Questions and answers

Question reference: S6W-33133

Asked by: Tim Eagle, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 10 January 2025
Current Status: Answered by Graeme Dey on 23 January 2025

To ask the Scottish Government whether it has committed to maintaining the £8 million of funding for Scottish Innovation Centres that it announced on 17 January 2024, into the 2025-26 financial year.

Higher Education Capital Funding, which includes the Scottish Funding Council (SFC) core funding for research and knowledge exchange has increased by £11.4m (3.2%) to £368.3m for 2025-26. This will enable us to continue to protect our core grant funding and portfolio of research, knowledge exchange and innovation investments, including Innovation Centres, delivered via the SFC

Scottish Government continue to work with the SFC and the sector on implications and allocation of this budget in line with the usual process. Final allocations are expected to be announced in late May.

Question reference: S6O-04262

Asked by: Tim Eagle, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 22 January 2025
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 29 January 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what support it gives to Police Scotland to increase visibility in remote and rural communities and deliver the community policing model, as outlined in the Chief Constable's 2030 vision for safer communities, less crime, supported victims, and a thriving workforce.

Question reference: S6W-33135

Asked by: Tim Eagle, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 10 January 2025
Submitting member has a registered interest.
Current Status: Answered by Jim Fairlie on 22 January 2025

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S6W-28686 by Jim Fairlie on 19 August 2024, whether it will provide an update on when NatureScot will make a bracken map available.

As noted in the response to question S6W-28686, the Scottish Government is progressing work to develop a bracken mapping layer for Scotland. Officials are liaising with NatureScot and Natural England. The intention is that the map will complement a wider Bracken Strategic Framework, which is being developed for the UK, to aid decision making. There are a number of limitations to be worked through and therefore I am unable to give an indication of timing at this stage. I would be happy to provide an update to the Rural Affairs and Islands Committee in due course.

Question reference: S6W-32732

Asked by: Tim Eagle, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 06 January 2025
Current Status: Answered by Dorothy Bain on 22 January 2025

To ask the Scottish Government how much was spent on (a) foreign travel, (b) foreign accommodation and (c) other expenses associated with official overseas visits for the (i) Lord Advocate and (ii) Solicitor General in the calendar year, 2024.

All costs associated with overseas visits undertaken by the Lord Advocate and Solicitor General in their roles as heads of the systems of prosecution and deaths investigation are paid by the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service budget.

In the calendar year 2024 the costs associated with overseas travel for the Lord Advocate, all of which are associated with ongoing criminal investigations and casework, are as follows:

Flights	Accommodation
£4,427.40	£434.67

The Lord Advocate did not undertake any overseas trips in her capacity as a Scottish Minister.

The Solicitor General made no overseas trips in the calendar year 2024.

Question reference: S6W-33128

Asked by: Tim Eagle, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 10 January 2025
Current Status: Answered by Kaukab Stewart on 21 January 2025

To ask the Scottish Government how many times the (a) Cabinet Secretary for Rural Affairs, Land Reform and Islands and (b) Minister for Agriculture and Connectivity has met with the Young Islanders Network to discuss the Addressing Depopulation Action Plan (i) prior to and (ii) since its publication.

Taking a partnership approach, Scottish Government, at both a ministerial and official level, engaged with a broad range of stakeholders during the development of the Addressing Depopulation Action Plan (ADAP). This engagement was led by the-then Minister for Equalities, Migration and Refugees, who was the lead Minister for the development of the ADAP.

The Cabinet Secretary for Rural Affairs, Land Reform and Islands has portfolio responsibility for the Scottish Rural & Islands Youth Parliament (SRIYP), of which the Young Islanders Network are a key member. Ms. Gougeon attended the inaugural SRIYP in November 2023, where delegates worked together to agree a series of priority statements or asks of Scottish Government. These 10 priorities (including housing, transport and skills, education and employment) strongly align with the delivery priorities outlined within the (ADAP).

