Questions and answers

Question reference: S6W-23784

Asked by: Monica Lennon, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 11 December 2023
Current Status: Answered by Jenny Gilruth on 9 January 2024

To ask the Scottish Government whether it has any plans to increase funding for local authorities to enhance the provision of musical lessons and instruments in schools.

Scottish Government provided £8m in 2021-22 and £12m in 2022-23 and 2023-24 to local authorities in order to support the policy to remove all charges for instrumental music tuition in schools.

As confirmed in the budget published in December 2023, the Scottish Government and COSLA have agreed funding of £12 million for instrumental music tuition in 2024-25, continuing to remove barriers to participation.

Question reference: S6W-23954

Asked by: Paul Sweeney, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 19 December 2023
Current Status: Answered by Maree Todd on 9 January 2024

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the letter of 21 November 2023 from the Cabinet Secretary for Finance to the Finance and Public Administration Committee, whether the in-year budget changes set out in the letter will impact the delivery of its commitment to spend 1% of frontline NHS spend on child and adolescent mental health services (CAMHS).

The majority of spending on mental health is delivered through NHS board budgets, and this is not directly affected by the in-year budget changes impacting on the direct mental health programme budget. Between the Scottish Government and NHS boards we expect spending on Mental Health to be well in excess of £1.3 billion in financial year 2023-24.

We are working with partners towards delivery of the commitment to increase spending on child and adolescent mental health services to 1% of the total frontline NHS budget by the end of this Parliamentary session in 2026. We will continue to work with NHS Boards to monitor delivery through the Scottish Health Service Costs Book and the process of setting and monitoring priorities in Annual Delivery Plans.

Question reference: S6W-23955

Asked by: Paul Sweeney, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 19 December 2023
Current Status: Answered by Maree Todd on 9 January 2024

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the letter of 21 November 2023 from the Cabinet Secretary for Finance to the Finance and Public Administration Committee, whether the in-year budget changes set out in the letter will impact the delivery of its commitment to spend 10% of frontline NHS spend on mental health services.

The majority of spending on mental health is delivered through NHS board budgets, and this is not directly affected by the in-year budget changes impacting on the direct mental health programme budget. Between the Scottish Government and NHS boards we expect spending on Mental Health to be well in excess of £1.3 billion in financial year 2023-24.

We are working with partners towards delivery of the commitment to increase spending on mental health services to 10% of the total frontline NHS budget by the end of this Parliamentary session in 2026. We will continue to work with NHS Boards to monitor delivery through the Scottish Health Service Costs Book and the process of setting and monitoring priorities in Annual Delivery Plans.

Question reference: S6W-23891

Asked by: Annie Wells, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 14 December 2023
Current Status: Answered by Michael Matheson on 9 January 2024

To ask the Scottish Government how many people have (a) had and (b) been refused lung volume reduction procedures in (i) 2021, (ii) 2022 and (iii) 2023 to date, also broken down by NHS board, and which hospitals offer lung volume reduction procedures.

a) The total number of inpatient and daycase hospital episodes here a lung volume reduction procedure was recorded, in Scotland, from April 2020 to March 2023 is 15 . This total includes two locations of treatment (i) Golden Jubilee National Hospital, National Waiting Times Centre and (ii) Royal Infirmary of Edinburgh at Little France, NHS Lothian.

Please note that figures for lung volume reduction procedures by individual location of treatment and financial year have ben aggregated to protect patient confidentiality, in accordance with our PHS Statistical Disclosure Protocol

Source: SMR01, Public Health Scotland, extract: 18 December 2023.

(b) This information is not held centrally.

Question reference: S6W-23907

Asked by: Graham Simpson, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 14 December 2023
Current Status: Answered by Mairi McAllan on 9 January 2024

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S6W-23449 by Mairi McAllan on 12 December 2023, what information it is gathering to inform the transport demand management options described, and how it is gathering it.

The Scottish Government is taking a systematic approach to gathering information on transport demand management options. This includes reviewing relevant reports and evidence, tracking developments across the UK and abroad, and commissioning our own research where key gaps exist. Transport Scotland commissioned research on equitable options for car demand management, referred to in S6W-15653 on 21 March 2023. More recently, Transport Scotland commissioned an evidence review on ‘ Reducing Car Use through Parking Policies’ . Collectively, all available evidence from Scottish Government commissioned research and external sources will help inform options and proposals, which, working with local and regional partners, we intend to set out in a Demand Management Framework by 2025.

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/questions-and-answers

Question reference: S6T-01718

Asked by: Jamie Greene, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 08 January 2024
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 9 January 2024

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will reconsider its position on further regulating the ownership of American XL bully dogs in Scotland, in light of reports that widespread rehoming from England to Scotland is raising public safety and animal welfare concerns.

Question reference: S6T-01726

Asked by: Foysol Choudhury, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 08 January 2024
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 9 January 2024

To ask the Scottish Government what action it can take to ensure that all people who were potentially wrongfully convicted as a result of the reported Horizon scandal are supported in coming forward if they wish for their conviction to be overturned.

Question reference: S6T-01721

Asked by: Willie Rennie, MSP for North East Fife, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Monday, 08 January 2024
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 9 January 2024

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide funding for grants for those households and businesses flooded during Storm Gerrit, in light of it providing such funding for those affected by Storm Babet.

Question reference: S6F-02713

Asked by: Paul Sweeney, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 08 January 2024
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 11 January 2024

To ask the First Minister what urgent steps are being taken to address reports of a mental health crisis with an increase in calls to the NHS 24 Mental Health Hub.

Question reference: S6F-02700

Asked by: Stuart McMillan, MSP for Greenock and Inverclyde, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Monday, 08 January 2024
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 11 January 2024

To ask the First Minister what the Scottish Government’s position is regarding any implications for its net zero ambitions of the UK Government’s Offshore Petroleum Licensing Bill, which seeks changes to the licensing regime, including how regularly licensing rounds are held.

Chamber and committees