- Asked by: Alex Cole-Hamilton, MSP for Edinburgh Western, Scottish Liberal Democrats
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 31 January 2024
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Current Status:
Answered by Siobhian Brown on 13 February 2024
To ask the Scottish Government whether it has (a) carried out any research into and (b) undertaken any other work exploring any impact that the presence of fire can have on reinforced autoclaved aerated concrete (RAAC) panels and beams.
Answer
The Scottish Government has not carried out or commissioned research into the impact that the presence of fire can have on reinforced autoclaved aerated concrete (RAAC). However, the Scottish Government works directly with the Scottish Fire and Rescue Service (SFRS), is in close contact with the National Fire Chiefs Council (NFCC) and officials liaise with UK Government colleagues as the issue around fire safety and RAAC is explored.
The condition of RAAC and any risk of weakness or collapse is clearly of critical concern to firefighters. Where RAAC is identified through SFRS Operational Intelligence information gathering or a Fire Safety Enforcement audit, SFRS staff will record information regarding any affected buildings. This allows SFRS to develop a tactical plan to protect firefighters and minimise risk to the wider public in the event of any emergency incident, including those with premises containing RAAC.
More generally, the Scottish Government engages with various academic and building industry organisations which are themselves involved in research work, including through meetings of the Cross Sector Working Group, and would promote awareness of the findings of RAAC related research as and when appropriate.
- Asked by: Alex Cole-Hamilton, MSP for Edinburgh Western, Scottish Liberal Democrats
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Date lodged: Thursday, 25 January 2024
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Current Status:
Answered by Maree Todd on 6 February 2024
To ask the Scottish Government how many mental health first aiders (a) have been trained in each of the last five years and (b) are currently being trained; how many people are currently employed to train mental health first aiders, and how much money it (i) has spent in each of the last five years and (ii) is currently spending on training mental health first aiders.
Answer
The following table shows the number of participants undertaking Mental Health First Aid (MHFA) training over the last 5 years, including numbers to date in 2024, based on the latest available data, as well as the total number of MHFA trainers (active and inactive) since 2020 to date.
1 April –
31 March | Number of people who have participated in the SMHFA programme | Number of trainers (active and inactive)* | Number of active Trainers |
2019-2020 | 7906 | Data not available** | 176 |
2020-2021 | 443 | 290 | 167 |
2021-2022 | 828*** | 290 | 167 |
2022-2023 | 5133 | 324 | 201 (34 new trainers) |
2023-2024 | 4604**** | 324 | 201 |
TABLE NOTES :-
*total number of trainers who have completed the programme to become a trainer. Active trainers have completed the required number of training sessions in each year and have completed General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) requirements. Inactive trainers might not have delivered the required training sessions or completed GDPR compliance
**work was undertaken during period to review all trainer accounts
***programme restarted course in November 2021 following a programme break due to COVID
**** up to January 2024
The following table shows the total spend on MHFA over the last 5 complete financial year.
This includes spend which is allocated by the Scottish Government to Public Health Scotland for this purpose and does not cover any training fees charged to participants by independent trainers to deliver the MHFA programme. Actual spend data is not available yet for the whole of financial year 2023-24, so an estimated figure is provided.
Financial Year | Amount |
2023-2024 | £43526 (estimated) |
2022-2023 | £42014 |
2021-2022 | £59740 |
2020-2021 | £28350 |
2019-2020 | £49000 |
- Asked by: Alex Cole-Hamilton, MSP for Edinburgh Western, Scottish Liberal Democrats
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Date lodged: Thursday, 25 January 2024
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Current Status:
Answered by Michael Matheson on 6 February 2024
To ask the Scottish Government what the (a) original estimated (i) cost and (ii) opening date was and (b) current estimated (A) cost and (B) opening date is for each National Treatment Centre.
Answer
I refer the member to the answer to question S6W-24710 on 5 February 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 .
- Asked by: Alex Cole-Hamilton, MSP for Edinburgh Western, Scottish Liberal Democrats
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 24 January 2024
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Current Status:
Answered by Jenni Minto on 5 February 2024
To ask the Scottish Government whether it is aware of any issues with the supply of Creon, which is a pancreatic enzyme replacement therapy required to aid the uptake of nutrients from food for people with cystic fibrosis, and what action is being taken to resolve any such supply issues.
Answer
The Scottish Government is aware that there have been supply issues with Pancreatin, also known as Creon, with one or more strengths over a number of years. Other brands of prescription pancreatic enzymes are also available including Nutrizym® and Pancrex®. Patients should discuss alternative options with their GP or specialist.
Officials from the four UK Administrations work together to mitigate and manage responses to medicine shortages. The Chief Pharmaceutical Officer for Scotland is a member of the UK-wide Medicines Shortage Response Group (MSRG), set up to identify and co-ordinate responses to medicines shortages across the UK and provide advice to clinicians on alternative therapeutic options.
The NHS in Scotland has robust processes in place to manage supply issues when they do arise.
- Asked by: Alex Cole-Hamilton, MSP for Edinburgh Western, Scottish Liberal Democrats
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Date lodged: Thursday, 25 January 2024
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Current Status:
Answered by Jenni Minto on 5 February 2024
To ask the Scottish Government, in relation to free earwax removal services provided through NHS Scotland, how many people have accessed these services in each of the last five years; whether there are any plans to withdraw these services, and whether there are any NHS boards that do not currently offer these services.
