Questions and answers

Question reference: S6W-22906

Asked by: Sharon Dowey, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 13 November 2023
Current Status: Answered by Jenni Minto on 21 November 2023

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on when it plans to undertake a full review of the Young Patients Family Fund, including its eligibility criteria, to assess its impact to date.

Question reference: S6O-02767

Asked by: Sharon Dowey, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 15 November 2023
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 23 November 2023

To ask the Scottish Government what steps it is taking to reduce accidents and improve overall safety on the A77.

Question reference: S6O-02728

Asked by: Sharon Dowey, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 08 November 2023
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 16 November 2023

To ask the Scottish Government what clarification on teacher number arrangements will be provided to local authorities this year.

Question reference: S6W-22574

Asked by: Sharon Dowey, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 31 October 2023
Current Status: Answered by Tom Arthur on 8 November 2023

To ask the Scottish Government what plans are in place to review non-domestic rates, particularly for hospitality businesses.

Since the independent Barclay Review of Non-Domestic Rates, we have implemented a range of key reforms and changes to the non-domestic rates system, some of which came into effect on 1 April 2023.

We remain committed to three-yearly revaluations with a one-year tone date, introduced this year, as recommended by the Barclay Review, to ensure rateable values more closely reflect market values and to reduce volatility between revaluations. Revaluations redistribute the tax base to reflect changes in market circumstances and ensure fairness for all ratepayers, and the next revaluation is scheduled to take place on 1 April 2026.

The New Deal for Business established a consultative sub-group on non-domestic rates, which includes representative groups from the hospitality sector, to advise on further enhancements to the operation and administration of the non-domestic rates system following the implementation of the final recommendations of the Barclay Review. The sub-group’s recommendations were included in the New Deal for Business Report on Progress and Recommendations, and further details on how these will be taken forward are outlined in the New Deal for Business Group’s Implementation Plan which was published on 19 October.

Decisions on non-domestic rates for 2024-25 will be made in the context of the Scottish Budget which will be published on 19 December.

Question reference: S6W-22394

Asked by: Sharon Dowey, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 24 October 2023
Current Status: Answered by Angela Constance on 3 November 2023

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S6W-21760 by Angela Constance on 9 October 2023, how many of the 543 charges under the Protection of Workers (Retail and Age-restricted Goods and Services) (Scotland) Act 2021 that led to a conviction in criminal court between August 2021 and March 2023 resulted in the person convicted (a) going to prison and (b) receiving a community sentence.

Data about the number of charges resulting in a conviction has been extracted from the management information used to publish the Scottish Government Justice Analytical Services Criminal Disposals Dashboard (Source: Scottish Government Justice Analytical Services Criminal Disposals Dashboard ).

The number of charges under the new Protection of Retail Workers (Scotland) Act that have received a conviction in criminal court from August 2021 up to March 2023 was 543.

Taking into account that an individual can have multiple charges and each charge can have different disposals (for example a custodial and a monetary disposal), 250 charges (of the total 543 charges) resulted in the person convicted going to prison and 189 charges received a community sentence as main disposal.

Question reference: S6W-20689

Asked by: Sharon Dowey, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 17 October 2023
Current Status: Answered by Lorna Slater on 2 November 2023

To ask the Scottish Government whether it can provide a list of all verbal engagements and meetings that it has had with Circularity Scotland, in 2023 to date, including the (a) basic facts of and (b) names of those in attendance at any such meetings.

The Scottish Government had regular engagement with Circularity Scotland (CSL) as part of preparations for Scotland’s Deposit Return Scheme (DRS). Circularity Scotland Ltd went into administration in June 2023 following the UK Government’s decision not to grant a full exclusion from the UK Internal Market Act.

It is not possible to provide a list of all verbal engagements between Scottish Government officials and CSL staff due to the frequency of these working-level engagements and the fact that many of them were informal discussions rather than scheduled meetings. However, the main meetings between CSL and Scottish Ministers or officials are as follows:

1. CSL met with the Minister for Green Skills, Circular Economy and Biodiversity on a monthly basis, [link] .

2. CSL were members of the System-Wide Assurance Group, a DRS governance groups comprised of a range of stakeholders. The Meetings and minutes (including attendees) for DRS System-Wide Assurance Group: EIR release .

3. CSL were members of the DRS Executive Oversight Group. This group was responsible for overall system readiness, risks, and mitigations across all relevant bodies. This meeting was also attended by Scottish Environment Protection Agency (SEPA), Zero Waste Scotland (ZWS) and the Scottish Government.

4. CSL attended regular Sectoral Stakeholder Meetings to discuss implementation design with industry e.g. producers, retailers and the hospitality sector.

You may find it helpful to utilise the Scottish Government publications below:

Correspondence between Scottish Government and Circularity Scotland from March 2021: EIR release.

