Chamber and committees

The Mental Welfare Commission produces annual reports on admissions of young people under the age of 18 to non-specialist wards in Scotland. The latest report was published on 1 December 2022, and can be found here: ChildrenYoungPeople_MonitoringReport_2021-22.pdf (mwcscot.org.uk) . Table 1 provides a breakdown of numbers of young people admitted to non-specialist facilities by year from 2012/13 (177 admissions relating to 148 young people) to 2021/22 (90 admissions relating to 80 young people).

Information on young people placed in adult mental health services has more recently also become available through the Mental Health Quality Indicator Profile publication. Under the “Equitable” theme of indicators, indicator EQ4 provides data on the percentage of under 18 year old psychiatric admissions admitted out with NHS specialist Child and Adolescent Mental Health (CAMH) wards. Please note this information is only published at a national level. The Mental Health Quality Indicators were produced in September 2018 and data on these was first published on 17 March 2020. Indicator EQ4 was first published on 23 March 2021.

The most recent Mental Health Quality Indicator Profile publication can be found here: https://www.publichealthscotland.scot/publications/mental-health-quality-indicator-profile/mental-health-quality-indicator-profile-25-april-2023/.

Details of how the exclusion will apply are currently being worked out in consultation with the sector, and once published the stadium and other hospitality businesses will be able to assess if they eligible for an automatic exclusion. If they are not then they may still be eligible for an exclusion on the grounds specified in the regulations.

The most recent instance of Scottish Ministers declining to consent to a first grant of temporary release of a life sentence prisoner was in January 2018, where the Minister indicated that on the basis of the information presented in regard to the individual, they were not willing to give consent.

It would not be appropriate to publish information regarding the circumstances of an individual prisoner.

The Scottish Government funds for drug and alcohol programmes and services through a range of channels.

• In 2021-22 the total annual budget for drugs and alcohol was around £140 million, increasing slightly in 2022-23 to £141.9 million.

I refer the member to the answer to question S6W-16986 on 11 May 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

Collaboration and engagement is a cornerstone of all transport activity and there is community engagement at all levels of transport decision making. My predecessors and I, and Transport Scotland officials, have engaged with communities in developing and implementing strategies and on specific projects such as the Islands Connectivity Plan and Project Neptune, and will, of course, continue to do so in the future.

The previous Minister for Transport and the Cabinet Secretary for Rural Affairs, Land Reform and Islands met with the Islands Strategic Group (ISG) on 9 March 2023. The ISG was established in 2016 to consider issues affecting our inhabited island communities, and to ensure greater involvement of the relevant councils in helping identify and design solutions to the unique needs and challenges we know these communities face. The next ISG, which includes the Islands Transport Forum, that I chair, is scheduled to meet next month.

In addition, in May I met with the leader of Orkney Islands Council, Councillor James Stockan, following the grounding of the MV Pentalina. In our discussion, I informed Councillor Stockan that I, and the Government, will continue to monitor the situation. Following discussions, I am pleased to confirm that NorthLink will be increasing sailings across the Pentland Firth to 4 sailings initially for three nights a week, with a review to assess on-going demand as we move further into the summer season.

Furthermore, the Cabinet Secretary for Rural Affairs, Land Reform and Islands launched the Young Islanders Network (YIN) on Orkney on the 31 August 2022 on behalf of the Scottish Government, providing children and young people with a platform to support meaningful contributions to National Islands Plan (NIP) delivery and to their current and future life on islands.

YIN members are empowered to set their own agenda – based on how they want to address the local and national priorities that matter to them the most.

My deepest sympathy goes to all those affected by the loss of a loved one through alcohol. In the most recent data, we are starting to see the profound impact the pandemic has had on those with problematic alcohol use. We will use this information to understand how we can better support those who need it.

We are working collaboratively with Alcohol and Drug Partnerships (ADPs) across Scotland to understand and help resolve local issues and support them in identifying ways to improve services, such as monitoring waiting times. Last year, £106.8 million was made available to ADPs, and nationally there is ongoing work including the upcoming UK Alcohol Treatment Guidelines, development of alcohol treatment targets for April 2024 and the expansion of our Residential Rehab capacity by 50% by the end of the current Parliament.

We remain determined to reduce alcohol-related harm. That is why we have introduced initiatives such as Minimum Unit Pricing, which recent research estimated has saved more than 150 lives a year and led to 411 fewer hospital admissions.

The Public Bodies (Joint Working) (Scotland) Act 2014 (“the 2014 Act”) obliges Integration Authorities to publish an annual performance report setting out an assessment of performance in planning and carrying out the integration functions for which they are responsible. The content of these reports is prescribed in the Public Bodies (Joint Working) (Content of Performance Reports) Regulations 2014 which states that the reports must include an assessment of performance in relation to the national health and wellbeing outcomes.

Under the 2014 Act, the Health Board and the local authority must provide such information as the Integration Authority might reasonably require for the purposes of preparing a performance report to the Integration Joint Board or the authority as appropriate to the model of integration chosen.

Engaging with people with lived experience, including autistic people, and other neurodivergent groups, is essential to the work of the Scottish Government and we have put person-centred approaches at the heart of our work.

We have commissioned the National Autism Implementation Team (NAIT) to support local areas to involve a range of neurodivergent voices in planning, decision making and delivery of neurodevelopmental pathways. NAIT will also set up a neurodevelopmental community of practice for professionals and will continue to work with neurodivergent people. This will support local practitioners in developing local practice in co-production.

In addition, the Scottish Government has involved people with lived experience in the development of a new leadership and engagement framework and in policy design around mental health support for autistic people and people with learning disabilities. This new way of working is based on the belief that the most effective and sustainable change is made by the people who need and use supports and services, in equal partnership with decision makers at all levels.

The total estimated value of applications received to the Social Housing Net Zero Heat Fund since it was established is £62,951,713 for capital funding and £1,105,865 for development funding.

The applications include projects submitted under Theme 1 for Zero Emissions Heating Systems for Social Housing across Scotland and Theme 2 for “Fabric First” Energy Efficiency Only Projects.