Ms. Gougeon has met with the SRIYP network twice since November 2023 and remains in close contact with the Network. This includes a parliamentary event in January 2024, where SRIYP delegates were supported to attend with £20k of Scottish Government funding. The group met with relevant Ministers to present their 10 priorities, which were later discussed at a parliamentary debate hosted by Ms. Gougeon and the Deputy First Minister. Following this, an online meeting in November 2024 was hosted, where Ms. Gougeon provided an update to attendees on what action Scottish Government has taken across their 10 priorities.

Question reference: S6W-33131

Asked by: Tim Eagle, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 10 January 2025
Current Status: Answered by Gillian Martin on 21 January 2025

To ask the Scottish Government how much funding it has allocated to each local authority through its Coastal Change Adaptation Fund in each year since 2022-23.

The direct distribution funding is targeted using the risk profile developed through Dynamic Coast research. Since year two, all coastal local authorities can apply for case study funding. The distribution methodology is discussed and agreed through COSLA’s formal financial governance process including recommendations from the jointly attended Settlement and Distribution Group and approval from COSLA Leaders.

The information is available at: Dynamic Coast - Coastal Change Adaptation

Question reference: S6W-32743

Asked by: Tim Eagle, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 23 December 2024
Current Status: Answered by Maree Todd on 20 January 2025

To ask the Scottish Government how it monitors the efficacy of its Distress Brief Intervention service.

In setting up of the DBI pilot programme in 2017, the Scottish Government created a dedicated DBI Central team to support and monitor implementation of this innovative programme. The Central team works closely with Public Health Scotland to provide monitoring reports to Government (and wider partners), and this evidence has informed the expansion of the programme across Scotland over the last eight years.

In addition to routine monitoring, the Government has commissioned two independent evaluations of the DBI programme to review its impact. The first evaluation relates to the original pilot phase of DBI (for over 18s) Distress Brief Intervention Pilot Programme evaluation: findings report - gov.scot (www.gov.scot) and the second relates to the NHS24 expansion https://www.gov.scot/publications/evaluation-extended-distress-brief-intervention-programme-summary-findings/

Both evaluations confirmed that DBI is a highly effective model in supporting people in distress, with 90% reporting that their distress levels continued to decrease and that they felt it had given them the tools and skills to manage their distress. Additionally, evaluation suggests that, in around 10% of referrals, DBI support has helped prevent suicidal thoughts, or even suicide. Additionally, feedback from frontline services suggests that DBI helps ensure they can help people to access the support they need, easing pressure on frontline services.

A further independent evaluation, relating to how effective DBI is for under 18s, is underway, and is expected to report to the Scottish Government in June 2025.

To enable a smooth expansion of the DBI programme, we have used improvement science and an active learning approach.

The DBI programme has now supported over 78,000 people across Scotland (as of November 2024).

Question reference: S6W-32858

Asked by: Tim Eagle, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 07 January 2025
Current Status: Answered by Paul McLennan on 20 January 2025

To ask the Scottish Government how many of the buildings within the Highlands and Islands region that fall under the scope of the Housing (Cladding Remediation) (Scotland) Act 2024 do not have an identified developer and will require it to take responsibility for any remediation work, under the provisions within the Act.

Question reference: S6W-32740

Asked by: Tim Eagle, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 23 December 2024
Current Status: Answered by Maree Todd on 20 January 2025

To ask the Scottish Government how many people who were referred to its Distress Brief Intervention service received the full two weeks of one-to-one support with a specially trained practitioner each year, broken down by health and social care partnership area.

The Distress Brief Intervention Programme provides tailored one to one support across a period of up to around 14 days. Some people will only require one phone call whereas others may need more support across the 14 days including background work for resources and signposting. Overall, of those who engage with the programme, more than 80% of people go on to receive further support beyond one phone call across the 14 day period.

Table 1 shows the specific numbers of people who received support across the 14 day period. This is broken down by health and social care partnership areas and small numbers have been suppressed. The data available was between June 2020 and May 2024.

