Seòmar agus comataidhean

The Scottish Government is actively working with partners and people with lived experience to develop Scotland’s approach to self-harm; this is a commitment in the Mental Health Transition and Recovery plan.

In developing our approach we are considering how best to deliver our objective to ensure compassionate, trauma informed responses to people in distress who self-harm, whilst also reducing stigma.

Our initial work on self-harm included commissioning Samaritans Scotland to undertake research, which resulted in the publication of ‘Hidden too long: uncovering self-harm in Scotland’ ( https://media.samaritans.org/documents/HiddenTooLong_uncoveringself-harminScotland.pdf ). In line with that research, we have continued to engage with partners and people with lived experience to better understand the prevalence and nature of self-harm. Through the Mental Health Recovery and Renewal fund, work is being commissioned to pilot self-harm support services, develop a website to support people who self-harm and design a programme of learning for professionals. Crucially, this research, engagement and evaluation from pilots will inform our policy approach.

The Scottish Government does not hold information on the newborn hearing test and newborn infant physical examination. These would need to be requested from health boards directly.

The following table shows the number of babies screened using the bloodspot test in the newborn screening programme between January 2019 and July 2021.

It is important to note that the data provided below is management information and has not been subject to the necessary quality checks carried out for an official publication.

Information on how many people have received a dementia diagnosis in each year since 2007, broken down by NHS board, is not collected or held centrally.

Following the announcement from the First Minister of the £500 'thank you' payment for health and social care staff in November 2020, a short-life stakeholder focus group was assembled. This group, including stakeholders from social care provider representative bodies, CoSLA, trade unions, local authorities, Office of the Chief Social Work Adviser and Scottish Government legal officials, met regularly in December 2020 to agree on the eligibility criteria for social care staff to receive the payment. Social care workforce policy officials engaged with stakeholders, remotely due to restrictions, on the complexity of the guidance and sought to ensure that no processes involved would present unreasonable difficulty for stakeholders involved in the process.

For staff in NHS Scotland, it was important to set out clear qualification criteria for the payment, which were agreed in partnership with NHS employer and Trade Union colleagues, and which could be applied fairly and consistently across NHS Scotland Health Boards. The payment applies to staff directly employed by NHS payment and remuneration arrangements, and has also been extended to certain facilities management staff working in Public Finance Initiative and Public Private Partnership Hospitals who work exclusively for NHS Scotland. The Scottish Government does not hold information on all of the contractors working in the Health sector, however, those employed by a private employer and not covered by the specific provisions of PCS(COV)2021/3 are not eligible for the payment.

Scottish Ministers are incredibly grateful for the hard work and dedication of staff working for non-registered support organisations, and for the undoubtedly vital support they provide to people. However, following extensive consultation, it was determined by the stakeholder groups that only those services which were required to register with the Care Inspectorate as delivering adult social care can be considered as frontline social care. Non-registered services were considered to be support services, not delivering frontline social care and therefore not within scope to receive the payment.

The Scottish Government believe that transport plays a crucial role in supporting a green and fair recovery and that in the face of the climate emergency we need to shift away from new road projects that encourage more people to drive, and instead focus on maintaining roads, improving safety and providing a realistic and affordable alternative through investing in public transport and active travel. This is set out in the shared policy programme element of the agreement with the Scottish Green Party.

Future investment in our transport network will be set out in the second Strategic Transport Projects Review and will align with the sustainable mode and investment hierarchies. In the shared policy element of the agreement we state that during this parliamentary session, new roads projects will normally only be taken forward where they reduce the maintenance backlog; address road safety concerns or adapt the network to deal with the impacts of climate change or benefit communities such as bypassing settlements. We will not build road infrastructure to cater for forecast unconstrained increases in traffic volumes.

The Scottish Government recognises the important role the A1 plays in providing access to key markets, jobs and services between the south east of Scotland and north east England, and beyond. The Borders Transport Corridors Study, published in March 2019, identified intervention on the A1 within its 21 recommendations and further appraisal work is being down through STPR2.

The appraisal process for STPR2 is considering the performance of all options against the transport outcomes we are seeking, and against the Transport Planning Objectives, which are aligned to our National Transport Strategy priorities and outcomes. Therefore, we need to consider the social and economic benefits and impacts based on performance against these objectives, and against the five Scottish Transport Appraisal Guidance criteria, to determine overall Value for Money. Also underpinning STPR2 is the Sustainable Investment Hierarchy where we will aim first to reduce the need to travel unsustainably, make better use of and enhance existing infrastructure, before investing in new capacity. This hierarchy is also central to the Infrastructure Investment Plan. STPR2 will conclude later this year, with publication of recommendations for investment and an appropriate statutory consultation period.

