Questions and answers

Question reference: S6W-23313

Asked by: Paul Sweeney, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 13 December 2023
Current Status: Answered by Maree Todd on 9 January 2024

To ask the Scottish Government, in light of the letter from the Deputy First Minister and Cabinet Secretary for Finance to the Finance and Public Administration Committee on 21 November 2023, how it plans to support health and social care partnerships to deliver on its Mental health and wellbeing in primary care services: planning guidance, following its reported decision to no longer provide the funding from the Mental Health Recovery and Renewal Fund that was previously committed to support such delivery.

Question reference: S6W-23311

Asked by: Paul Sweeney, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 13 December 2023
Current Status: Answered by Maree Todd on 9 January 2024

To ask the Scottish Government, in light of the letter from the Deputy First Minister and Cabinet Secretary for Finance to the Finance and Public Administration Committee on 21 November 2023, for what reason it is reportedly no longer funding the delivery of mental health and wellbeing in primary care services.

Question reference: S6F-02713

Asked by: Paul Sweeney, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 08 January 2024
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 11 January 2024

To ask the First Minister what urgent steps are being taken to address reports of a mental health crisis with an increase in calls to the NHS 24 Mental Health Hub.

Question reference: S6W-23812

Asked by: Paul Sweeney, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 12 December 2023
Current Status: Answered by Maree Todd on 8 January 2024

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S6W-23424 by Maree Todd on 11 December 2023, what programmes were expected to receive increased funding which now cannot be progressed as a result of the in-year budget changes set out by the Deputy First Minister and Cabinet Secretary for Finance on 21 November 2023.

Question reference: S6W-23811

Asked by: Paul Sweeney, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 12 December 2023
Current Status: Answered by Maree Todd on 8 January 2024

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S6W-23424 by Maree Todd on 11 December 2023, what planned new programmes cannot proceed as anticipated as a result of the in-year budget changes set out by the Deputy First Minister and Cabinet Secretary for Finance on 21 November 2023.

Difficult decisions have had to be made to allow us to balance the Scottish Government budget while still progressing implementation of our mental health and wellbeing and other strategies from a revised direct budget of £260.3 million.

The in-year budget changes impacted on a number of planned new programmes which could not proceed as anticipated. Planned increased funding to existing programmes were also not able to be progressed. This included programmes related to Mental Health and Primary Care; regional CAMHS developments; full implementation of Coming Home; full implementation of the new Mental Welfare Commission Patient Records System; and improving prisoner mental health.

Despite the savings made, we have continued to focus on delivery of our mental health and wellbeing strategy and recently published delivery plan, which includes commitments around mental health services and specific programmes of work around learning disability and autism, and cross-cutting trauma work.

Question reference: S6W-23740

Asked by: Paul Sweeney, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Friday, 08 December 2023
Current Status: Answered by Maree Todd on 5 January 2024

To ask the Scottish Government what its response is to the finding in the Carers Scotland report, State of Caring 2023, that over a quarter of unpaid carers said their mental health is bad or very bad, rising to 37% for those in receipt of Carer's Allowance.

We know that many carers experience mental, physical, employment and financial impacts as a result of their caring role. We must ensure adequate support for carers, particularly those most at risk of poorer health, to ensure their wellbeing and sustain them in their role.

The Mental Health and Wellbeing Strategy Delivery Plan and the Workforce Action Plan were published jointly with COSLA in November 2023. Actions in the Delivery Plan cover a wide spectrum, from maintaining good mental wellbeing, to support in communities, to ensuring specialist services are available whenever needed.

The Mental Health and Wellbeing Workforce Action Plan recognised the valuable role of carers and set out actions to improve carer awareness training for the workforce and access to wellbeing support for carers. Equality Impact Assessments have been published for both the Delivery Plan and Workforce Action Plan.

Our National Wellbeing Hub provides advice for unpaid carers, with information and resources to support carers to look after their mental health and wellbeing.

The National Specification for Psychological Therapies and Interventions was published in September 2023. It aims to improve the quality of the delivery of psychological therapies and interventions so that people accessing help, including unpaid carers, have positive experiences.