Answer
The Scottish Government does not hold information on how many people have accessed earwax removal services. Health Boards are responsible for the delivery of primary medical services in their areas.
Formerly most ear wax management procedures were carried out in GP practices. The new GP contract, introduced in 2018, committed Health Boards to set up Community Treatment and Care (CTAC) services to shift workload away from GP practices to NHS Board employed staff so that GP practices could focus on what only they can do. The Scottish Government has confirmed to Health Boards that CTAC services should cover ear wax management generally.
We are supporting the development of CTAC services through the Primary Care Improvement Fund (£190 million in 2023-24).
We are now also introducing an additional ‘phased investment programme’ working with a small number of areas to demonstrate what model CTAC and other related services can look like in practice. The findings from this programme will build understanding of the national context for further implementation and inform future long-term Scottish Government investment.
- Asked by: Alex Cole-Hamilton, MSP for Edinburgh Western, Scottish Liberal Democrats
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Date lodged: Thursday, 25 January 2024
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Current Status:
Answered by Michael Matheson on 5 February 2024
To ask the Scottish Government at what stage in the construction process each National Treatment Centre is.
Answer
Undertaking a health capital investment project is an iterative process and estimating the cost and completion date is a complex exercise and we did not identify individual budgets and completion dates when the programme of investment was originally announced.
Since then, additional projects have been added to the programme and we have experienced unprecedented levels of inflation in the construction sector which makes comparison of costs and completion dates difficult.
The latest position for all projects is noted in the following table:
Centre | Status |
Golden Jubilee Phase 1 | Opened in Dec 2020 at a cost of £15.8m |
NTC Fife | Opened in Mar 2023 at a cost of £34.3m |
NTC Highland | Opened in April 2023 at a cost of £48.5m |
NTC Forth Valley | In construction due to open in 2024 (est cost £12.7m) |
Golden Jubilee | In construction due to open in 2024 (est cost £82.3m) |
The development and planning for all the remaining NTCs (NTC Lothian, NTC Grampian (inc MRI at Dr Gray’s Hospital – Elgin), NTC Ayrshire and Arran, NTC Tayside, NTC Lanarkshire and replacement Edinburgh Eye Pavilion) are on pause until funding for this next phase can be confirmed.
- Asked by: Alex Cole-Hamilton, MSP for Edinburgh Western, Scottish Liberal Democrats
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Date lodged: Thursday, 25 January 2024
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Current Status:
Answered by Fiona Hyslop on 31 January 2024
To ask the Scottish Government what it is doing to publicise the ban on pavement parking, and when it will publish data on its enforcement.
Answer
The prohibition of pavement parking, along with double parking and parking at dropped kerbs at known crossing points was brought in with the Transport (Scotland) Act 2019. With the passing of necessary secondary legislation, local authorities have the powers to enforce these prohibitions from 11 December 2023. These parking prohibitions are a significant alteration for most road users. An awareness raising campaign ran in November and December of 2023, with radio adverts, outdoor posters, digital and social media, to highlight the dangers caused to pedestrians by inconsiderate parking and to help foster the necessary behaviour change within road users. This advertising material has also been made publicly available and has been used by local authorities to produce posters, social media content and warning notices to further publicise this in their areas.
Transport Scotland produce an annual report detailing Penalty Charge Notices (PCNs) issued by each local authority, which for the 2023/24 period will include PCNs issued for the new parking prohibitions. This is expected to be published by the end of 2024.
- Asked by: Alex Cole-Hamilton, MSP for Edinburgh Western, Scottish Liberal Democrats
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Date lodged: Monday, 29 January 2024
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Current Status:
Taken in the Chamber on 1 February 2024
To ask the First Minister when the Cabinet will next meet.
Answer
Taken in the Chamber on 1 February 2024
- Asked by: Alex Cole-Hamilton, MSP for Edinburgh Western, Scottish Liberal Democrats
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Date lodged: Monday, 15 January 2024
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Current Status:
Answered by Angus Robertson on 29 January 2024
To ask the Scottish Government whether it plans to contribute funding to the NorthTick project, in light of the UK's exit from the EU.
Answer
The NorthTick project is part of the 'Interreg IV' programme, in which future participation is a reserved matter for the UK Government.
- Asked by: Alex Cole-Hamilton, MSP for Edinburgh Western, Scottish Liberal Democrats
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 28 November 2023
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Current Status:
Answered by Jenny Gilruth on 23 January 2024
To ask the Scottish Government what information it holds on how many of the 39 school buildings that have reportedly been identified as still needing a reinforced autoclaved aerated concrete (RAAC) assessment have (a) been confirmed as containing the substance and (b) received a RAG rating for any RAAC identified.
Answer
Although it is the statutory responsibility of local authorities to manage and main their school estate, the Scottish Government and Scottish Futures Trust continue to be in close contact with local authorities in relation to RAAC in schools. All 32 local authorities have completed all of their assessments.
Safety is the central consideration and there is robust guidance which is followed by every local authority to ensure these settings are safe for the pupils, staff and the public to be in.