Until the appraisal process is completed, it is not possible to make individual decisions on options being considered including improvements to, or dualling of, the A1 south of Dunbar.

Information on how many dementia specialist appointments have been held in each year since 2007 is not collected or held centrally. National-level information on the number of referrals into old age psychiatry does not include dementia-specific referrals.

To ask the Scottish Government what assessment has been made of the present capacity of the A1 south of Dunbar, and what its position is on its suitability for the amount of HGV traffic that (a) currently uses the route and (b) is estimated to use the route in the future.Transport Scotland works with road Operating Companies and Local Authorities to continually monitor usage and performance of the Trunk Road Network, this data feeds in to the Transport Model for Scotland (TMfS) and various regional transport models. These are used on an ongoing basis to assess performance of the network in current and estimated future conditions. Figures for traffic currently using the A1 from the National Traffic Data System (NTDS) count site at Grantshouse show a daily average traffic flow of 9,113 vehicles in 2019 with an average of 15.6% HGVs (approximately 1,400 HGVs per day).

This shows that currently less than one fifth of vehicles at this count site on the A1 are an HGV. Analysis undertaken previously as part of the Borders Transport Corridors Study did not identify an issue with unsuitable proportions of HGV traffic at this location, and indeed found that HGV traffic on the A1 had reduced by 2% between 2010 and 2016, despite increases on other trunk roads in the area.

Transport modelling to assess current performance and predict future use is currently being undertaken as part of the emerging Strategic Transport Projects Review. STPR2 is ongoing, therefore is not possible to take a position on the future suitability of particular (sections of) roads until the modelling being used to inform the appraisal process is completed.

ScotRail advise that between 6 January 2019 [the start of 2018-19: reporting period 11] and 24 July [the end of 2021-22: reporting period 4], there were 216 full cancellations and 74 part-cancellations on the North Berwick line as a result of infrastructure issues.

While full- or part-cancellations as a result of track congestion are not reported separately, ScotRail also advise that there were a further 34 full cancellations and 29 part-cancellations to ScotRail services as a result of the actions of other train operating companies.

Portobello to Newcraighall enhancements is a package of works which is being considered as part of the ‘pipeline-based approach’ to rail development and delivery. The project considers the railway infrastructure between Portobello and Newcraighall Junctions and seeks to improve the resilience and efficiency of the corridor today and for the future.

Looking further forward, improved capacity and frequency on the North Berwick route are two of the rail based options currently being appraised as part of the second Strategic Transport Projects Review (STPR2). The appraisal process for STPR2 is considering the performance of all options against the transport outcomes we are seeking, the Transport Planning Objectives, which are aligned to our National Transport Strategy priorities and outcomes. The interventions will seek to contribute to our vision of a sustainable, inclusive, safe and accessible transport system helping deliver a healthier, fairer and more prosperous Scotland for communities, businesses and visitors.

Therefore, we need to consider the social and economic benefits and impacts based on performance against these objectives and the five Scottish Transport Appraisal Guidance criteria, to determine the overall Value for Money. This also takes into account risks, uncertainties and other factors such as affordability, deliverability and the wider acceptability of options. This will be an important consideration given pressures on current and future public finances.

Also underpinning STPR2 is the Sustainable Investment Hierarchy where we will aim first to reduce the need to travel unsustainably, make better use of and enhance existing infrastructure, before investing in new capacity. This hierarchy is also central to Infrastructure Investment Plan. STPR2 will conclude later this year, with publication of recommendations for investment and an appropriate statutory consultation period.

Until the appraisal process is completed, it is not possible to make individual decisions on specific rail based options.

Local authorities are responsible for commissioning and delivering flood protection schemes. In recognition of the importance of reducing flood risk the Scottish Government has provided, since 2007, a total of £42 million a year through the General Capital Grant to local authorities to allow them to invest in flood protection schemes.

In 2012 an arrangement was agreed between the Scottish Government and COSLA whereby the flooding component of the General Capital Grant would be distributed to major projects according to an agreed set of eligibility criteria. Between 2012 and 2016, it was decided that 7 schemes were eligible for 80% Scottish Government grant funding, 2 of which were in the South of Scotland.