Support for carers is one of the aims of the recently published Core Mental Health Standards, which includes signposting to support and resources when needed. These standards were developed with the input of individuals with lived experience, including carers and set out clear expectations for what services will provide and to let individuals, their families and carers know what they can expect from a secondary mental health service. We want to support secondary mental health services which enable people to receive the right information, support, care, intervention, or service for their needs

Another key aim of the standards is that they are meaningful and measurable. National data sources will be used to monitor how well the standards are being met. Where areas for improvement are identified, support will be provided to local areas to ensure that safe and quality services are provided. The standards will also aim to ensure services are measuring key outcomes for patients, including carer experience.

Question reference: S6W-23742

Asked by: Paul Sweeney, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Friday, 08 December 2023
Current Status: Answered by Maree Todd on 5 January 2024

To ask the Scottish Government what steps it is taking to give unpaid carers access to at least two weeks of respite as a minimum.

The National Care Service Bill makes changes to the Carers (Scotland) Act 2016 to deliver a right to personalised short breaks support for any carer who is not currently able to access ‘sufficient breaks’ – accessed via their personalised plan under the Carers Act.

We are working with a group involving carers, local and national carer organisations and social care practitioners to develop the guidance and regulations required to deliver a right to personalised short breaks support for carers who need it under the proposed legislation. As caring roles vary in nature and intensity, carers will need different amounts and types of support to achieve ‘sufficient breaks’, depending on factors such as the type of caring role, help from other family members and wider support.

Ahead of the proposed legislation, we increased the voluntary sector Short Breaks Fund by £5m to £8m in 2022-23, to expand easy-access short breaks support, and have maintained the fund at £8m per year since then. This is in addition to £88.4m per year Carers Act funding in the local government block grant.

Question reference: S6W-23716

Asked by: Paul Sweeney, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Friday, 08 December 2023
Current Status: Answered by Maree Todd on 5 January 2024

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide a breakdown by NHS board of the £4.25 million allocated specifically for clearing child and adolescent mental health services (CAMHS) backlogs, as referenced in its publication, NHS Recovery Plan 2021-26: Annual Progress Update 2023.

Table 1 shows funding allocated to each NHS Health Board in 2021-22 for clearance of any backlogs on waiting lists for CAMHS.

Table 1:

NHS Board	CAMHS Waiting List Allocation
Ayrshire & Arran	£311,701
Borders	£90,925
Dumfries & Galloway	£126,671
Fife	£289,470
Forth Valley	£230,681
Grampian	£417,066
GGC	£938,449
Highland	£282,928
Lanarkshire	£517,719
Lothian	£639,161
Orkney	£21,902
Shetland	£21,208
Tayside	£333,155
Western Isles	£28,964
Scotland	£4,250,000

Question reference: S6W-23745

Asked by: Paul Sweeney, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Friday, 08 December 2023
Current Status: Answered by Maree Todd on 5 January 2024

To ask the Scottish Government what steps it is taking to ensure that unpaid carers have access to tailored mental health support, including support for anticipatory grief, bereavement counselling and support for young carers.

Under the Carers (Scotland) Act, all adult and young carers have the right to a personalised plan to identify what is important to them, which may include counselling and emotional support, according to their individual circumstances. Future needs for bereavement support can be considered as part of the process and any eligible needs for support must be met.

Local authorities must also have a carer information and advice service, usually delivered via local carer centres, to help all adult and young carers access support in their area. This must include information and advice on counselling and bereavement support available to carers, not necessarily carer-specific services. In addition to information and advice services, many local carer centres provide their own counselling and support services which can include group/peer support and bereavement support.

The Scottish Government is investing £88.4m per year in local carer support through local authority Carers Act funding.

Question reference: S6W-23746

Asked by: Paul Sweeney, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Friday, 08 December 2023
Current Status: Answered by Maree Todd on 5 January 2024

To ask the Scottish Government what assessment it has made of the recommendation in the Carers Scotland report, State of Caring 2023, to fast track unpaid carers to support by introducing vouchers or payments to access non-NHS assessments, counselling and other services.

We recognise the significant contribution that Scotland’s unpaid carers make to our communities. It is very important that people who are caring for others know how to access carer support, and that professionals know how to direct people to support.

Under the Carers (Scotland) Act 2016, Local Authorities and Integration Authorities are responsible for supporting carers, according to their individual needs, and commission Third Sector organisations to provide much of that support on their behalf. This includes providing or signposting to counselling and other services that are available to them locally. Much of this vital support is delivered through local carer centres.

We are investing £88.4m per year in local carer support through local authority Carers Act funding.

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