- Asked by: Tess White, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Thursday, 10 July 2025
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Current Status:
Answered by Gillian Martin on 29 July 2025
To ask the Scottish Government, in light of the reported finding in the Final report of the evaluation of the impact of the Just Transition Fund for the North East and Moray that the fund has only safeguarded 120 jobs in two years, what further action it will take to prevent any significant job losses in the energy sector.
Answer
The Just Transition Fund (JTF) created and safeguarded at least 230 jobs in its first two years of operation, alongside the provision of more than 750 training places and it leveraged over £34 million in additional investment. The fund also supported innovative technologies such as EV battery recycling and offshore green hydrogen; it invested in improved environmental outcomes, for instance through the Findhorn Watershed project; and it invested in communities with our participatory budgeting approach, benefitting projects in ecovillages, adaptation and local climate assemblies.
These are some of the initial impacts of the JTF, and we expect job numbers and other key outputs to increase as projects continue.
In addition, the Scottish Government, in partnership with the UK Government, has launched a new Oil and Gas Transition Training Fund to help support offshore workers transition to roles in sustainable energy sectors. The new Fund forms part of a wider toolkit of support available for Scotland’s offshore oil and gas workers, including an industry-led Energy Skills Passport. These initiatives reflect our commitment to ensuring a just transition for Scotland’s valued and highly skilled offshore oil and gas workers.
- Asked by: Tess White, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Friday, 27 June 2025
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Current Status:
Answered by Jenni Minto on 24 July 2025
To ask the Scottish Government how many dedicated palliative care inpatient beds there have been in each of the past five years, broken down by acute hospital.
Answer
The Scottish Government does not hold this data centrally. However, Public Health Scotland (PHS) publishes limited provisional information relating to ‘Acute hospital activity and NHS beds information’ in their annual and quarterly reports, relevant information from that publication is set out in the following table.
It should be noted that palliative care can be delivered in other acute specialties as well.
'-' denotes no data | | | | | |
Average Available Staffed Beds Palliative Medicine specialty |
Indicator | 2019-20 | 2020-21 | 2021-22 | 2022-23 | 2023-24p |
All Locations of Treatment | 126 | 103 | 100 | 106 | 101 |
NHS Ayrshire & Arran | - | - | - | - | - |
NHS Borders | 9 | 5 | 7 | 8 | 7 |
-Borders General Hospital | 9 | 5 | 7 | 8 | 7 |
NHS Dumfries & Galloway | 8 | 6 | 8 | 8 | 9 |
-Castle Douglas Community Hospital | 0 | - | - | - | - |
-Dumfries & Galloway Royal Infirmary | 8 | 5 | 8 | 8 | 9 |
-Galloway Community Hospital | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
-Mountainhall Treatment Centre | - | 0 | 0 | - | - |
NHS Fife | 23 | 22 | 19 | 20 | 15 |
-Adamson Hospital | - | - | - | - | 0 |
-Cameron Hospital | - | - | - | 0 | - |
-Queen Margaret Hospital | 9 | 9 | 9 | 9 | 4 |
-St Andrews Community Hospital | 4 | 3 | 2 | 3 | 2 |
-Victoria Hospital, Kirkcaldy | 10 | 10 | 8 | 8 | 8 |
NHS Forth Valley | - | - | - | - | - |
NHS Grampian | 20 | 15 | 17 | 19 | 19 |
-Aberdeen Royal Infirmary | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
-Glen O'Dee Hospital | 0 | - | - | - | 0 |
-Insch & District War Memorial Hosp. | 0 | - | - | - | - |
-Inverurie Hospital | - | - | - | - | 0 |
-Roxburghe House | 19 | 15 | 17 | 19 | 19 |
-Royal Aberdeen Children's Hospital | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
-Varis Court | 0 | - | - | - | - |
NHS Greater Glasgow & Clyde | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
-Queen Elizabeth University Hospital | - | - | - | - | 0 |
-Royal Alexandra Hospital | 0 | - | - | - | - |
-West Glasgow | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
NHS Highland | 5 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 4 |
-Caithness General Hospital | 0 | - | - | - | 0 |
-Dunbar Hospital | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 |
-Portree Hospital | 1 | 0 | - | - | 0 |
-Wick Town and County Hospital | 2 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
NHS Lanarkshire | - | - | - | - | - |
NHS Lothian | 30 | 23 | 15 | 17 | 15 |
-St Columba's Hospice | 30 | 23 | 15 | 17 | 15 |
NHS Orkney | - | - | - | - | - |
NHS Shetland | - | - | - | - | - |
NHS Tayside | 30 | 27 | 30 | 32 | 32 |
-Ninewells Hospital | 2 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 3 |
-Perth Royal Infirmary | 9 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 10 |
-Royal Victoria Hospital, Dundee | 20 | 17 | 19 | 20 | 19 |
NHS Western Isles | - | - | - | - | - |
Source: https://publichealthscotland.scot/media/29059/table-4-beds-2023-24.xlsx
- Asked by: Tess White, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Friday, 27 June 2025
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Current Status:
Answered by Tom Arthur on 10 July 2025
To ask the Scottish Government how many psychiatric care units there have been in each of the past six years, broken down by NHS board.
Answer
The information requested is not held centrally. The member is welcome to review the latest Mental Health Inpatient Census 2024 which can provide an overview of beds available, and occupied by, ward type for NHS Scotland mental health facilities. NHS Assure may also hold relevant ward-level information.
