- Asked by: Monica Lennon, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Friday, 08 July 2022
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Current Status:
Answered by Maree Todd on 26 July 2022
To ask the Scottish Government what support it is providing to smoking cessation services.
Answer
The Scottish Government has provided £9,144,964 to Health Boards for the provision of smoking cessation services.
This funding is calculated on the basis of smoking rates and deprivation and is used to provide the free Quit Your Way service. This service includes an interactive website, offering expert advice and support to those seeking to quit tobacco products. Local support services and access to a range of free medications and products are provided to help people stop smoking.
- Asked by: Sarah Boyack, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Friday, 08 July 2022
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Current Status:
Answered by Angus Robertson on 26 July 2022
To ask the Scottish Government how much it expects the referral to the Supreme Court of whether the question for a referendum on Scottish independence contained in the proposed referendum Bill relates to reserved matters to cost.
Answer
Litigation is ongoing and external costs will be published on a regular basis. We will publish initial data on spending in September, and on a quarterly basis thereafter, until the conclusion of the litigation.
- Asked by: Carol Mochan, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Friday, 08 July 2022
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Current Status:
Answered by Maree Todd on 26 July 2022
To ask the Scottish Government what role dedicated units for women experiencing baby loss and/or pregnancy complication have in achieving the aims set out in the Women’s Health Plan.
Answer
As outlined in the Programme for Government 2021 – 22 A Fairer, Greener Scotland: Programme for Government 2021-22 - gov.scot (www.gov.scot) published in September 2021, the Scottish Government is committed to establishing a dignified and compassionate miscarriage service. As part of this, the Scottish Government wants to ensure that NHS Boards are able to provide dedicated facilities for women who are experiencing unexpected pregnancy complications.
This aligns with the commitments set out in Womens-Health-Plan-2021-2024 in regards to women experiencing miscarriage and unexpected pregnancy complications.
- Asked by: Monica Lennon, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Friday, 08 July 2022
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Current Status:
Answered by Maree Todd on 26 July 2022
To ask the Scottish Government, in light of the ASH Scotland report, Closing the Inequality Gap: Smoking and Mental Health, what its position is on whether there is a link between smoking and mental ill health, and what action it is taking to address this possible link.
Answer
We welcome the report by ASH Scotland on smoking and mental health and aim to discuss with them details of their report findings. Smoking prevalence among those experiencing mental ill-health is higher than the national average. Finding solutions to this is an important step and one currently being considered as part of our revised Tobacco Control Action Plan.
- Asked by: Colin Smyth, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Thursday, 30 June 2022
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Current Status:
Answered by Mairi McAllan on 26 July 2022
To ask the Scottish Government, regarding the use of anthelmintics through medicated grit to treat wild red grouse, what
monitoring is in place for (a) how much is being used and (b) where it is being
dispensed.
Answer
Medicated grit can only be used under licence administered by a veterinarian. A veterinary prescription is required to purchase flubendazole coated medicated grit and it is recommended following predetermination of worm levels in grouse .
The Veterinary Medicines Directorate (VMD) is the competent authority in the UK responsible for the testing of food producing animals for residues of authorised veterinary medicines products and prohibited substances. The National Residues Surveillance Programme is carried out by VMD in accordance with The Animal and Animal Products (Examination for Residues and Maximum Residue Limits) (England and Scotland) Regulations of 2015. Food Standards Scotland collect samples on behalf of VMD in approved game handling establishments.
The testing of red grouse for the presence of anthelmintic compounds authorised for use in medicated feed, such as flubendazole, has been carried out since 2016 and VMD publish its annual figures on gov.uk.
- Asked by: Sarah Boyack, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 29 June 2022
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Current Status:
Answered by Patrick Harvie on 26 July 2022
To ask the Scottish Government how much it plans to spend on active travel projects in Edinburgh over the next four years.
Answer
Scottish Government funding for active travel in Edinburgh and other local authority areas is channelled through a number of programmes overseen by Transport Scotland. The single biggest programme is the Places for Everyone (PfE) programme, run by Sustrans with grant funding from Transport Scotland. From PfE, City of Edinburgh Council (CEC) has an indicative amount of £52,129,410 allocated to active travel projects over the next four years.
