- Asked by: Tim Eagle, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Friday, 06 September 2024
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Current Status:
Answered by Shona Robison on 17 September 2024
To ask the Scottish Government how much it currently spends annually on non-essential advertising in newspapers in the Highlands and Islands region, and what the annual reduction will be following its reported announcement that it will stop non-essential advertising.
Answer
Scottish Government marketing and advertising spend is published each year on gov.scot including a breakdown by campaign and media type. Spend for 2024-25 has still to be agreed in light of the need to freeze public sector marketing expenditure and the ongoing process to identify exceptions.
- Asked by: Tim Eagle, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Thursday, 05 September 2024
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Current Status:
Answered by Siobhian Brown on 17 September 2024
To ask the Scottish Government within what timescale offenders must pay their victim surcharge once a court orders it to be paid.
Answer
The imposition, collection and enforcement of a victim surcharge mirrors the arrangements for fines subject to some differences set out in the The Enforcement of Fines (Relevant Penalty) (Scotland) Order 2019 (legislation.gov.uk)
The court is required to grant time to pay a victim surcharge – the time allowed is a matter for the sentencer taking account of the circumstances of each individual, but subject to a minimum of seven days. The court cannot impose an immediate term of imprisonment, which it could do for a fine if it could not be paid immediately.
When any relevant penalty has been imposed the court shall make an enforcement order. The order sets out the penalty/payment terms and explains the effect of the enforcement order. The victim surcharge would then be collected and enforced in the same way as any other relevant penalty (including a fine) subject to the provisions of section 253J Criminal Procedure (Scotland) Act 1995 (legislation.gov.uk)of the Criminal Procedure (Scotland) Act 1995 (“the 1995 Act”).
Section 253H Criminal Procedure (Scotland) Act 1995 (legislation.gov.uk)of the 1995 Act provides that where a court makes a victim surcharge and imposes a fine and/or makes a compensation order, the monies would be applied in the following order:
1.Compensation
2.Victim Surcharge
3.Fine
- Asked by: Tim Eagle, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Friday, 06 September 2024
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Current Status:
Answered by Gillian Martin on 17 September 2024
To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S6W-29121 by Gillian Martin on 2 September 2024, on what date the (a) analysis of the Flood Resilience Strategy consultation and (b) Flood Resilience Strategy will be published.
Answer
The Flood resilience Strategy is currently scheduled for publication by the end of this year. The report on the analysis of the Flood Resilience Strategy consultation responses is scheduled for publication on the Citizen Space website at the beginning of November. This will be accompanied by all of the responses that have given their permission to be published and a “We Asked, You Said, We Did” summary. This highlights the main points of the consultation ("We Asked”), how many responses there were and key messages coming out of the responses (“You Said”) and what we have done, or plan to do as a result of the consultation (“We Did”).
- Asked by: Tim Eagle, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Friday, 06 September 2024
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Current Status:
Answered by Jenni Minto on 17 September 2024
To ask the Scottish Government which NHS boards prescribe hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HSCT) to treat multiple sclerosis (MS); how many patients in each NHS board are receiving HSCT, and what its position is on whether HSCT should be available.
Answer
A 2019 Scottish Government-commissioned review by the Scottish Health Technologies Group recommended that where patients understand and accept the risks, HSCT should be considered as a treatment option for patients with relapsing-MS who have significant disease activity which has not responded to adequate treatment with licensed high-efficacy drugs.
HSCT can be offered to patients from Scotland who meet the eligibility criteria, and when the benefits of treatment outweigh the significant risks. In these circumstances, NHS National Services Division (NSD) will fund the treatment via cross-border referral to a provider in England, usually Sheffield NHS Trust. Any health board in Scotland may refer eligible patients to NSD for consideration.
Expertise in the use of HSCT to treat MS in Scotland is still developing and small-scale clinical trials of the procedure have also commenced in NHS Lothian and NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde as part of the UK-wide Star-MS trial.
The Scottish Government does not hold information on how many patients in each NHS board are receiving HSCT.
- Asked by: Tim Eagle, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Friday, 06 September 2024
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Current Status:
Answered by Jenni Minto on 17 September 2024
To ask the Scottish Government what action it is taking to increase the availability of disease modifying therapies for the treatment of multiple sclerosis (MS).
Answer
The Scottish Government is committed to increasing the availability of medicines that patients in Scotland need.
