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Information about alcohol specific deaths, which includes deaths by latest cause, is published annually by National Records of Scotland. The latest data was published on 17 August.

There have been 16,917 deaths attributed to alcohol liver disease since 2000. Records prior to the year of 2000 do not include latest cause of death, so it is not possible to report the number of deaths attributed to alcohol-related liver damage for 1999 year.

More information is available on Alcohol-specific deaths | National Records of Scotland (nrscotland.gov.uk)

The Scottish Government’s consultation on a National Care Service closed on 2 November, and received around 1,300 written responses. There was also significant digital and face to face engagement with members of the public throughout the consultation period.

Written responses will be published, where permission has been given, along with summary notes of points raised at the engagement events. An independent contractor has been appointed to undertake a detailed analysis of the responses and we expect to publish the analysis report in early 2022.

(a) Mental Health Workers

The main Mental Health professional groups that the Scottish Government holds data for are Psychiatrists, Mental Health Nurses and Psychologists, including other psychological clinical staff and therapists. The Scottish Government also holds workforce figures for CAMHS, which are multidisciplinary teams that include, in addition to the professions mentioned above, AHPs, counsellors and social workers.

(a).1 Consultant Psychiatrists

A breakdown of the number of Consultant Psychiatrists recruited in each NHS Board for each of the last five years can be found on the NES Medical and Dental Turas Dashboard at the following link: Medical and Dental | Turas Data Intelligence (nhs.scot)

(a).2 Mental Health Nurses

A breakdown of the number of Mental Health Nurses recruited in each NHS Board for each of the last five years can be found on the NES Nursing and Midwifery Turas Dashboard at the following link: Nursing and Midwifery | Turas Data Intelligence (nhs.scot)

(a).3 Psychology Services Workforce

A breakdown of the staff recruited to the Psychology Services in each NHS Board for each of the last five years can be found on the NES Psychology Turas Dashboard at the following link: Psychology | Turas Data Intelligence (nhs.scot)

(a).4 CAMHS Workforce

A breakdown of the staff recruited to CAMHS in each NHS Board for each of the last five years can be found on the NES CAMHS Turas Dashboard at the following link: CAMHS | Turas Data Intelligence (nhs.scot)

(a).5 Action 15

In addition to the data listed above, the Scottish Government also collects and publishes figures for mental health workers recruited under Action 15 of the Mental Health Strategy, representing our commitment to recruit an additional 800 mental health workers between 2018-19 and 2021-22, to key settings such as A&E departments, GP practices, police station custody suites and prisons.

The latest recruitment figures as at 1 July 2021 can be accessed at Mental health workers: quarterly performance reports - gov.scot (www.gov.scot)

Since 2018/19, almost £68 million has been allocated to Integration Authorities (IAs) based on the NHSScotland Resource Allocation Committee (NRAC) formula. While the Scottish Government provides funding for recruitment under Action 15, workforce and service planning is conducted by IAs according to the needs of their populations.

Since 2018/19 654.3 WTE posts have been recruited, representing nearly 82% of the overall target of 800 WTE. As at 1 July 2021, the recruitment rate per IA ranges between 54% and 101%, with some IAs having exceeded their allocation in advance of the March 2022 deadline.

(b) Community Link Workers

The Scottish Government only holds data on additional Community Link Workers (CLWs) recruited as part of the 2016 manifesto commitment to recruit at least 250 CLWs by the end of 2021-22. Any data prior to the 2016 manifesto, or of similar held specialist posts employed outwith this programme, would be held by Health and Social Care Partnerships.

Since March 2018, 218 headcount (HC) posts have been recruited, representing nearly 87% of the target of 250 CLWs in post. There has been some scaling back on previous projected workforce numbers due to Covid related reasons of limited opportunities to provide support remotely; staff being redeployed elsewhere; contractual delays, but figures remain on track to recover by March 2022.

The Scottish Government published information on the number of CLWs employed by NHSScotland broken down by region on 12 October 2021 in response to a Freedom of Information Request submitted to the Scottish Government on 1 September 2021 (reference FOI/202100235471). The information can be accessed at: Information regarding community link workers: FOI release - gov.scot (www.gov.scot)

This information is not held centrally.

I refer the member to the answer to question S6W-02957 on 12 October 2021. 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

In accordance with section 121 of the Community Empowerment (Scotland) Act 2015, local authorities report annually on provisions on allotments in their areas. Reports are available from each local authority online. The Scottish Government does not hold historic data on allotment provision.

The Scottish Government is currently consulting on draft policy options for the installation of electric vehicle charge points in a number of different building types, including an option that sets out a minimum requirement for all new residential buildings with parking spaces.

The consultation ( Scottish Building Regulations: Proposed changes to Energy Standards and associated topics, including Ventilation, Overheating and Electric Vehicle Charging Infrastructure ) can be found on the Scottish Government's website.

We aim to publish a consultation response in early 2022.

The Scottish Government has provided £45M to all 32 of Scotland’s Local Authorities and continues to offer support to enable the further increase in the number of electric vehicle chargers.

Investment in public charging infrastructure has enabled the development of the ChargePlace Scotland network (CPS), now one of the largest in the UK. Investment has also included schemes to support installation of business and domestic electric vehicle chargepoints, and associated infrastructure to support the decarbonisation of light and heavy vehicles in the public sector, and the decarbonisation of buses used for public transport.

Table 1 shows the investment within the last five financial years that each local authority has received to deliver public electric vehicle charging infrastructure, including a cumulative total. The majority of funding has been awarded through our Local Authority Install Programme, with a number of local authorities also being supported through challenge fund awards, including those under the Switched on Towns and Cities and Low Carbon Travel and Transport programmes.

Table 1

Since 2016 the Scottish Government has directly funded or provided the following training specifically aimed at supporting disabled people in using public transport:

• The rail First Time Traveller Programme – supports people with autism in experiencing rail travel for the first time in order to raise awareness of what to expect and to build confidence.
• Railway Awareness Open Days at major stations – ScotRail, working alongside third sector organisations, invite disabled people to come and familiarise themselves with stations and train travel as well as answering any questions they may have.
• Travel training programmes – one in Clackmannanshire and Stirling where trained support workers help young people as well as individuals with dementia and autism access and navigate public transport increasing their confidence to travel independently; and the other in East Renfrewshire, Inverclyde and Greater Glasgow which did the same for people with learning difficulties or autism.
• Working with Disability Equality Scotland, Transport Scotland has undertaken a series of webinars and polls with disabled people and disabled people’s organisations exploring a range of issues important to disabled people, including how confidence in returning to public transport post-pandemic could be strengthened

In addition, the Scottish Government has funded or provided training for public transport operators and their staff in order to raise awareness of the needs of disabled passengers. For example, sensory packs and staff awareness training were rolled out across the Calmac ferry fleet on behalf of the National Autistic Society, and training has been funded for staff at Scottish airports on a range of topics from British Sign Language to autism awareness.