Chamber and committees

The mental health and wellbeing of children and young people is an absolute priority for the Scottish Government.

We know that children and young people’s mental health and wellbeing will have been affected during lockdown, and schools have a key role to play in supporting children’s and young people’s mental health. The Health and Wellbeing Census reported that across most of the measures, positive perceptions of life satisfaction, confidence and loneliness decrease up to S4, but the analysis shows small improvements (or no further decreases) for those in S5 and S6.

We continue to prioritise support for mental health and wellbeing in schools. We support our local authority partners with £16 million in funding to ensure that every secondary school has access to counselling services support delivery of the commitment. We also published a Whole School Approach Framework and a professional learning resource to assist school staff in supporting children and young people’s mental health in schools.

Data on the proportion of school link enrolments at colleges by pupils in rural schools compared with those in urban schools is held by the Scottish Funding Council (SFC).

Information provided by the SFC shows that for 2021-22 around 20% of enrolments of school pupils at Scottish colleges come from rural areas of Scotland with around 80% from urban areas.

The OEUK report argues that hydrogen and carbon capture and storage (CCS) will be crucial in reducing UK emissions while also creating domestic industrial and economic growth. We welcome the announcement in the UK Government’s ‘Powering Up Britain’ plan that Acorn CCS and the Scottish cluster meets the eligibility criteria for Track 2. We are, however, extremely disappointed that there is still no concrete timescale for the awarding of Track 2, which is adding additional delays onto an already delayed process, which is why we urge the UK Government to listen to OEUK’s call for the Track-2 process to be accelerated so that CCS can be deployed in Scotland.

We welcome the announcement of the shortlist for the first electrolytic allocation round for the Hydrogen Production Business Model and Net Zero Hydrogen Fund (NZHF), including five Scottish projects, as well as the four successful Scotland based projects from the NZHF competition. However, we continue to urge the UK Government, alongside calls from industry and the UK Government's own hydrogen champion, to expediate decisions on hydrogen blending, which we view as essential to enable the hydrogen economy in the near term.

INTOG is helping to progress all five themes in the oil and gas sector’s North Sea Transition Deal offering a path for the electrification of platforms and the delivery of the sector targets, providing a route for development of green power for carbon capture and storage; and hydrogen production and importantly, supporting the growth of the supply chain?

Five innovative wind projects with a potential generation capacity of 449MW were successful, providing opportunities for new growth sectors of hydrogen production, novel commercial solutions and stimulation of the supply chain.

The INTOG process is time sensitive, as developers have made clear that operation of offshore wind farms before 2030 is the key milestone to make the projects viable, and maximise opportunities to supply electricity direct to brownfield oil and gas North Sea assets with a limited lifespan. Confirmation of grid connection agreements are key to unlocking offshore wind energy development projects and we will continue to work with the NationalGrid ESO HND team to understand the practicalities of this ambition.

Reducing our energy consumption while ramping up our energy generation capabilities through renewables and hydrogen will mean that, in a net zero Scotland, we will not only be less reliant on importing oil and gas, but a net exporter of cleaner and greener energy to the rest of the UK and beyond.

Financial support for travel to hospital is available for patients and authorised escorts, in line with eligibility criteria and medical requirements.

We continue to work with Boards to build on the significant innovation seen throughout the pandemic, in order to limit the need for travel where possible and clinically appropriate. For example, through increased use of digital and technological solutions such as Near Me to improve flexibility of care.

Where travel is necessary, Boards are expected to support patients to identify and access support available, taking account individual circumstances and ensuring patient care is at the centre of all decisions.

As set out in the response to S6W-15482 on 16 March 2023, all projects are subject to review by NHS Scotland Assure prior to opening.

The Key Stage Assurance Review (KSAR) process examines projects at key points in their lifecycle. It does not remove any legal or contractual obligations from the NHS Health Board, their designers or contractors. It provides assurance to progress successfully to the next review point and the process will be mandated for projects requiring Scottish Government approval.

As part of the commissioning, completion, and handover part of the process, from February 2023, all building projects going through a KSAR, should not open to patients or the public until they have received a ‘supported status’ from NHS Scotland Assure.

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

I refer the member to the answer to question S6W-13958 on‎ 26 January 2023. 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

We expect all eligible premises within R100 contract build plans to have been connected by the time of the programme’s completion. As the R100 Scottish Broadband Voucher Scheme is demand-led, it is not possible to know with certainty the percentage of properties that will secure a connection via the Scheme upon completion.

In an update published to their website on 2 February 2023, Ofcom’s latest figures show that full fibre coverage in Scotland has been extended to around 1.1 million properties – 41% of all properties, which is the same percentage coverage as England (source: https://www.ofcom.org.uk/research-and-data/multi-sector-research/infrastructure-research/connected-nations-2022 ).

This is, in large part, a direct result of the policies we have put in place to enhance Scotland’s digital infrastructure and improve digital connectivity. This includes our R100 programme, where the vast majority of connections delivered through the R100 contracts are full-fibre and gigabit-capable, delivering speeds up to 30 times faster than our original superfast commitment.

The cost crisis created an unprecedented challenge with the Scottish Government exploring all financial options to support the emergency response to help people and businesses through its Emergency Budget Review (EBR) in 2022.

The then DFM and Cabinet Secretary for Finance and Economy, John Swinney MSP, publicly confirmed to Parliament in his EBR statement that the deferred budget of £33 million would be returned to the sector in future years, ensuring this money is ultimately used to deliver on Scotland's rural priorities.

Future budgets are set through the annual parliamentary Budget Bill process and the appropriate profile for returning this funding will be considered as part of the 2024-25 process.

Transport Scotland is taking an evidence-based approach to what might work to discourage unnecessary car travel including learning from what others are doing across the UK and in other countries. We have commissioned research on equitable options for car demand management, referred to in S6W-15653 on 21 March 2023. Using the findings of this and other research, we will work with local and regional partners to develop options and proposals to support the 20% car km reduction target for inclusion within the Demand Management framework. We are now looking at the most appropriate way to review the existing powers conferred on local authorities which can support this objective, to ensure they are fit for purpose for use in the future.

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