a broader workforce mapping exercise and have established a short life working group to support this. The MSN’s review will be considered by the short life working group. This group, who will complete their mapping exercise this year, will specifically look at how we can upskill our current workforce as well as looking at wider service needs within this population group.