Table 1 – Number of individuals who received DBI support by H&SCP

Health & Social Care Partnership	June 20 - May 21	June 21 - May 22	June 22 - May 23	June 23- May 24
Aberdeen City	986	1,017	1,037	1,048
Aberdeenshire	72	142	235	331
Angus	40	83	166	398
Argyll and Bute	31	46	202	412
Clackmannanshire and Stirling	84	150	152	180
Dumfries and Galloway	46	174	509	779
Dundee City	118	188	338	927
East Ayrshire	72	276	307	410
East Dunbartonshire	36	63	56	204
East Lothian	67	92	108	370
East Renfrewshire	26	53	82	110
Edinburgh City	241	381	610	1,050
Falkirk	100	178	182	217
Fife	262	400	436	507
Glasgow City	451	721	1,084	3,821
Highland	844	891	782	874
Inverclyde	114	362	487	493
Midlothian	47	154	349	379
Moray	196	285	315	559
North Ayrshire	126	177	413	502
North Lanarkshire	1,174	1,147	1,389	1,528
Orkney Islands	..	11	57	75
Perth and Kinross	75	121	173	358
Renfrewshire	94	168	206	279
Scottish Borders	908	1,032	1,046	954
Shetland Islands	..	..	12	24
South Ayrshire	76	173	164	243
South Lanarkshire	1,172	1,099	1,306	1,367
West Dunbartonshire	44	94	172	346
West Lothian	151	181	200	206
Western Isles	..	..	..	10
Not Known (referrals with partial or missing postcodes)	138	137	..	441
Scotland	7,802	10,007	12,693	19,402

.. Suppressed due to small numbers.

Question reference: S6W-32741

Asked by: Tim Eagle, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 23 December 2024
Current Status: Answered by Maree Todd on 20 January 2025

To ask the Scottish Government how many practitioners has it trained to participate in its Distress Brief Intervention service each year, broke down by health and social care partnership area.

Practitioner training data is currently available up to 31st October 2023 for Level 1 training and to 31st August 2023 for Level 2 training. The next tranche of training data will be available after summer 2025.

Table 1 provides data on the number of frontline staff trained in Level 1 of Distress Brief Intervention where initial compassionate support is provided and referral takes place.

Table 2 provides data on the number and distribution of third sector staff trained in Level 2 of DBI where support is provided for a period of up to around 14 days.

In addition to the training by health and social care partnership area provided in the tables below, an additional 562 frontline staff have been trained in Level 1 through the DBI National Pathways (NHS 24 and call handling centres operated by Scottish Ambulance Service and Police Scotland). This additional data covers training to NHS 24 (up to March 2024), Scottish Ambulance Service (up to December 2022) and Police Scotland (up to March 2024). For Level 2, there have been 32 practitioners trained for the National Pathways.

The DBI programme was rolled out in stages which means that areas which opted in earlier may have higher numbers of practitioners trained than those who opted in later, though health and social care partnership population and demographics will also play a role.

Table 1 - DBI Level 1 Staff Training estimates

H&SCP / DBI Area	Total Level 1 Staff Trained Estimates
Aberdeen and Moray	550
Aberdeenshire	22
Argyll & Bute	56
Argyll & Bute and West Dunbartonshire	154
Ayrshire & Arran	108
Dumfries & Galloway	153
East Lothian	16
Edinburgh City	94
Fife	3
Forth Valley	7
Glasgow City	11
Greater Glasgow & Clyde	14
Inverclyde	62
Inverness	137
Lanarkshire (North and South Combined)	946
Midlothian	30
Orkney	32
Renfrewshire	5
Renfrewshire and Inverclyde	2
Scottish Borders	376
Tayside	240
West Dunbartonshire	80
West Lothian	1
Total	3,099

Table 2 - DBI Level 2 Staff Training statistics

H&SCP	Level 2 Staff Trained
Aberdeen City	16
Aberdeenshire	4
Argyll & Bute	5
Ayrshire & Arran	9
Dumfries & Galloway	4
East Lothian	4
Edinburgh	9
Glasgow City and East Dunbartonshire	19
Inverclyde	4
Inverness	9
Midlothian	9
Moray	8
North Lanarkshire	8
Orkney	5
Scottish Borders	4
South Lanarkshire	14
Tayside	15
West Dunbartonshire	3
Total	149

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