Chamber and committees

NHS boards and local authorities are responsible for working with their partners to provide care, services and support which meets the assessed needs of people living with mental health problems in line with their statutory obligations and Scottish Government policy.

Mental health services are a priority for this government; this priority has been further demonstrated through the additional £150 million funding which has been allocated to improve mental health services over the next five years. The investment in NHS boards is intended to increase capacity to deliver services.

As part of this funding, the First Minister announced a £54.1 million package of support to improve access to mental health services for adults and children on 12 January 2016. This investment includes £24.7 million to improve capacity to see more people more quickly, £4.8 million through Healthcare Improvement Scotland to help redesign local services to be more efficient, effective and sustainable and £24.6 million to improve workforce supply and train existing staff to deliver services for children and young people, as well as psychological therapies for all ages.

The £4.8 million through Healthcare Improvement Scotland will be used to establish a ‘Mental Health Access Improvement Support Team’ who will provide a comprehensive package of support to work in partnership with boards to improve access to mental health services, including psychological therapies.

The Scottish Government sets national direction of policy on mental health and provides funding to agencies – including NHS boards and local authorities – to support implementation of policy.

The management of local actions in implementing national policy, and decisions on local spending priorities, are the responsibility of relevant local agencies. It is therefore the responsibility of NHS boards and local authorities to work with their partners and regularly review spending decisions to ensure they deliver fit for purpose services which respond to the needs of their local population, including students attending university.

Funding on mental health services for students attending university will continue to be drawn from the overall funds allocated to NHS Scotland and local authorities by the Scottish Government.

The Scottish Government is committed to ensuring that everyone with mental health problems can access high quality mental health services. Further and higher education students can continue to access these services through their local NHS board.

We are working on the development of the next mental health strategy and expect to produce it after the May 2016 election, subject to the next administration's priorities.

General dental practitioners are independent contractors. Independent general dental practitioners are individually responsible for dental services which they carry out.

An account of engagement between previous administrations and other party groups around successive budget Bills is available through the Scottish Parliament's Official Report, which documents the discussions that took place during the annual budget Bill process in each year since 1999. The search facility for the Official Report can be found at: http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/parliamentarybusiness/13595.aspx?mode=a.

I have in every year since 2008 met representatives from each political party represented in the Scottish Parliament to discuss their alternative budget proposals. It would be a matter for members of previous administrations to account for their conduct in engagement with other political party groups prior to that.

This government has committed to dual all remaining single carriageway on the A9 between Perth and Inverness. Currently, between Perth and Inverness, the A9 has 30 miles of dual carriageway, 80 miles of single carriageway and 4.7 miles of dual carriageway under construction. This leaves a further 75.3 miles of A9 we plan to upgrade to dual carriageway.

It is anticipated that the construction of the new dualling between Perth and Inverness will be completed by 2025 in line with commitments made in the Infrastructure Investment Plan on 6 December 2011.

No care home resident should ever be subject to any form of harm or abuse, and it should be remembered that the vast majority of residential care homes provide high-quality care. The Care Inspectorate investigates complaints against registered care homes and carries out a rigorous inspection programme. Complaints about registered social service workers are investigated by the Scottish Social Services Council.

Through the Health (Tobacco, Nicotine etc. and Care) (Scotland) Bill, we are legislating to introduce new offences of ill-treatment or wilful neglect. That will improve current powers and complaints procedures, and it will ensure that effective legal action can be taken against a care worker or care provider whenever necessary.

NHS boards are responsible for the delivery of NHS general dental services in their area, and will take action in response to instances of poor quality dental services.

Actions available to health boards include:

(i) asking dental practice advisers to provide pastoral advice and support.

(ii) referral to the health board reference committee for consideration.

(iii) referral to a NHS Tribunal.

(iv) referral to the General Dental Council.

This is a matter for NHS boards and the information requested is not held centrally by the Scottish Government.