Questions and answers

Question reference: S6W-37355

Asked by: Rachael Hamilton, MSP for Ettrick, Roxburgh and Berwickshire, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 06 May 2025
Current Status: Answered by Jenny Gilruth on 19 May 2025

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on its ongoing review of the guidance on mothballing.

Statutory responsibility for decisions about the learning estate, including mothballing, rest with local authorities. The Scottish Government issues guidance to support local authorities’ implementation of their statutory responsibilities.

As the First Minister stated on 24 April, we are reviewing current guidance on the mothballing of schools and nurseries to provide greater clarity on whether it is an appropriate action to take. Scottish Government officials have regular engagement with local authorities and their representative bodies on a range of issues, including mothballing, and Ministers are considering a range of local government and stakeholder views on mothballing through the review process.

We will update Parliament further on this work in due course. While the review is underway, the existing guidance on mothballing (which is included in the Statutory Guidance on the Schools Consultation (Scotland) Act 200) remains in place.

Question reference: S6O-04641

Asked by: Rachael Hamilton, MSP for Ettrick, Roxburgh and Berwickshire, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 07 May 2025
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 14 May 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what its response is to the recent report by Scottish Borders Council on the future of Live Borders, regarding any impact on cultural services, community engagement and libraries across the Borders.

Question reference: S6W-36615

Asked by: Rachael Hamilton, MSP for Ettrick, Roxburgh and Berwickshire, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 07 April 2025
Current Status: Answered by Alasdair Allan on 2 May 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what discussions it has had with the National Energy System Operator (NESO) regarding battery energy storage system quotas in Scotland.

The Scottish Government regularly engages with the National Energy System Operator (NESO) and the UK Government in relation to the actions set out in the Clean Power Action Plan, as well as the development of the Strategic Spatial Energy Plan (SSEP), which will set out a long-term view of what energy sources are needed to reach net zero, and their most optimal locations across Great Britain (GB) on a zonal basis.

NESO modelling was a contributing factor to the development of the technology capacity scenarios set out in the Action Plan which includes an outline of GB-wide measures to support the development of energy storage.

Question reference: S6W-36612

Asked by: Rachael Hamilton, MSP for Ettrick, Roxburgh and Berwickshire, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 07 April 2025
Current Status: Answered by Maree Todd on 1 May 2025

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S6W-35639 by Maree Todd on 27 March 2025, which NHS boards will be supported to provide suicide bereavement support.

We are continuing to work closely with partners to design and plan the expansion of suicide bereavement support across Scotland, taking account of the evaluation findings and existing local provision.

In addition to delivering suicide bereavement support services in Highland and Ayrshire & Arran Health Boards, Suicide Prevention Scotland has progressed discussions to establish suicide bereavement support which connects to existing local and national provision in several NHS Board areas. These are: Borders, Tayside, Fife, Shetland, Dumfries & Galloway and Greater Glasgow & Clyde.

We will continue our discussions with the remaining health boards over the coming months.

Question reference: S6W-36614

Asked by: Rachael Hamilton, MSP for Ettrick, Roxburgh and Berwickshire, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 07 April 2025
Current Status: Answered by Maree Todd on 1 May 2025

To ask the Scottish Government when it will publish its next Creating Hope Together suicide prevention action plan.

The first three year Creating Hope Together action plan was published in 2022 and covers the period 2022-2025.

As outlined in the answer S6W-35639 on 27 March 2025, we are starting to develop our next three-year action plan which we intend to publish in early 2026. This will build on the existing suicide prevention work and the significant insights gathered over the lifespan of the current action plan, as well as reflecting emerging and new evidence on suicide prevention. We will be engaging with our key stakeholders, our lived experience panels and others in the coming months so that they can help shape the next action plan.

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

Question reference: S6W-36613

Asked by: Rachael Hamilton, MSP for Ettrick, Roxburgh and Berwickshire, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 07 April 2025
Current Status: Answered by Maree Todd on 1 May 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what discussions it has had with NHS Borders regarding suicide bereavement support.

Suicide Prevention Scotland, the delivery vehicle for Creating Hope Together, has been engaging with Suicide Prevention Leads in local areas to facilitate the development of local suicide bereavement approaches that meet the needs of their communities.

Specifically, in the Borders region, there has been good engagement with the local suicide prevention lead within the Health and Social Care Partnership to progress work to develop a local Suicide Bereavement Service. It is anticipated this will connect to the existing After a Suicide Working Group and Wellbeing Hub resources.

Question reference: S6W-36338

Asked by: Rachael Hamilton, MSP for Ettrick, Roxburgh and Berwickshire, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 01 April 2025
Current Status: Answered by Gillian Martin on 29 April 2025

To ask the Scottish Government how the proposed Cross-Border Connection development by SP Energy Networks will benefit residents in the Scottish Borders.

Question reference: S6W-36328

Asked by: Rachael Hamilton, MSP for Ettrick, Roxburgh and Berwickshire, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 01 April 2025
Current Status: Answered by Alasdair Allan on 29 April 2025

To ask the Scottish Government whether it plans to introduce compensation for any individuals affected by a decline in (a) land and (b) property value due to the impact of large-scale energy projects on property prices.

As per the response provided to question S6W-34540 on 4 March 2025, Compensation provisions do exist where land, or rights over land, are acquired by compulsion for the development of energy infrastructure under the Electricity Act 1989. However, there is no statutory provision or process set out in the Act to financially compensate those who consider their property value may be affected.

The Scottish Government does, however, continue to use all levers available to deliver sustainable, meaningful and impactful outcomes from the energy transition, informed by the voices of our diverse communities.

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

Question reference: S6W-36636

Asked by: Rachael Hamilton, MSP for Ettrick, Roxburgh and Berwickshire, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 07 April 2025
Current Status: Answered by Neil Gray on 22 April 2025

To ask the Scottish Government how much is currently owed to it in total in brokerage by each NHS board.

Question reference: S6W-36635

Asked by: Rachael Hamilton, MSP for Ettrick, Roxburgh and Berwickshire, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 07 April 2025
Current Status: Answered by Neil Gray on 22 April 2025

To ask the Scottish Government whether brokerage will be available to any NHS board in 2025-26.

Alan Gray, Director of Health and Social Care Finance, wrote to Chief Executives of NHS Scotland on 04 December 2024 to provide the details of the indicative funding settlement for NHS Boards in the Scottish Government Budget 2025-26.

The letter confirmed that brokerage would not be available for 2025-26 and that NHS Boards would be expected to work towards a break-even trajectory in their three-year financial plans.

Following submission of three-year plans, Boards who are not anticipating to breakeven have been required to submit recovery plans for 2025-26 to achieve set levels of overspend. Should these not be agreed, these boards will be required to seek authority from the Scottish Government to spend above agreed levels.

NHS Board overspends in 2025-26, up to and inclusive of the agreed levels, are not repayable and will not be included in historic cumulative brokerage levels. For NHS Boards who are forecasting breakeven positions in their financial plan, no deficit is permitted and any overspend will be included as an overspend in their financial statements.

NHS Boards	Brokerage owed at FY 2023-24 (£000)
NHS Boards	Brokerage owed at FY 2023-24 (£000)
NHS Ayrshire & Arran	78,500
NHS Borders	35,533
NHS Dumfries & Galloway	32,300
NHS Fife	23,743
NHS Grampian	24,800
NHS Highland	56,772
NHS Orkney	5,156
NHS Tayside	25,700
Total	282,504

Chamber and committees