Chamber and committees

Questions and answers

Parliamentary questions can be asked by any MSP to the Scottish Government or the Scottish Parliamentary Corporate Body. The questions provide a means for MSPs to get factual and statistical information.

Written questions must be answered within 10 working days (20 working days during recess)
Other questions such as Topical, Portfolio, General and First Minister's Question Times are taken in the Chamber

Urgent Questions aren't included in the Question and Answers search. There is a SPICe fact sheet listing Urgent and emergency questions.

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Question reference: S6W-20978

Asked by: Sue Webber, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 04 September 2023
Current Status: Answered by Elena Whitham on 19 September 2023

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S6W-19817 by Elena Whitham on 17 July 2023, what steps the MAT Implementation Support Team (MIST) is taking to work with (a) Alcohol and Drug Partnerships (ADPs) and (b) local health boards to facilitate the sharing of good practice examples to support Medication Assisted Treatment (MAT) implementation across Scotland.

The MAT Implementation Support Team (MIST) was established to work with and support local areas to build improvement-based capacity and capability so that they would be able to implement and sustain the MAT standards locally.

MIST support is provided through networking and regular support visits with a range of stakeholders including ADPs and local Health Boards to facilitate improvement work such as the sharing of good practice. Ministers have commissioned Healthcare Improvement Scotland (HIS) to run a national learning system for implementing the standards which is mainly aimed at providing support to ADPs and Health Boards by sharing best practice.

So, MIST and HIS work together on this to support local areas. The HIS learning system includes networking and webinars as well as providing insights and materials such as case studies, resources and news stories which are shared across ADPs and Health Boards.

Local areas report regularly to Ministers on progress towards implementation of the MAT standards. Public Health Scotland publishes progress in an annual National Benchmarking Report each June based on the work of MIST, and in the second annual Report published in June this year included good practice case studies provided through the HIS learning system.

MIST are also holding thematic groups for each of the standards to bring stakeholders together, and there is a planned in person work shop for MAT Standard 3 – Assertive Outreach taking place in the Autumn.

Question reference: S6W-20744

Asked by: Sue Webber, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 18 August 2023
Current Status: Answered by Shirley-Anne Somerville on 15 September 2023

To ask the Scottish Government how much funding it has allocated to the Corra Foundation for 2023-24.

Question reference: S6W-20745

Asked by: Sue Webber, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 18 August 2023
Current Status: Answered by Shirley-Anne Somerville on 12 September 2023

To ask the Scottish Government how much funding the Corra Foundation has distributed to third sector organisations since 1 June 2023.

Question reference: S6W-20977

Asked by: Sue Webber, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 04 September 2023
Current Status: Answered by Elena Whitham on 8 September 2023

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S6W-19814 by Elena Whitham on 17 July 2023, whether it will commit to ring-fencing funding for Royal Colleges for training and education programmes to raise awareness of the implementation of Medication Assisted Treatment (MAT) standards.

The Scottish Government is keen to raise awareness of the implementation of Medication Assisted Treatment (MAT) standards and there could be a role for Royal Colleges in contributing to this.

However, the training and education programmes provided by Royal Colleges are decided on by the Colleges, reflecting the needs and interests of their members and practitioners more widely.

The Scottish Government would certainly consider funding any relevant training and education programmes from the Royal Colleges.

Question reference: S6O-02497

Asked by: Sue Webber, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 06 September 2023
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 13 September 2023

To ask the Scottish Government what its response is to the number of alcohol-specific deaths in 2022.

Question reference: S6O-02471

Asked by: Sue Webber, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 30 August 2023
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 6 September 2023

To ask the Scottish Government whether it can provide an estimate of the number of households whose council tax bills have risen this year.

Question reference: S6W-19815

Asked by: Sue Webber, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 04 July 2023
Current Status: Answered by Elena Whitham on 1 August 2023

To ask the Scottish Government how much additional funding will be allocated specifically to provide training on problem drug use for healthcare professionals working in primary care settings.

Healthcare professionals working in primary care settings play a vital role in the delivery of the national mission to reduce drug deaths and improve lives. The Scottish Government encourages these professionals to engage with the range of training opportunities available on drug use.

The Scottish Government provides funding to NHS Health Boards and a proportion of this funding is allocated for education and training. It is the responsibility of each Health Board to decide how this funding is allocated for staff training.

Scottish Government has, in previous years, provided funding to the Royal College of General Practitioners (RCGP) to deliver the Management of Problem Drug Use certificate. This is a multi-disciplinary course aimed at professionals working with people who use drugs across primary care settings, and beyond, including General Practitioners (GPs), pharmacists, nurses, prison healthcare staff, and individuals in third-sector.

Scottish Government has agreed to provide further funding, over the next three years, to support continued delivery of the certificate.

Question reference: S6W-19818

Asked by: Sue Webber, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 04 July 2023
Current Status: Answered by Elena Whitham on 31 July 2023

To ask the Scottish Government whether third sector organisations are still able to receive funding through the National Drugs Mission.

Question reference: S6W-19819

Asked by: Sue Webber, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 04 July 2023
Current Status: Answered by Elena Whitham on 31 July 2023

To ask the Scottish Government how much funding has been allocated for drug and alcohol third sector organisations in 2023-24.

Third sector organisations are vital in delivering services to those affected by drugs and alcohol, and their families. The majority of available National Mission funding is allocated to alcohol and drugs partnerships who have local arrangements to support third sector organisations. Scottish Government also fund third sector organisations directly including through the Corra Foundation funds which values £65m over 5 years, and via SG managed grants.

As funding is distributed through these various channels, throughout the year at both local and national level, the total available to third sector organisations is subject to factors such as grant funding applications and local decision making.

Question reference: S6W-19817

Asked by: Sue Webber, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 04 July 2023
Current Status: Answered by Elena Whitham on 17 July 2023

To ask the Scottish Government what support it is offering primary care services to enable the implementation of Medication Assisted Treatment (MAT) standard 7.

The Scottish Government is providing support to primary care services in their implementation of Medication Assisted Treatment (MAT) Standard 7 through three routes:

The first is through our ringfencing £30m as set out in our Cross Government Plan, over the course of 3 years, from the Scottish Government’s Enhanced Services Allocation to NHS territorial Boards, from April 2023, in order to accelerate the adoption of Enhanced Services for drug services across Scotland. Local areas will be asked to prioritise use of this funding to improve outcomes for people who use drugs.

The second is through our commissioning Public Health Scotland to consider and develop a reference suite of best practice models that should provide local areas with guidance on how they might adapt primary care delivery to integrate drugs services in a way that suits local needs. The material will be derived from a critical examination of international and domestic experience of drug service provision in primary care settings, including through direct consultation with delivery partners on the ground and with our Drugs Policy Clinical Advisory Group, providing insight into a breadth of applicable scenarios and solutions.

The third is through targeted support and intervention from Public Health Scotland’s MAT Implementation Support Team (MIST), who work closely with local areas to evaluate and progress implementation across the range of MAT Standards 1-10.