Chamber and committees

The Scottish Government does not hold data on how many children and young people have been placed in adult mental health facilities, due to spaces being unavailable in facilities for children and young people, in each NHS board in each year since 1999.

For more information on children and young people being treated outwith NHS specialist CAMHS facilities, please refer to the answer to previous question S6W-26182 on 28 March 2024.

All answers to written Parliamentary Questions are available on the Parliament's website, the search facility for which can be found at https://www.parliament.scot/chamber-and-committees/written-questions-and-answers .

Scottish Government officials are working with beauty industry representatives, environmental health officers, Healthcare Improvement Scotland and healthcare professionals on this important issue and the Minister for Public Health and Women’s Health is in continual contact with officials on this matter.

We expect children and young people who need inpatient mental health care to be looked after in age-appropriate facilities. Following recommendations from the Mental Welfare Commission, the Scottish Government commissioned a national review of existing provision for young people under 18 years who had needs and risks that required intensive psychiatric care. This review published its findings in June 2021 and recommended purpose-built regional units adjacent to existing inpatient services.

Since then, the Scottish Government has provided funding to NHS Boards to support the development of regional Intensive Psychiatric Care Units for young people. Work is currently ongoing to support NHS Boards to establish these facilities, including engagement with regional planning and recruitment to develop this work.

In addition, in June 2020, the Scottish Government published a protocol for admissions of young people to adult wards, in response to action 19 of the Mental Health Strategy 2017-27. This protocol is a best practice guidance to aid implementation of Section 23 of the Mental Health (Care & Treatment) (Scotland) Act 2003 which places a duty on health boards to provide sufficient services and accommodation to meet the needs of young people under 18 when they are admitted to hospital for treatment of a mental disorder.

Scottish Government officials continue to engage with their UK counterparts and the current work is focussed on creating the most appropriate regulatory environment to ensure the safety of the people of Scotland. Ministers have not yet held direct discussions with UK Government ministers.

It is for Integration Authorities to plan and resource hospice care, using the integrated budget under their control; and to plan palliative care services and costs now and in the future.

We are working with Integration Authorities and independent hospices to develop a national guidance framework to support improved and more consistent planning and resourcing of independent hospice care, and we will continue to explore solutions and options for longer term sustainable planning and commissioning for the sector.

I have met with a number of hospices and hospice leaders over the last few months, including the round table I convened in December 2023, to understand the financial position and challenges that hospices currently face and how they can contribute to palliative care in the future.

Childcare voucher schemes were part of UK-wide tax legislation on employer supported childcare. They were closed to new entrants in 2018 and as such, parents and carers who are taking up new employment are not able to access them. While some Scottish families may still be using them, they have largely been replaced by Tax Free Childcare. As the Scottish Government is not involved in the administration or regulation of childcare voucher schemes, we have not conducted an assessment of them.

We are aware of the wealth of evidence that shows that access to affordable and flexible childcare can improve standards of living and address child poverty through reducing pressures on family income and enabling parents and carers, particularly women, to participate in work, education or training. There is more information on this evidence base in ‘Best Start - strategic early learning and school age childcare plan 2022 to 2026: https://www.gov.scot/publications/best-start-strategic-early-learning-school-age-childcare-plan-scotland-2022-26/pages/10/

In the Plan, we have also set out our commitment to continue to engage with and seek to influence the UK Government to deliver better outcomes for children and families through childcare policy.

The information requested is not centrally available.

We are developing a new Palliative and End of Life Care Strategy which has an overarching aim that everyone in Scotland receives well-coordinated, timely and high-quality palliative care, care around death and bereavement support based on their needs and preferences, including support for families and carers. The strategy will cover children and adults, and care provided in all settings including in the community.

We have established a number of working groups to support the development of the strategy including a Children and Young People’s Palliative Care Working Group and we have completed a mapping survey of paediatric and neonatal palliative care provision to inform the development and delivery of the strategy.

Individuals who are not healthcare professionals and provide such procedures are not currently regulated and therefore this information is not held by the Scottish Government.

Individuals who are not healthcare professionals and provide such procedures are not currently regulated and therefore this information is not held by the Scottish Government.

Individuals who are not healthcare professionals and provide such procedures are not currently regulated and there is no requirement to obtain public liability insurance for these procedures.