Chamber and committees

We will set out our strategy in the summer. I refer the member to the answer to question S6W-24109 on 12 January 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

The Scottish Cancer Patient Experience Survey (SCPES) is part of the Scottish Care Experience Survey Programme. The Scottish Care Experience Survey programme is currently under review and the frequency of data collection will be considered as part of that review.

The results of the 2024 Scottish Cancer Patient Experience Survey will be published in September 2024. The exact time and day of publication will be preannounced at least 4 weeks before publication.

No economic assessment has been carried out in regard to any potential delay to the Aberdeen – Central Belt Enhancement Project. An economic assessment of the impact of the proposed delivery, including cost and programme, of the Aberdeen – Central Belt Enhancement Project will be undertaken as part of the Outline Business Case assessment for the project.

As this is an operational matter for Scottish Water I have asked them to respond. Their reply is as follows:

Scottish Water has published its Improving Urban Waters Routemap ( https://www.scottishwater.co.uk/Help-and-Resources/Document-Hub/Key-Publications/Urban-Waters-Improvements ) which outlines the process to identify and plan future investment for the highest priority Unsatisfactory Intermittent Discharges (UIDs). This planned approached is agreed in conjunction with the environmental regulator SEPA.

Each financial year (Apr-Mar) it reports UID figures within an Annual return to the Water Industry Commission for Scotland (WICS) and as at March 2023 the figure was 776. This number is revised each year as improvement projects address UIDs and on-going studies identify new UIDs. The figure for 2023-24 will be published later this year.

Further to the answer provided to PQ S6W-23536, the timeline and development of the governance review of the Clyde Marine Planning Partnership (CMPP) is a matter for the CMPP. While it is the role of Scottish Government to provide support to regional partnerships in development of their draft regional marine plans, changes to the membership, governance and constitution of the CMPP is the subject of paragraph 1 in the Schedule of the Clyde’s Ministerial Direction. When and if changes are finalised by the partnership, they will notify Scottish Ministers of these as soon as reasonably practicable and without delay as per Schedule 1 of the Delegation of Functions (Regional Marine Plan for the Scottish Marine Region for the Clyde) Direction 2017.

We are monitoring progress against this commitment through the Annual Delivery Plan’s being provided by Health Boards and the Public Health Scotland annual Scottish Health Service Costs Publication. We are providing support to individual NHS Boards towards meeting the target via our routine engagement and in-year/end-year reviews. We are also developing additional guidance and advice to NHS Boards on the criteria to report against the target with the aim of providing a consistent benchmark nationally.

Offshore oil and gas licensing and the associated fiscal regime are both reserved to the UK Government. The Scottish Government does not undertake detailed assessments of the economic impacts of individual oil and gas field developments.

We are aware that Equinor, as 80% owner of the Rosebank field, has stated that they expect it to create £8.5 billion of total direct investment (of which 77% is expected to be in UK-based businesses).

The Scottish Government recognises, and welcomes, the positive contribution that North Sea oil and gas continues to make to the economy. The answer to question S6W-25271 on 27 February 2024 on includes information on the Gross Value Added by the oil and industry as a whole to Scotland's economy. It is also the case that the North Sea basin is declining and unlimited extraction of fossil fuels is inconsistent with the climate emergency and our just transition commitments.

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 .

The published 2023-24 Autumn Budget Revision at the link below shares that this funding came from the release of emerging/planned underspends from Lifelong Learning and Skills to support other SG priorities. Autumn Budget Revision 2023 to 2024: supporting document - gov.scot (www.gov.scot)
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Further detail on this was confirmed in the Deputy First Minister’s letter to the Finance and Public Administration committee (FPAC) available at this link: Letter from the Deputy First Minister and Cabinet Secretary for Finance to the Convener of 21 November 2023 (parliament.scot)

Annex A confirms that the £6.2 million is in respect of a reduction in grant spend on Higher Education International Activity.

The Scottish Government does not collect data on how much a psychological therapies appointment costs the NHS.

Every presentation for psychological treatment represents a unique individual with their own specific needs. Treatment can often involve working with multidisciplinary professions as needed, meaning it is not possible to provide a cost per appointment.

The range of this psychological treatment is described in detail in the Scottish Psychological Therapies Matrix and how this treatment should be delivered is set out in the National Specification for Psychological Therapies and Interventions.