- Asked by: Tess White, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 11 June 2025
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Current Status:
Taken in the Chamber on 18 June 2025
To ask the Scottish Government what discussions the rural affairs secretary has had with agricultural organisations regarding any increases in production costs as a result of new transmission infrastructure.
Answer
Taken in the Chamber on 18 June 2025
- Asked by: Tess White, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Friday, 30 May 2025
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Current Status:
Answered by Kaukab Stewart on 9 June 2025
To ask the Scottish Government how many secondary schools are currently running the Equally Safe at School programme, broken down by local authority area.
Answer
Our Equally Safe at School (ESAS), developed by Rape Crisis Scotland and Zero Tolerance, applies a whole school approach to inequality and gender-based violence in schools. Please see a breakdown in the following table of how many secondary schools are currently signed up to ESAS, broken down by local authority area.
Aberdeen City Council | 5 |
Aberdeenshire Council | 2 |
Angus Council | 9 |
Argyll and Bute Council | 2 |
City of Edinburgh Council | 21 |
Clackmannanshire Council | 3 |
Dumfries and Galloway Council | 4 |
Dundee City Council | 2 |
East Ayrshire Council | 5 |
East Dunbartonshire Council | 4 |
East Lothian Council | 4 |
East Renfrewshire Council | 5 |
Falkirk Council | 5 |
Fife Council | 5 |
Glasgow City Council | 9 |
Highland Council | 13 |
Inverclyde Council | 1 |
Midlothian Council | 3 |
Moray Council | 8 |
North Ayrshire Council | 4 |
North Lanarkshire Council | 5 |
Orkney Islands Council | 4 |
Perth and Kinross Council | 5 |
Renfrewshire Council | 13 |
Scottish Borders Council | 4 |
South Ayrshire Council | 1 |
South Lanarkshire Council | 6 |
Stirling Council | 5 |
West Dunbartonshire Council | 2 |
West Lothian Council | 5 |
- Asked by: Tess White, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Friday, 30 May 2025
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Current Status:
Answered by Gillian Martin on 9 June 2025
To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on what (a) it is doing to combat coastal erosion at Montrose, with reference to dredging and (b) its position is following the 2021 publication of the Dynamic Coast report, Adaptation and Resilience Options for Montrose Bay.
Answer
The Scottish Government continues to support Angus Council to address the erosion issues affecting the sand dunes in Montrose through the Coastal Change Adaptation Fund.
Dredging license applications from Montrose Port Authority have been carefully considered by the Scottish Government ensuring that most dredged material is deposited within Montrose Bay and the dredged material remains in the same coastal circulation cell.
We continue to progress our Dynamic Coast project and between 2022-23 and 2025-26 Angus Council have received almost £730,000 from Scottish Government’s Coastal Change Adaptation Fund: £290,000 in direct distribution and £440,000 to fund a case study to improve the flood resilience of sand dunes at Montrose.
- Asked by: Tess White, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Friday, 30 May 2025
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Current Status:
Answered by Angela Constance on 9 June 2025
To ask the Scottish Government how it is working with Police Scotland to ensure that staff networks advocating for sex-based rights, such as Police SEEN, receive recognition and the opportunity to review and inform internal policies, in light of the Supreme Court ruling in For Women Scotland Ltd v The Scottish Ministers.
Answer
Operational matters and internal policies are the responsibility of the Chief Constable, who is committed to ensuring all staff voices are heard. The Scottish Government expects Police Scotland to support a diverse and inclusive workplace where all staff networks are treated with respect. Police Scotland continues to engage with staff associations and networks to consider the impact of the recent Supreme Court ruling on its internal policies.
- Asked by: Tess White, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Thursday, 22 May 2025
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Current Status:
Answered by Maree Todd on 5 June 2025
To ask the Scottish Government when the Mother and Baby Unit options appraisal report from NHS National Services Scotland will be published.
Answer
I have been considering the Mother and Baby Unit Options Appraisal from NHS National Services Scotland. This has been impacted by financial restrictions, which have limited capital spending on new developments in Boards.
As those pressures may begin to ease somewhat, the Scottish Government would hope that the Options Appraisal could be published in coming months.
- Asked by: Tess White, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Monday, 12 May 2025
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Current Status:
Taken in the Chamber on 13 May 2025
To ask the Scottish Government what its response is to the announcement that NHS Grampian has been escalated to stage 4 of NHS Scotland's National Performance Framework for finance, leadership and governance.
Answer
Taken in the Chamber on 13 May 2025
- Asked by: Tess White, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Thursday, 10 April 2025
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Current Status:
Answered by Natalie Don-Innes on 8 May 2025
To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S6W-35645 by Natalie Don-Innes on 26 March 2025, when it expects the findings and evaluation of the early adopter community work to be published, and whether an expansion of early learning and childcare will take place before the end of the current parliamentary session.
Answer
It is our aim to publish final outputs from the evaluation of the early adopter community (EAC) work in the second half of 2026.
As outlined in our previous answer, due to the significant financial challenges facing the Scottish Government as a result of budget choices made at Westminster, Ministers have had to make tough decisions for the current parliamentary session to protect our existing investment in childcare. This includes almost £1 billion a year for local authorities to deliver our current offer of 1140 hours of high quality, funded early learning and childcare. We are working with local authorities to maximise uptake of our existing offer for eligible 2 year olds to ensure that as many children as possible benefit from the offer and investing up to £16 million over 2024-25 and 2025-26 in the six council areas participating in the EAC work.
