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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 MSPs 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-25207

Asked by: Foysol Choudhury, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 07 February 2024
Current Status: Answered by Fiona Hyslop on 19 February 2024

To ask the Scottish Government how much it has spent to date on the legal process that began in 2022 between Transport Scotland and the developer, Ambassador Living, regarding the dispute over the use of Ferrymuir Gait to access the Forthview housing development.

Question reference: S6O-03055

Asked by: Foysol Choudhury, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 31 January 2024
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 7 February 2024

To ask the Scottish Government what recent discussions it has had with the UK Government regarding actions that can be taken to preserve energy networks following periods of bad weather.

Question reference: S6W-24440

Asked by: Foysol Choudhury, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 11 January 2024
Current Status: Answered by Maree Todd on 25 January 2024

To ask the Scottish Government how much of the funding set out in the NHS Recovery Plan 2021-2026 has been allocated to improving child and adolescent mental health services (CAMHS) in the (a) NHS Lothian and (b) West Lothian Council area.

Table One shows the funding allocated to NHS Lothian for improving child and adolescent mental health services (CAMHS) in 2021-2022 and for a broader range of Mental Health Services, including CAMHS, from 2022-2023. Allocations for the current financial year, 2023-2024 have not yet concluded.

It should be noted that allocations from 2022-2023 onwards were made from the Mental Health Outcomes Framework, which bundled a number of funding streams to allow NHS Boards flexibility to meet local priorities against the stated outcomes. The total allocation can be utilised to support improvements in CAMHS, psychological therapies, eating disorder care, primary care and children and young people’s neurodevelopmental services, as well as ongoing innovation and service reform. It is therefore not possible to provide a specific figure for funding allocated to CAMHS improvement from 2022-23 onwards.

The Scottish Government does not hold information on the final allocations to specific Integration Joint Boards. NHS Lothian will be able to advise on the funding received for CAMHS in the West Lothian Council area resulting from their delegation arrangements.

Table One:

Financial Year	NHS Lothian Allocation
2021-2022	£5,702,137
2022-2023	£9,154,511

Question reference: S6O-03043

Asked by: Foysol Choudhury, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 24 January 2024
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 1 February 2024

To ask the Scottish Government what action it has taken to ensure that pupils can interact with museums as part of their education to help address racism and the legacy of colonialism.

Question reference: S6W-24439

Asked by: Foysol Choudhury, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 11 January 2024
Current Status: Answered by Jenni Minto on 22 January 2024

To ask the Scottish Government how much of the funding set out in the NHS Recovery Plan 2021-2026 has been allocated to improving audiology services in the (a) NHS Lothian and (b) West Lothian Council area.

We published the NHS Recovery Plan in August 2021, which sets out our plans for health and social care over the next 5 years, backed by over £1 billion of funding. The second annual progress update was published on 6 December 2023: NHS recovery plan: progress report 2023 - gov.scot (www.gov.scot) .

Whilst Scottish Ministers are responsible for determining the strategic policy of the NHS in Scotland, it is NHS Boards and healthcare professionals locally who have responsibility for service delivery and patient treatment. The Scottish Government welcomes the recently published Independent Review of Audiology Services in Scotland report and we fully recognise that there is work to be done to improve audiology care across the country.

We are continuing to work closely with NHS Boards, Independent Providers and the Third Sector to develop fully integrated and sustainable audiology care and treatment located closer to the local communities being served. This includes the roll out of a Third sector-NHS partnership after-care service RNID Near You.

Question reference: S6W-24374

Asked by: Foysol Choudhury, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 09 January 2024
Current Status: Answered by Fiona Hyslop on 19 January 2024

To ask the Scottish Government what action it plans to take to bring the Ferrymuir Gait access issue to a final conclusion.

Question reference: S6O-03009

Asked by: Foysol Choudhury, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 17 January 2024
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 25 January 2024

To ask the Scottish Government how it holds Social Security Scotland to account to ensure that it is fulfilling its responsibility to help claimants, who request support, to provide supporting information, including obtaining it on their behalf.

Question reference: S6W-24022

Asked by: Foysol Choudhury, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 19 December 2023
Current Status: Answered by Michael Matheson on 16 January 2024

To ask the Scottish Government whether it has considered expanding the Health Infrastructure Investment Plan to include funding for a new medical centre in East Calder.

Question reference: S6W-24250

Asked by: Foysol Choudhury, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Friday, 22 December 2023
Current Status: Answered by Jenni Minto on 16 January 2024

To ask the Scottish Government what action it is taking to prevent non-communicable diseases (NCD), in light of a recent report by a group of cross-party MSPs and NCD Alliance Scotland calling for further action on NCD prevention.

The Scottish Government remains absolutely committed to our Public Health agenda as well as the range of priority actions that we have set out in relation to various health harming products, including tobacco, alcohol and less healthy food.

We know people living in poverty have poorer health outcomes and are at a higher risk of NCDs. In 2022-23, we invested an estimated £3 billion across a range of programmes targeted at low income households - with £1.25 billion directly benefitting children. This includes over £213 million on the Scottish Child Payment, over £169 million on School Meals, and £33.5 million Whole Family Wellbeing Funding.

In addition, we recently consulted on increasing the current rate of Minimum Unit Price from 50 pence per unit to 65 pence. We have consulted as part of a UK-wide consultation on raising the age of smoking and further restrictions on vapes. We are also committed to legislation to restrict the promotion of less healthy food and drink where they are sold to the public. Our new and ambitious Cancer Strategy and Cancer Action Plan for Scotland was published in June 2023, which outlines 11 ambitions and 8 outcomes.

Question reference: S6O-02983

Asked by: Foysol Choudhury, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 10 January 2024
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 18 January 2024

To ask the Scottish Government what safeguarding training NHS boards are required to provide to non-clinical staff who are handling interactions with members of the public.