Chamber and committees

The Scottish Government welcomes the report on Non-Communicable Disease Prevention published on 6 September and recognises that its recommendations are in line with the Government’s own approach, based on the World Health Organisation strategies of reducing Affordability, Availability and Attractiveness of alcohol, tobacco and unhealthy foods.

We are committed to supporting individuals and local communities by delivering measures to target harmful health behaviours early and provide access to holistic and person-centred treatment when needed.

The breakdown of Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services (CAMHS) workforce is published on a quarterly basis through the NHS Education for Scotland (NES) CAMHS Workforce publication. This data can be found on the NES Turas Data Intelligence platform and provides a breakdown of staffing per NHS Board in CAMHS, including breakdown of professional role.

In May 2021, we allocated £16.4 million to support NHS Boards to implement the National CAMHS Service Specification. In addition, on 14 September, we announced £10.83 million funding to further support the implementation. Through this funding, NHS Boards have started to recruit additional staff to implement the Specification and to build professional capacity to support children and young people with neurodevelopmental support needs. NHS Boards will recruit a variety of staff in different roles, based on individual service needs.

I refer the member to the answer to question S6W-02838 on 21 September 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 .

A key objective of the Carbon Neutral Islands project will be to create sustainable economic opportunities including new jobs and businesses, as part of our ambition to create a low carbon economy for Scotland. How we will do this and what jobs and skills island residents and communities want to see created will feature as part of our engagement on the design and development of the project.

I refer the member to the answer to question S6W-00570 on 21 June 2021. All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament's website, the search facility for which can be found at www.parliament.scot/chamber-and-committees/written-questions-and-answers.

In May 2021, we allocated £16.4 million to support NHS Boards to implement the National Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services (CAMHS) Service Specification. In addition, on 14 September, we announced £10.83 million funding to further support the implementation. Through this funding, NHS Boards have started to recruit additional staff to implement the Specification and to build professional capacity to support children and young people with neurodevelopmental support needs.

The Scottish Government is not responsible for the recruitment of NHS staff. It is NHS Boards’ responsibility to recruit workforce. The Scottish Government has provided guidance to NHS Boards, through the National CAMHS Service and Neurodevelopmental Specifications, on the appropriate roles and professionals expected to be employed within Boards.

A public consultation on the draft Framework for Chronic Pain Service Delivery is expected to begin this Autumn. We are grateful for the input provided to date by people with lived experience, clinical, third-sector and other stakeholders in helping us to shape this draft and welcome further feedback as part of the public consultation in order to help us improve services and support for people with chronic pain in Scotland.

The Scottish Government will consult with relevant Local Authorities, island stakeholders and importantly, island communities themselves.

We welcome and have noted the technical report on ‘COVID-19 in children and the role of school settings in transmission – second update’ from the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC).

The COVID-19 Advisory Sub-Group on Education and Children’s Issues has previously recognised that the Delta variant is more transmissible than the previously dominant variants, including among children. However, compared to adults, children are at much lower risk of severe COVID-related health outcomes. Once infected, they are more likely to experience mild or asymptomatic infection. Severe illness, hospitalisation and mortality are rare. Moreover, the evidence base continues to suggest that children transmit the virus at lower rates than adults, are more likely to transmit among themselves than to adults, and that cases in education settings follow and mirror transmission rates in the community where adult to adult transmission is more common. The summary report of the evidence on children, schools, early learning and childcare settings and transmission from COVID-19 provides more detail.

From w/c Monday 20 September all 12-15 year olds will be eligible for one dose of the vaccine which should help reduce transmission in children 12 years old and above.

Public inquiries under the Inquiries Act 2005 do not determine civil or criminal liability. Those are matters for the courts.

The Lord Advocate is responsible for the investigations of deaths. This function is wholly independent of the Scottish Government.

The Scottish Government is currently inviting views from the public on aims and principles for the Covid public inquiry, to help shape the terms of reference for the inquiry. A mailbox where views can be shared has been set up and will remain open up to 30 September. We are also arranging meetings with key stakeholders, including representatives of those bereaved during the pandemic, who remain at the centre of our engagement.