- Asked by: Finlay Carson, MSP for Galloway and West Dumfries, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Thursday, 10 October 2024
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Current Status:
Answered by Neil Gray on 24 October 2024
To ask the Scottish Government how many of the 12 Single Point of Contact (SPoC) pilot projects provide support for people diagnosed with blood cancer, and in which NHS boards any such support is available.
Answer
Of the 12 Single Point of Contact (SPoC) pilot projects, 4 fully include a service for haemato-oncology patients in NHS Borders, NHS Forth Valley, NHS Highland and NHS Western Isles.
Further to this, NHS Grampian and NHS Fife SPoC projects have a navigation team to support patients from point of cancer referral to diagnosis and is able to support those with blood cancer.
- Asked by: Finlay Carson, MSP for Galloway and West Dumfries, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Thursday, 10 October 2024
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Current Status:
Answered by Neil Gray on 24 October 2024
To ask the Scottish Government when it anticipates that Health Improvement Scotland will complete its scalability assessment of the 12 Single Point of Contact (SPoC) pilot projects, and whether this assessment will be shared publicly.
Answer
A wider review of the Single Point of Contact programme is being led by Healthcare Improvement Scotland and includes a scalability assessment. This commenced in early 2024 and is expected to complete by Spring 2025.
The scalability assessment and an implementation toolkit will be publicly available upon completion of the assessment to support the ongoing programme of work.
- Asked by: Finlay Carson, MSP for Galloway and West Dumfries, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Friday, 20 September 2024
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Current Status:
Answered by Mairi Gougeon on 27 September 2024
To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide full details in relation to the commissioning of Seafish to assist in the delivery of its Fisheries Management Plans under the Joint Fisheries Statement.
Answer
Seafish have supported Defra to deliver Fisheries Management Plans (FMPs) for English waters. We have also utilised their expertise in Scotland by asking them to support the development of the two Nephrops FMPs.
Seafish have been asked to support evidence gathering, collaborative development through sector-specific working groups, as well as delivery of engagement events and workshops.
Seafish have a wealth of experience and knowledge, and have been well placed to carry out stakeholder engagement in relation to Nephrops, and to produce drafts of the FMPs.
- Asked by: Finlay Carson, MSP for Galloway and West Dumfries, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Friday, 20 September 2024
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Current Status:
Answered by Mairi Gougeon on 27 September 2024
To ask the Scottish Government whether each of its Fisheries Management Plans will be delivered before the deadline.
Answer
At the Rural Affairs and Islands Committee on 11 September, I updated members on the challenges of the current timeframes for all four UK nations in relation to developing quality, credible Fisheries Management Plans and confirmed that I will be writing to the Committee formally in due course regarding the statutory deadlines associated with the plans. I expect to do this shortly and will be happy to update the member further following this communication.
It is important to remember that we already have a strong suite of measures in place to manage our fisheries and safeguard our fish stocks.
- Asked by: Finlay Carson, MSP for Galloway and West Dumfries, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Friday, 20 September 2024
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Current Status:
Answered by Mairi Gougeon on 27 September 2024
To ask the Scottish Government how much Seafish was paid to assist in drafting its Fisheries Management Plans.
Answer
Seafish has been provided with a grant of £39,479 in connection with the development of Fisheries Management Plans for the North Sea and West of Scotland Nephrops stocks.
- Asked by: Finlay Carson, MSP for Galloway and West Dumfries, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Monday, 23 September 2024
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Current Status:
Answered by Mairi Gougeon on 27 September 2024
To ask the Scottish Government when all of its Fisheries Management Plans will be made public in draft form.
Answer
We are currently working with the other UK administrations to refine the drafting of the Scottish-led FMPs and will undertake further discussions with stakeholders prior to formal consultation. Draft FMPs will be published at the time of the formal consultation. Timings for this will be confirmed in due course.
- Asked by: Finlay Carson, MSP for Galloway and West Dumfries, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 25 September 2024
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Current Status:
Taken in the Chamber on 3 October 2024
To ask the Scottish Government what its proposed timeline and target date are for the establishment of a leavers fund to support victims of domestic abuse to leave abusive relationships.
Answer
Taken in the Chamber on 3 October 2024
- Asked by: Finlay Carson, MSP for Galloway and West Dumfries, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Monday, 16 September 2024
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Current Status:
Answered by Neil Gray on 20 September 2024
To ask the Scottish Government what its response is to the findings and recommendations set out in Blood Cancer UK’s latest report, UK Blood Cancer Action Plan 2024.
Answer
I met with Ms Helen Rowntree, CEO of Blood Cancer UK, on 12 September 2024 to discuss their recently published Action Plan. The Scottish Government is pleased to note that the charity’s five recommendations align closely with the ambitions laid out in its own Cancer Strategy for Scotland, published in June 2023.
The cancer strategy takes a comprehensive approach to improving patient pathways in cancer, from prevention and diagnosis through to treatment and post-treatment care. The Scottish Government looks forward to continuing its work with the third sector to deliver on the ambitious strategy.
- Asked by: Finlay Carson, MSP for Galloway and West Dumfries, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 18 September 2024
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Current Status:
Taken in the Chamber on 25 September 2024
To ask the Scottish Government whether it plans to reassess its tax policies, in light of reports from some businesses that higher taxes are having a negative impact on recruitment, including in the most recent Fraser of Allander Institute survey on Scottish income tax.
Answer
Taken in the Chamber on 25 September 2024
- Asked by: Finlay Carson, MSP for Galloway and West Dumfries, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Thursday, 05 September 2024
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Current Status:
Answered by Paul McLennan on 17 September 2024
To ask the Scottish Government when registered social landlords (RSL) will be advised of their 2024-25 budget allocation for aids and adaptations.
Answer
Since the integration of health and social care, most funding for aids and adaptations for all housing sectors comes from Health and Social Care Partnerships. Housing adaptations are structural changes to a property made to support a disabled person to live safely and independently at home.
The Scottish Government provides some funding to help Registered Social Landlords (RSLs) deliver adaptations for their disabled tenants. Funding of £8.245 million is available for 2024-25 for adaptations for RSL tenants.
The budget allocation process for the 2024-25 RSLs Adaptations Programme is underway. My officials will contact RSLs directly with information on their funding allocation once the process has been concluded. I expect this to be in the coming weeks.