In Scotland, the Scottish Medicines Consortium (SMC) appraises the clinical and cost-effectiveness of newly licensed medicines, following receipt of a submission from the manufacturer. Since 2003, the SMC has accepted 17 medicines for use/ restricted use to treat Multiple Sclerosis (MS) within NHS Scotland.
Where the SMC accepts or accepts with restrictions, a medicine, or on an interim basis, then there is a clear expectation that NHS Boards will consider it and make it (or its equivalent) available. This is considered by each NHS Board Area and Drug and Therapeutics Committee.
NHS Boards are expected to reach a decision within 90 days of being informed of the SMC advice, which provides time to consider any issues associated with the implementation of the medicine, such as changes to the care pathway and staff training. Boards should publish their decision on their website within 14 days of the decision.
The SMC appraisal is undertaken independently of Scottish Ministers and is based on the clinical and cost-effectiveness of the medicine at a population level. Ultimately, the decision to prescribe any medicine is for the clinician in charge of an individual’s care.
We recognise that innovation remains crucial to finding a cure for MS, which is why we have funded £1.9 million to support a four-year research project led by NHS Lothian and Edinburgh University to develop a new approach to guide the treatment of MS and help people have better control of their condition.
The Precision-MS Study will introduce precise measurements of brain health to people with MS, with the ultimate aim of helping to ensure the right treatment at the right time, to the right person.
- Asked by: Tim Eagle, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Friday, 06 September 2024
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Current Status:
Answered by Gillian Martin on 17 September 2024
To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S6W-29198 by Gillian Martin on 5 September 2024, how many Scottish Water customers have waited longer than the average customer leak duration of 4.2 days for a leak repair, in each year since 2021.
Answer
As this is an operational matter for Scottish Water, and the Scottish Government does not hold the information, I have asked them to respond. Their reply is as follows:
Scottish Water is able to provide figures for 2022-23 onward, as a new system was introduced then which means that any figures before this would not be comparable, with some data representing reporting anomalies rather than leak repair times. Scottish Water has also advised that these figures do not necessarily relate to customers but are reports into their contact centre of visible leaks. Work to identify and repair some leaks can in some cases be complex in nature or require preparations such as traffic management, notice of roadworks, etc., and there can be cases where the timescales relate to administration of the record as opposed to the leak repair.
For 2022-23, 3280 (or 37.8%) burst repairs took over the 4.2 day average. For 2023-24, 2125 (23.9%) burst repairs took over the 4.2 day average.
- Asked by: Tim Eagle, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Thursday, 05 September 2024
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Current Status:
Answered by Siobhian Brown on 17 September 2024
To ask the Scottish Government how many victim surcharge orders were (a) paid on time, (b) paid late and (c) not paid at all by criminals in each year since 2021.
Answer
This information is available in the Scottish Courts and Tribunals Service (“SCTS”) quarterly fines data publication, found on the Official Statistics section of the SCTS website. Official Statistics | Scottish Courts (scotcourts.gov.uk)
- Asked by: Tim Eagle, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Thursday, 05 September 2024
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Current Status:
Answered by Siobhian Brown on 17 September 2024
To ask the Scottish Government how many organisations in the Highlands and Islands region have been ordered to pay a victim surcharge for a (a) conditional discharge and (b) fine, in each year since 2021.
Answer
The Scottish Government does not hold information on the Victim Surcharge Fund broken down in this way.
- Asked by: Tim Eagle, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Thursday, 05 September 2024
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Current Status:
Answered by Siobhian Brown on 17 September 2024
To ask the Scottish Government how much has been raised from victim surcharges ordered from offenders aged under 18 at date of offence in the Highlands and Islands region in each year since June 2022.
Answer
The Scottish Government does not hold information on the Victim Surcharge Fund broken down in this way.
- Asked by: Tim Eagle, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Thursday, 05 September 2024
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Current Status:
Answered by Siobhian Brown on 17 September 2024
To ask the Scottish Government how many offenders aged under 18 at date of offence in the Highlands and Islands region have been ordered to pay a victim surcharge for a (a) conditional discharge, (b) fine, including a Youth Rehabilitation Order or Referral Order, and (c) custodial sentence, in each year since 2021.
Answer
The Scottish Government does not hold information on the Victim Surcharge Fund broken down in this way.