Question reference: S6W-22044

Asked by: Sharon Dowey, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 05 October 2023
Current Status: Answered by Maree Todd on 2 November 2023

To ask the Scottish Government what assessment it has made of the first three national dementia strategies in Scotland, and what the conclusions were.

Our previous three dementia strategies consistently maintained a focus on improving the quality of care for people living with dementia and their families through work on diagnosis, including: post-diagnostic support; care co-ordination during the middle stage of dementia; end of life and palliative care; workforce development and capability; data and information; and research into better understanding of the condition. Commitments within each of these strategies and our Covid-19 Action Plan were subject to independent evaluations.

The findings of these evaluations informed Everyone’s Story: A New Dementia Strategy for Scotland , including ‘The Difference We Need to Make’, which clearly sets out our ambitions by which we will hold ourselves accountable to delivering on through the lifetime of this new strategy.

We also heard a huge range of experiences and perspectives on people’s experiences of care and support via our National Conversation. This has also given us a large evidence base on the impact of previous strategies on people’s lives and experience.

Question reference: S6W-22045

Asked by: Sharon Dowey, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 05 October 2023
Current Status: Answered by Maree Todd on 2 November 2023

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide the most recent data on the number of people currently living with dementia, and what plans there are to update this data.

As stated in Everyone’s Story: A New Dementia Strategy for Scotland , dementia affects an estimated 90,000 people in Scotland, an estimated 3,000 of whom are under 65. However, every person with dementia is unique. Dementia affects people in lots of different ways, depending on the type of dementia they have as well as personal factors such as their social situation.

These figures are based on predictive modelling which we are in the process of updating to ensure we have an accurate picture on the numbers of people living with dementia in Scotland.

Our new strategy committed us to ensure we have robust data on our dementia communities, and this has come through as an important area to progress in our initial delivery work. We are committed to working with partners to identify ways to address this in our initial 2-year Delivery Plan for our Strategy.

Question reference: S6W-22047

Asked by: Sharon Dowey, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 05 October 2023
Current Status: Answered by Maree Todd on 2 November 2023

To ask the Scottish Government (a) how many and (b) what proportion of people currently diagnosed with dementia have received or are receiving their guaranteed minimum of one year of post-diagnostic support, and what steps are being taken to ensure that this support is provided to everyone with a diagnosis of dementia.

In 2020-21, the latest year for which we have data, we estimate that there were 6,569 people diagnosed with dementia and referred for dementia post-diagnostic support. This is a 20% reduction on the 8,137 diagnosed in 2019-20, which is likely to be due to the effects of measures relating to the COVID-19 pandemic. Using our current models for estimating the number of people living with dementia, 33.7% of those people newly diagnosed with dementia in 2020-21 were referred for post-diagnostic support, compared to 42.9% in 2019-20. The effects of measures relating to the COVID-19 pandemic are likely to have contributed to this reduction.

Of those referred in 2020-21 for post-diagnostic support, 81.0% received a minimum of one year’s support, which is similar to the proportion in 2019-20 (81.1%).

In Everyone’s Story: A New Dementia Strategy for Scotland , we have identified peoples experiences and access to post-diagnostic support as a critical point of difference we need to make during the strategy’s lifetime. This includes access for a minimum of 12 months, irrespective of where they live or how old they are. We have also committed moving closer to a person-centred system of support that is consistent and equitable throughout Scotland, but allows for flexibility to suit the individual and locally available resources (including within our communities).

These actions will build on current efforts to increase access. This includes investment of over £6m in 2021-22 and 2022-23 to boost uptake across Scotland. We have also provided £1m to Age Scotland over 2 years to provide complementary community-based post-diagnostic support aimed at keeping people active and connected in their local communities.

Question reference: S6W-22046

Asked by: Sharon Dowey, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 05 October 2023
Current Status: Answered by Maree Todd on 2 November 2023

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide the most recent data on current rates of diagnosis of dementia, and what steps are being taken to address any barriers to diagnosis.

To estimate diagnosis rates in Scotland we are developing an approach that compiles a dataset of CHI numbers of people with a dementia diagnosis from multiple health and social data sources. Based on this approach, and using our current model for estimating the number of people living with dementia (known as Eurocode), we estimate that 56% of this group received a diagnosis in 2020-21 (the latest year for which we have data).

It should be noted that the rest of the UK uses a different system for estimating the number of people living with dementia (known as CFAS II). For comparative purposes, applying this in Scotland would suggest 79% of people living with dementia are receiving a diagnosis.

The issue of dementia diagnosis rates is highlighted in Everyone’s Story: A New Dementia Strategy for Scotland , including around the need for a greater range of settings in which to access it. We recognise there is more work to be done to improve timely, accessible access to a dementia diagnosis, and this will be reflected in the priorities for our initial 2-year Delivery Plan which is in development. This includes developing actions through a Delivery Subgroup focused on extending the reach of diagnsotic and post-diagnostic support, made up of people living with dementia, care partners and stakeholders.

Chamber and committees