The Scottish Parliament

Question reference: S6W-23953

Asked by: Paul Sweeney, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 19 December 2023
Current Status: Answered by Maree Todd on 9 January 2024

To ask the Scottish Government what its position is on whether 8.78% of NHS spend being allocated to mental health services represents a funding shortfall of £180 million per year from its target of 10% of spend.

Question reference: S6W-23935

Asked by: Paul Sweeney, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Friday, 15 December 2023
Current Status: Answered by Fiona Hyslop on 9 January 2024

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will revise the Scottish Transport Appraisal Guidance (STAG) model for future rail infrastructure investment, in light of patronage projections for the reopening of Stow, Galashiels and Tweedbank stations on the Borders Railway reportedly having been underestimated for the first year of opening by, respectively, 313%, 330% and 681%.

Transport Scotland keeps forecasting methodology under review to ensure best practice. The Borders Railway business case demand forecasts were based on modelling that was informed by surveys of residents regarding their potential use of the line. This resulted in forecasts that underestimated demand from Borders stations and overestimated demand from Midlothian stations.

Rail demand forecasting has developed considerably since the demand forecasts for the Borders Railway business case were first developed in 2008. A post-opening hindcast from the South East Scotland Transport Partnership (SESTran) Regional model for those Borders stations gave forecasts within 30% of actual demand. Where available, Transport Scotland recommends to promotors the use of Regional models for new station demand forecasts .

Question reference: S6W-23954

Asked by: Paul Sweeney, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 19 December 2023
Current Status: Answered by Maree Todd on 9 January 2024

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the letter of 21 November 2023 from the Cabinet Secretary for Finance to the Finance and Public Administration Committee, whether the in-year budget changes set out in the letter will impact the delivery of its commitment to spend 1% of frontline NHS spend on child and adolescent mental health services (CAMHS).

The majority of spending on mental health is delivered through NHS board budgets, and this is not directly affected by the in-year budget changes impacting on the direct mental health programme budget. Between the Scottish Government and NHS boards we expect spending on Mental Health to be well in excess of £1.3 billion in financial year 2023-24.

We are working with partners towards delivery of the commitment to increase spending on child and adolescent mental health services to 1% of the total frontline NHS budget by the end of this Parliamentary session in 2026. We will continue to work with NHS Boards to monitor delivery through the Scottish Health Service Costs Book and the process of setting and monitoring priorities in Annual Delivery Plans.

Question reference: S6W-23955

Asked by: Paul Sweeney, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 19 December 2023
Current Status: Answered by Maree Todd on 9 January 2024

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the letter of 21 November 2023 from the Cabinet Secretary for Finance to the Finance and Public Administration Committee, whether the in-year budget changes set out in the letter will impact the delivery of its commitment to spend 10% of frontline NHS spend on mental health services.

The majority of spending on mental health is delivered through NHS board budgets, and this is not directly affected by the in-year budget changes impacting on the direct mental health programme budget. Between the Scottish Government and NHS boards we expect spending on Mental Health to be well in excess of £1.3 billion in financial year 2023-24.

We are working with partners towards delivery of the commitment to increase spending on mental health services to 10% of the total frontline NHS budget by the end of this Parliamentary session in 2026. We will continue to work with NHS Boards to monitor delivery through the Scottish Health Service Costs Book and the process of setting and monitoring priorities in Annual Delivery Plans.

Question reference: S6W-23951

Asked by: Paul Sweeney, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Friday, 15 December 2023
Current Status: Answered by Maree Todd on 9 January 2024

To ask the Scottish Government, in light of Public Health Scotland data confirming that the percentage of frontline NHS spend allocated to mental health services was 8.78% in 2021-22, whether it is still on track to meet its commitment to allocate 10% of NHS spend to mental health services by the end of the current parliamentary session.

We continue to work towards delivery of the commitment that at least 10% of frontline health spending will be dedicated to mental health by the end of this parliamentary session.

The NHS Recovery Plan 2021-2026 Annual Progress Update published in December 2023 confirmed that NHS expenditure on mental health rose from £1.25bn in 2020-21 to £1.3bn in 2021-22, an increase of £51.5m or 4.1% - representing 8.8% of total NHS expenditure.

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-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-23715

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 which four child and adolescent mental health services (CAMHS) services had not yet managed to effectively eliminate long waits as of June 2023, as referenced in its publication, NHS Recovery Plan 2021-26: Annual Progress Update 2023, and when it expects those services to eliminate such waits.

Statistics published on 5 September 2023 covering quarter ending June 2023 show that NHS Forth Valley, NHS Highland, NHS Lanarkshire and NHS Orkney did not effectively eliminate their long waits (where 4% or fewer of all waits are over one year).

However, statistics published on 5 December 2023 covering quarter ending September 2023 show that NHS Forth Valley, NHS Lanarkshire and NHS Orkney have now effectively eliminated their long waits (where 4% or fewer of all waits are over one year).

We continually monitor CAMHS waiting times performance and backlogs and are directing tailored support to those Boards with the longest waits, including NHS Highland, providing access to professional advice, ensuring they have robust improvement plans in place and monitoring their implementation.

We have commissioned all Boards to submit performance trajectories up to March 2024, including a timeline for clearing long waits. These will be updated annually and used to inform further targeted improvement work to ensure all Boards consistently meet the CAMHS waiting times standard.

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