Questions and answers

Question reference: S6W-30621

Asked by: Rachael Hamilton, MSP for Ettrick, Roxburgh and Berwickshire, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 17 October 2024
Current Status: Holding Answer by Shona Robison on 14 November 2024

To ask the Scottish Government whether it can provide a breakdown by type of employee, for example, communications staff, policy staff, or, for the NHS, frontline health staff, or any other staff category for which data is recorded, for the Public Sector Employment in Scotland Statistics headcount figure for (a) NHS, (b) Devolved Civil Service, (c) Police and Fire Related Services and (d) Other Public Bodies for Quarter 2 in each year since 1999.

Question reference: S6F-03538

Asked by: Rachael Hamilton, MSP for Ettrick, Roxburgh and Berwickshire, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 11 November 2024
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 14 November 2024

To ask the First Minister what the Scottish Government's response is to reports that its spending on private consultants has almost doubled in the space of five years.

Question reference: S6O-03902

Asked by: Rachael Hamilton, MSP for Ettrick, Roxburgh and Berwickshire, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 30 October 2024
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 7 November 2024

To ask the Scottish Government what discussions it has had with the UK Government regarding cross-border machinery theft in rural areas, including the Scottish Borders.

Question reference: S6W-30622

Asked by: Rachael Hamilton, MSP for Ettrick, Roxburgh and Berwickshire, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 11 October 2024
Current Status: Answered by Shona Robison on 29 October 2024

To ask the Scottish Government how many (a) permanent and (b) other staff, as defined in its consolidated accounts, it has had in each financial year from 2000-01 to 2023-24, also broken down by portfolio.

The accounts are published and available for download on the Scottish Government website for the financial years 2015-16 to 2023-24:

2023-24 (page 89) https://www.gov.scot/publications/scottish-government-consolidated-accounts-year-ended-31-march-2024/

2022-23 (page 109) https://www.gov.scot/publications/scottish-government-consolidated-accounts-year-ended-31-march-2023/

2021-22 (page 100) https://www.gov.scot/publications/scottish-government-consolidated-accounts-year-ended-31-march-2022/

2020-21 (page 95) https://www.gov.scot/publications/scottish-government-consolidated-accounts-year-ended-31-march-2021/

2019-20 (page 63) https://www.gov.scot/publications/scottish-government-consolidated-accounts-2019-2020/

2018-19 (page 55) https://www.gov.scot/publications/scottish-government-consolidated-accounts-year-ended-31-march-2019/

2017-18 (page 44) https://www.gov.scot/publications/scottish-government-consolidated-accounts-year-ended-31-march-2018/

2016-17 (page 41) https://www.gov.scot/publications/scottish-government-consolidated-accounts-year-ended-31-march-2017/

2015-16 (page 46) https://www.gov.scot/publications/scottish-government-consolidated-accounts-2015-16/

The accounts prior to 2015-16 are not published online, with information back to 2004-05 held within Scottish Government electronic records. Years prior to 2004-05 are not held.

Tables showing staff numbers by portfolio, in line with the published accounts, for the years 2004-05 to 2014-15 have been placed in the Scottish Parliament Information Centre (Bib. Number 65408).

Question reference: S6W-30623

Asked by: Rachael Hamilton, MSP for Ettrick, Roxburgh and Berwickshire, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 11 October 2024
Current Status: Answered by Shona Robison on 29 October 2024

To ask the Scottish Government how many of its employees have been paid a salary of at least (a) £100,000, (b) £150,000 and (c) £200,000 in each financial year since 2000-01.

The pay framework for the Senior Civil Service (SCS) is reserved to the UK Government. The level of the basic pay increase to be applied to SCS staff each year is set by the UK Government in response to recommendations made by the Senior Salaries Review Body, and which the Scottish Government are required to comply with.

From 2017 onwards, the Scottish Government has published details of Senior Civil Servants who are paid a salary of over £100,000. The Cabinet Office have also published the salaries of ‘high earners’, which are those who are paid a salary of £150,000 and higher, since 2010.

Unfortunately, the Scottish Government does not hold any information on senior staff salaries prior to 2009-10, as this information was published by neither Scottish Government nor Cabinet Office. Between 2009-10 and 2012-13, only information on those earning £150k and over is available, based on information published by Cabinet Office. The Scottish Government now has a rigorous publication schedule in place to ensure that senior salaries are published each year.

Year	£100,000 to £149,999	£150,000 to £199,999	£200k upwards
2009-10	NA	3	0
2010-11	NA	1	0
2011-12	NA	1	0
2012-13	NA	1	0
2013-14	11*	1	0
2014-15	13*	1	0
2015-16	15*	1	0
2016-17	14	1	0
2017-18	13	1	0
2018-19	14	2	0
2019-20	31**	2	0
2020-21	38**	2	0
2021-22	38**	3	0
2022-23	52**	2	0
2023-24	76**	1	1

*Data marked with an asterisk is historic data that precedes published information, and has been retrieved for the purposes of this PQ. We do not maintain records of data older than what is already provided.

**The increase in the number of staff in receipt of a salary of £100,000 or more from 2019-20 onwards reflects the application of annual pay awards which are set by the UK Government.

Question reference: S6O-03876

Asked by: Rachael Hamilton, MSP for Ettrick, Roxburgh and Berwickshire, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 23 October 2024
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 31 October 2024

To ask the Scottish Government what its position is on how many genders there are.

