- Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 26 April 2023
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Current Status:
Answered by Jenni Minto on 11 May 2023
To ask the Scottish Government whether it will extend the contract of Dr Veronikis, in light of reports that very few, if any, NHS Scotland patients have been referred to designated providers in the USA for mesh removal surgery.
Answer
As indicated in response to S6W-17504 and S6W-17508 on 11 May 2023, a number of women have been referred to the independent providers and have undergone surgery. The present contracts with the providers are due to conclude at the end of August. However, NHS National Services Scotland is undertaking a procurement process to renew contracts with the independent providers of mesh removal surgery for a further year. All answers to written Parliamentary Questions are available on the Parliament's website, the search facility for which can be found at https://www.parliament.scot/chamber-and-committees/written-questions-and-answers .
- Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 26 April 2023
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Current Status:
Answered by Jenni Minto on 11 May 2023
To ask the Scottish Government how many patients have been referred to the designated providers in (a) Bristol and (b) the USA for mesh removal surgery by the Complex Mesh Surgical Service in Glasgow, broken down by year.
Answer
Since October of last year, 29 women have been approved for referral to the independent providers. For reasons of patient confidentiality, this is not broken down by provider. To date, 13 surgeries have been carried out.
- Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 26 April 2023
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Current Status:
Answered by Jenni Minto on 11 May 2023
To ask the Scottish Government how many women have been referred to (a) Dr Veronikis and (b) Professor Hashim for mesh surgery to date.
Answer
I refer the member to the answer to questions S6W-17504 on 11 May 2023. All answers to written Parliamentary Questions are available on the Parliament's website, the search facility for which can be found at https://www.parliament.scot/chamber-and-committees/written-questions-and-answers .
- Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 25 April 2023
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Current Status:
Answered by Elena Whitham on 11 May 2023
To ask the Scottish Government how much of the £250 million that has been allocated for tackling substance misuse is designated for research, in order to provide a strong evidence base regarding any unique elements of substance misuse in Scotland.
Answer
I refer the member to the answer to question S6W-17450 on 11 May 2023. All answers to written Parliamentary Questions are available on the Parliament's website, the search facility for which can be found at https://www.parliament.scot/chamber-and-committees/written-questions-and-answers .
- Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 25 April 2023
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Current Status:
Answered by Elena Whitham on 11 May 2023
To ask the Scottish Government how much funding it provided to each third sector organisation and network involved in any aspect of substance misuse, either to support individuals or to support organisations or research, in (a) 2021-22 and (b) 2022-23, and how much it will provide in (i) 2023-24, (ii) 2024-25 and (iii) 2025-26, and what the (A) rational and (B) evidence base was or is for each of its allocation decisions.
Answer
The Scottish Government funds for drug and alcohol programmes and services through a range of channels.
- In 2021-22 the total annual budget for drugs and alcohol was around £140 million, increasing slightly in 2022-23 to £141.9 million.
- The 23-24 budget for alcohol and drugs is £155.5m. This budget is inclusive of baseline funding of £56.5m and the alcohol and drugs budget of £99m.
- Alcohol and Drug Partnerships.
- Core Funded Organisations (CFOs)
- Other third sector organisations
- Distributed via the Corra Foundation to third sector and grass roots organisations
- Research networks or organisations
In addition, further funding is provided to organisations involved in ‘any aspect of substance misuse’ through other parts of government including research funded through the chief scientists office.
Two thirds of the alcohol and drugs budget is distributed through alcohol and drug partnerships and many of the projects and organisations we support at the national level also work in both alcohol and drugs, therefore it is not possible to disaggregate funding allocated specifically for drug services rather than drug and alcohol services.
Alcohol and Drug Partnerships (ADPs) are responsible for commissioning and developing local strategies for tackling problem alcohol and drug use and promoting recovery, based on an assessment of local needs. This funding is delivered via local NHS Boards to both statutory and third sector providers.
Data on how ADP funding is distributed is not held centrally. Financial accounts are published annually by Health Boards and Alcohol and Drugs Partnerships (ADPs) and accessible via each area's website.
Five organisations (SFAD, SDF, Crew, SRC, With You) receive core funding from Scottish government to deliver a wide range of activity and support. In addition, a range of other organisations receive funding for specific programmes of activity.
Funding for third sector and grass roots organisations is primarily distributed via dedicated funds managed by the Corra Foundation on behalf of the Scottish Government. Details of how funding was allocated by the Corra Foundation can be found in their published annual grants released at Publications - Corra
A summary of our direct financial support for third sector organisations is detailed below.
