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: S3W-38194

Asked by: Des McNulty, MSP for Clydebank and Milngavie, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 08 December 2010
Current Status: Answered by Fergus Ewing on 16 December 2010

To ask the Scottish Executive how widely available support services are for families of drug addicts and those who misuse alcohol

A range of support services for families of people who use drugs and misuse alcohol are available across Scotland. These services help individuals and families to recover from the harms caused by drugs and alcohol.

Funding for alcohol and drug treatment and support services is allocated to NHS health boards. However, decisions on spend for alcohol and drug services are made at a local level by alcohol and drug partnerships, who have clear responsibilities to develop effective local alcohol and drugs strategies. We expect these partnerships to make sure there is access to a range of appropriate services based on the needs of the local community, including services to support families.

The Scottish Government provided £28.6 million to health boards for frontline drug services in 2010-11; this represents an increase of over 20% since 2006-07, exceeding the manifesto commitment. In 2011-12, we are proposing to maintain funding for drug treatment services at the level of 2010-11. The Scottish Government has also made record investment of around £100 million through NHS boards (2008-11) - a tripling of resources on the previous three years “ to provide vital local prevention, support and treatment services for those affected both directly and indirectly by alcohol misuse, in line with local need as identified by local alcohol and drug partnerships (ADPs). Supporting children affected by parental substance misuse is one of four key priorities identified for local ADPs.

The voluntary sector also plays an important role in supporting families of people who use drugs and misuse alcohol. The Scottish Government''s Unified Voluntary Sector Fund (UVSF) provided £70,266 in 2010-11 to Scottish Families Affected by Drugs, a national organisation that aims to support families across Scotland who are affected by drugs and raise awareness of the issues affecting them. Scottish Families Affected by Drugs aims to reduce the isolation and stigma felt by many families by representing them at local and national level; providing seminars and training events for family support groups, and providing access to support through the National Helpline services.

There are also a number of mutual aid groups such as Alcoholics Anonymous (AA) and Narcotics Anonymous (NA) across Scotland that support individuals in their recovery and also help to catalyse the growth of recovery communities that support families and individuals to overcome the problems associated with drug and alcohol misuse.

In addition, the National Directory of Drug Treatment Services, maintained by the Scottish Drugs Forum, lists national organisations where families can seek help. This is available at:

www.scottishdrugservices.com.

Information on support services for families of those who misuse alcohol is not held centrally. Alcohol Focus Scotland provide a search facility to identity support services throughout Scotland on their website. This is available at:

http://www.alcohol-focus-scotland.org.uk/getting_help/where_can_i_get_help/.

Question reference: S3W-36672

Asked by: Des McNulty, MSP for Clydebank and Milngavie, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 04 October 2010
Current Status: Answered by Nicola Sturgeon on 21 October 2010

To ask the Scottish Executive whether the review of the guidance on adult hospice funding set out in Health Department Letter HDL(2003)18 has been completed and when it will be published.

The review of HDL(2003)18 which provides guidance on the funding of specialist palliative care provided by independent voluntary hospices in Scotland has now been completed and a draft version of the revised guidance has been circulated to NHS boards and independent voluntary hospices for final comments.

The revised guidance will be published on the Scottish Government''s website after due consideration of any comments.

Question reference: S3W-35027

Asked by: Des McNulty, MSP for Clydebank and Milngavie, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 30 June 2010
Current Status: Answered by Michael Russell on 28 July 2010

To ask the Scottish Executive what percentage of each of the excellence groups is made up of classroom teachers, broken down by subject, and how many teachers have accepted invitations to become members of these groups.

Question reference: S3W-35028

Asked by: Des McNulty, MSP for Clydebank and Milngavie, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 30 June 2010
Current Status: Answered by Michael Russell on 28 July 2010

To ask the Scottish Executive who, apart from celebrities, are in the excellence groups and when they were approached.

Question reference: S3W-35026

Asked by: Des McNulty, MSP for Clydebank and Milngavie, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 30 June 2010
Current Status: Answered by Michael Russell on 28 July 2010

To ask the Scottish Executive what selection processes were used to identify and invite members of the excellence groups.

Members were identified through consultation and, on the basis of recommendations from, a variety of sources. These included individuals with a particular knowledge and understanding of their area of expertise within the Scottish context and our partners Learning and Teaching Scotland, Her Majesty''s Inspectorate of Education, the Scottish Qualifications Authority and the Scottish Catholic Education Service.

In some instances, existing groups augmented as necessary have been asked to take forward the excellence work.

Question reference: S3W-33717

Asked by: Des McNulty, MSP for Clydebank and Milngavie, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 18 May 2010
Current Status: Answered by Michael Russell on 2 June 2010

To ask the Scottish Executive whether secondary schools already identified through the HM Inspectorate of Education inspections as having weaknesses will continue to receive follow-up visits over the period of August to December 2010.

Question reference: S3W-33714

Asked by: Des McNulty, MSP for Clydebank and Milngavie, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 18 May 2010
Current Status: Answered by Michael Russell on 2 June 2010

To ask the Scottish Executive how many (a) hours, (b) days or (c) weeks it expects that HM Inspectorate of Education will need to work to deliver the successful implementation of the Curriculum for Excellence.

I refer the member to the answer to questions S3W-33713 and S3W-33716 on 2 June 2010. In addition, the successful implementation of Curriculum for Excellence is being taken forward in partnership. HMIE''s contributions are in addition to those teachers, head teachers, local authority staff and other national partner organisations.

All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament''s website, the search facility for which can be found at http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/Apps2/Business/PQA/Default.aspx.

Question reference: S3W-33713

Asked by: Des McNulty, MSP for Clydebank and Milngavie, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 18 May 2010
Current Status: Answered by Michael Russell on 2 June 2010

To ask the Scottish Executive how many HM Inspectorate of Education (HMIE) staff will be diverted from their normal duties to assist with the implementation of the Curriculum for Excellence, also expressed as a percentage, and what percentage of the time of each such staff member this will involve.

Question reference: S3W-33716

Asked by: Des McNulty, MSP for Clydebank and Milngavie, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 18 May 2010
Current Status: Answered by Michael Russell on 2 June 2010

To ask the Scottish Executive how much HM Inspectorate of Education time will be allocated to each school to assist in implementing the Curriculum for Excellence once it has been identified as needing support.

Question reference: S3W-33715

Asked by: Des McNulty, MSP for Clydebank and Milngavie, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 18 May 2010
Current Status: Answered by Michael Russell on 2 June 2010

To ask the Scottish Executive how many schools it has identified as requiring the support of HM Inspectorate of Education (HMIE) staff; how these schools have been identified, and how many schools will have to be allocated an HMIE staff member to assist in the implementation of the Curriculum for Excellence.