In addition, CEC receives £3,378,467 of Cycling Walking and Safer routes funding directly from Transport Scotland from a £35 million annual pot distributed pro rata to all 32 local authorities in Scotland. There are also various other partner delivered programmes which CEC can bid into for active travel projects, including the Smarter Choices Smarter Places fund for behaviour change projects, run by Paths for All.
- Asked by: Alex Cole-Hamilton, MSP for Edinburgh Western, Scottish Liberal Democrats
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 29 June 2022
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Current Status:
Answered by Ash Regan on 26 July 2022
To ask the Scottish Government what steps it is taking to promote the Charter for Grandchildren.
Answer
The Charter for Grandchildren aims to highlight the role of the wider family. The Charter is available at the link below:
https://www.gov.scot/publications/parenting-plan-charter-grandchildren/ .
In the Family Justice Modernisation Strategy (FJMS) the Scottish Government committed to promote the Charter for Grandchildren. The FJMS is available at the link below:
https://www.gov.scot/publications/family-justice-modernisation-strategy/pages/1/ .
The Scottish Government is reviewing the actions in the FJMS and will consider prioritising work to promote the Charter for Grandchildren following delays during the Covid-19 pandemic.
The steps the Scottish Government intends to take to promote the Charter include engaging with key bodies to raise awareness and ensuring information on the Charter is more widely available.
- Asked by: Craig Hoy, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 05 July 2022
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Current Status:
Answered by Maree Todd on 26 July 2022
To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S6W-02449 by Maree Todd on 21 September 2021, whether it will provide an update on how many abdominal aortic aneurysm screenings have taken place in each month since the start of 2019.
Answer
Further to the answer to question S6W-02449 which provided information on the number of people who attended an abdominal aortic aneurysm screening appointment between January 2019 and July 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 The following table provides information on the number of people who attended an abdominal aortic aneurysm screening in each of the months that followed from August 2021 to June 2022.
- Asked by: Craig Hoy, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 05 July 2022
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Current Status:
Answered by Maree Todd on 26 July 2022
To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S6W-02448 by Maree Todd on 21 September 2021, whether it will provide an update on how many newborn screenings have taken place in each month since the start of 2019.
Answer
The Scottish Government does not hold information on the newborn hearing test and newborn infant physical examination. These would need to be requested from health boards directly.
Further to the answer to question S6W-02448 which provided information on the number of babies screened using the bloodspot test in the newborn screening programme for each month between January 2019 and July 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 . The following table provides information on the number of babies screened using the bloodspot test in the newborn screening programme, for each month in the period that followed from August 2021 to June 2022:
Year and Month | Number of babies screened |
2021 | |
August | 4583 |
September | 4779 |
October | 4264 |
November | 4647 |
December | 4229 |
2022 | |
January | 3962 |
February | 3721 |
March | 4422 |
April | 3993 |
May | 4265 |
June | 4319 |
However, it is important to note that the Scottish Government does not routinely publish this information as it is only held as management information and is not subject to the standard quality control checks required for official publication. During the acute phase of COVID-19 management, the information was provided in light of the increased interest in screening performance.
- Asked by: Colin Beattie, MSP for Midlothian North and Musselburgh, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 05 July 2022
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Current Status:
Answered by Jamie Hepburn on 26 July 2022
To ask the Scottish Government, following the implementation of the Young Person’s Guarantee and Kickstart Scheme in 2020, how many funded apprenticeship places have been (a) offered to and (b) taken up by deaf school leavers, including school leavers with mild or moderate hearing impairments.
Answer
Official statistics from our national skills agency, Skills Development Scotland show that there were 26 Modern Apprentice (MA) Starts, in the 16-19 age grouping, who were recorded as having a hearing impairment and were recorded as being school pupils prior to commencing their apprenticeship. This data covers MA starts from 1 September 2020 to 31 March 2022 and further apprenticeship data will be available when the Quarter 1 2022-23 report is published, which is expected in August 2022. These figures are on the basis of self-declaration and therefore may be higher than this.