Question reference: S6W-30123

Asked by: Rachael Hamilton, MSP for Ettrick, Roxburgh and Berwickshire, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 25 September 2024
Current Status: Answered by Maree Todd on 7 October 2024

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S6W-26430 by Maree Todd on 16 April 2024, whether it will provide a breakdown of the over £50 million that it has provided to local authorities since 2020 to "develop and deliver mental health and wellbeing supports and services".

Funding for Community Mental Health and Wellbeing Supports and Services for children, young people and their families has been distributed to each local authority area as follows:

	2019-20 £	2020-21 £	2021-22 £	2022-23 £	2023-24 £	2024-25 £
Aberdeen City	62,500	144,000	576,000	585,000	577,000	571,000
Aberdeenshire	62,500	197,500	790,000	797,000	809,000	823,000
Angus	62,500	81,500	326,000	322,000	324,000	325,000
Argyll and Bute	62,500	61,250	245,000	246,000	247,000	247,000
City of Edinburgh	62,500	335,750	1,343,000	1,361,000	1,339,000	1,305,000
Clackmannanshire	62,500	34,750	139,000	135,000	136,000	138,000
Dumfries and Galloway	62,500	108,250	433,000	430,000	430,000	435,000
Dundee City	62,500	111,250	445,000	434,000	427,000	424,000
East Ayrshire	62,500	83,000	332,000	326,000	328,000	330,000
East Dunbartonshire	62,500	67,000	268,000	270,000	271,000	275,000
East Lothian	62,500	73,500	294,000	290,000	291,000	295,000
East Renfrewshire	62,500	65,250	261,000	268,000	271,000	277,000
Falkirk	62,500	104,750	419,000	419,000	419,000	424,000
Fife	62,500	261,750	1,047,000	1,040,000	1,036,000	1,036,000
Glasgow City	62,500	434,250	1,737,000	1,759,000	1,755,000	1,709,000
Highland	62,500	178,000	712,000	707,000	713,000	713,000
Inverclyde	62,500	50,500	202,000	192,000	191,000	192,000
Midlothian	62,500	62,000	248,000	249,000	254,000	261,000
Moray	62,500	68,750	275,000	274,000	276,000	278,000
Na h-Eileanan Siar	62,500	22,250	89,000	88,000	89,000	89,000
North Ayrshire	62,500	92,500	370,000	360,000	359,000	359,000
North Lanarkshire	62,500	234,500	938,000	935,000	940,000	943,000
Orkney Islands	62,500	17,500	70,000	71,000	71,000	71,000
Perth and Kinross	62,500	103,500	414,000	418,000	423,000	427,000
Renfrewshire	62,500	113,500	454,000	453,000	452,000	454,000
Scottish Borders	62,500	82,250	329,000	334,000	335,000	338,000
Shetland Islands	62,500	20,750	83,000	84,000	85,000	86,000
South Ayrshire	62,500	70,750	283,000	283,000	282,000	284,000
South Lanarkshire	62,500	210,250	841,000	835,000	840,000	849,000
Stirling	62,500	73,250	293,000	291,000	281,000	281,000
West Dunbartonshire	62,500	58,250	233,000	231,000	231,000	234,000
West Lothian	62,500	144,000	511,000	513,000	518,000	527,000
Total	2,000,000	3,750,000	15,000,000	15,000,000	15,000,000	15,0000
Total						£65,750,000

Question reference: S6W-30118

Asked by: Rachael Hamilton, MSP for Ettrick, Roxburgh and Berwickshire, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 25 September 2024
Current Status: Answered by Maree Todd on 7 October 2024

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on what alternatives are offered to young people rejected from child and adolescent mental health services (CAMHS).

Every child and young person should be able to access support for their mental health and wellbeing when and where they need it. Not all children and young people need specialist services like CAMHS, and many will find more suitable support in their local community.

Since 2020, we have provided local authorities with over £50 million to develop and deliver community-based mental health and wellbeing supports and services for children, young people and their families, with a further £15 million being made available in 2024-25. The services are focused on prevention and early intervention and, where appropriate, offer an alternative to CAMHS by providing support in a community setting.

Supports and services are available in every local authority area, with more than 300 now in place across the country. This includes mentoring services, art-based therapies, digital services, whole-family supports, counselling services and supports involving sport or physical activity.

Local authorities have reported that over 58,000 people used the supports and services in the first half of 2023. We have also ensured access to counselling services in all secondary schools, and continue to give local authorities £16 million per year to fund this.

Question reference: S6W-30121

Asked by: Rachael Hamilton, MSP for Ettrick, Roxburgh and Berwickshire, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 25 September 2024
Current Status: Answered by Maree Todd on 7 October 2024

To ask the Scottish Government whether the further £15 million that it planned to provide to local authorities for the continuation of community-based mental health and wellbeing support and services in 2024-25 is still being provided.

Question reference: S6W-30117

Asked by: Rachael Hamilton, MSP for Ettrick, Roxburgh and Berwickshire, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 25 September 2024
Current Status: Answered by Maree Todd on 7 October 2024

To ask the Scottish Government for what reason the child and adolescent mental health services (CAMHS) rejected referral rate in the quarter ending June 2024 was reportedly much higher in NHS Borders than the national rejected referral rate.

Every child and young person should be able to access support for their mental health and wellbeing when and where they need it. Not all children and young people need specialist services like CAMHS, and many will find more suitable support in their local community.

We are aware that the rate of CAMHS referrals not accepted in NHS Borders in the quarter ending June 2024 was higher than other Health Boards. Scottish Government officials are meeting with NHS Borders to understand the reasons behind this, and to ensure that any referrals not accepted are receiving meaningful redirection.

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