Table 1: Direct Scottish government funding for third sector organisations 2021-22 and 2022-23
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| | Core Funded Organisations |
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| Research networks or organisations |
| | Core Funded Organisations |
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| Research networks or organisations |
Funding decisions and actions align to the National Mission Plan and Outcomes Framework which was published in August 2022.
The Drug Deaths Taskforce provided evidence based recommendations throughout and final report was published in July 2022 and reflects the evidence base for funding awarded in 2021-22 and 2022-23.
All funding has been subject to Scottish Government’s robust grant management process, outlined in the Scottish Public Finance Manual. The Scottish Public Finance Manual (SPFM) provides guidance on the proper handling and reporting of public funds, including all NHS Boards.
The plan includes multiyear commitments and while Scottish Government budgets are set on an annual basis we are committed to supporting this programme of work and will review the timing of this spend over future years. Forecast funding detailed below is based on multiyear projects that have been subject to the grant management process.
Table 2: Direct Scottish government funding for third sector organisations
forecast for 2023-24, 2024-25 and 2025-26
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| Core Funded Organisations |
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| Research networks or organisations |
| | Core Funded Organisations |
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| Research networks or organisations |
| | Core Funded Organisations |
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| Research networks or organisations |
- Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 09 May 2023
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Current Status:
Taken in the Chamber on 9 May 2023
To ask the Scottish Government what steps it is taking to avoid industrial action by junior doctors, in light of the decision in favour of action by almost 97% of BMA Scotland members who voted.
Answer
Taken in the Chamber on 9 May 2023
- Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Thursday, 20 April 2023
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Current Status:
Answered by Shirley-Anne Somerville on 9 May 2023
To ask the Scottish Government for what reason families are reportedly experiencing delays of up to six months or more in being awarded Child Disability Payment, and what plans it has to urgently address any such delays.
Answer
Social Security Scotland’s most recent statistics show that the majority of people who have applied for Child Disability Payment received a decision within four months, although processing times vary from a few weeks to over six months or more. A key part of the application process, and a key difference from the Department for Work and Pensions’ service, is that Social Security Scotland can gather supporting information on behalf of clients. Whilst this process takes time, it allows Social Security Scotland to make robust decisions.
Work is underway to speed up processing times. This includes liaising with organisations who most often provide supporting information. For example, an option for GPs to upload supporting information online was recently introduced. In addition, work continues with clients and stakeholders to ensure they understand the kind of information needed to make decisions and how to provide this at the earliest opportunity.
- Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Thursday, 20 April 2023
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Current Status:
Answered by Shirley-Anne Somerville on 9 May 2023
To ask the Scottish Government what analysis it has made of the Child Disability Payment assessment and award process, whether any issues have been identified, including in relation to (a) process (i) delays and (ii) consistency and (b) the implementation of the Special Rules, and how it plans to address any such issues.
Answer
Social Security Scotland undertakes a broad and continuous programme of analysis of all aspects of the delivery of benefits, focussed on the live running performance of the system, client experience and evaluation of delivery.
Research on Early Experiences of Child Disability Payment was published in September 2022 and Client Survey research on Child Disability Payment on 8 March 2023. The next publication of Client Survey research on Child Disability Payment is scheduled for early summer.
The evaluation strategy for the benefit is in place and the first output will be published later this year. Analysis will focus on the impact of policy changes to supporting information.
This work informs Social Security Scotland’s approach to continuous improvement and the agency has used it to plan the action currently underway to improve processing times.
- Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 25 April 2023
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Current Status:
Answered by Michael Matheson on 9 May 2023
To ask the Scottish Government for what reason revised guidance on major NHS service changes has reportedly not been consulted on or published.
Answer
I refer the member to the answer to question S6W-17446 on 9 May 2023. All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament's website, the search facility for which can be found at the https://www.parliament.scot/chamber-and-committees/written-questions-and-answers
- Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 25 April 2023
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Current Status:
Answered by Michael Matheson on 9 May 2023
To ask the Scottish Government whether any revised guidance on NHS service changes has been shared with Healthcare Improvement Scotland - Community Engagement, previously known as the Scottish Health Council, and, if so, when this took place.
Answer
A final draft of the updated version of Planning with People: Community engagement and participation guidance published in April 2023 was shared with Healthcare Improvement Scotland – Community Engagement in February 2023. The guidance is co-written with COSLA, and Healthcare Improvement Scotland were involved in the process.
As is stated in the updated version of Planning with People, the established principles and requirements for major service change decision-making process for NHS Boards, remain unchanged from those outlined in CEL 4 (2010).
