Chamber and committees

Funding under the Young Patients Family Fund is available to eligible visitors of all young inpatients. Requirement for in-patient care can vary by condition and type of treatment, and some patients may have multiple conditions or treatments over time. For these reasons we do not collect data on individual conditions.

I refer the member to the answer to PQ S6W-08279 on 10 May 2022. 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 have continued to monitor and engage with industry. We are aware that the sector is still under unprecedented pressure due to the backlog of pigs and the shortages in skilled labour, compounded by the more recent situation with Ukraine and increased input and energy prices. Given this, I can advise that we have made the decision to further extend the Pig Producers Hardship scheme and the sector will now have an additional £410,000 of support made available, this will bring the scheme total to just over £1.8 million. The scheme extension announcement was made on 9 May.

In the five financial years from 2017-18 to 2021-22, the Scottish Government provided a total of £330,500 in grant funding to the Royal Highland Education Trust (RHET) for the purposes of their programme of school farm visits and associated educational resources for schools.

These grants are applied for and awarded on an annual basis. It is therefore not possible at this time to estimate accurately how much might be provided in funding over the next five financial years.

I refer the member to the answer to question S6W-08272 on 10 May 2022 . 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 Government does not hold information on the number of prosecutions for livestock theft.

The Criminal Proceedings in Scotland database does not contain details on the type of item(s) stolen, therefore we are unable to identify how many thefts involve livestock.

The following is a breakdown of the funding provided by the Scottish Government to the Scottish Huntington’s Association (SHA), since 2012.

2012 - £103,000

2013 - £93,000

2014 - £88,000

2015 - £138,000

2016 - £133,000

2017 - £133,000

2018 - £145,600

2019 - £50,000

2020 - £40,000

2021 - £15,000

Total Funding - £938,600

This funding largely comprises support for the development of a national care framework for Huntington’s Disease, and organisational core and project funding for the SHA, to support the provision of their specialist services and initiatives for people affected by Huntington’s Disease and their families.

The Scottish Government does not facilitate any forums or roundtables for self-employed inventors. We are working with industry and key stakeholders to develop a new innovation strategy to ensure businesses, people and institutions are ready to meet the challenges and opportunities we face over the next 10 years. We will ensure the support we provide is easy to access and focused on areas of greatest opportunity to meet our vision in becoming a world leading, innovation nation.

The Scottish Land Matching Service (SLMS) launched at the end of September 2019. During the period 1 October 2019 to 30 September 2020, Scottish Government provided £55,480 of funding. For the second year between 1 October 2020 and 30 September 2021, Scottish Government expenditure was £54,785. So far £31,958 has been spent in the seven months from 1 October 2021 to 30 April 2022.

The SLMS has dealt with over 300 enquiries and has helped achieve 19 contractual agreements since its introduction.

The Minister had a positive and constructive meeting with Scottish Huntington’s Association (SHA) in November to discuss the issues raised within motion S6M-00923. Scottish Government officials will meet with the SHA this month in order to further explore the need for provision and service development across neurological conditions, including Huntington’s Disease.

The pandemic has seen our NHS under the most severe pressure in its 73-year existence. The NHS Recovery Plan sets out plans and ambitions for recovery, backed by more than £1 billion of funding. The plan will support increased inpatient and outpatient activity, including an aim to increase outpatients capacity by 10% compared to pre-pandemic levels.

In March we published a National Workforce Strategy for Health and Social Care which supports the remobilisation and recovery of health and social care services and sets out priorities for recruitment, training and retention.

The Scottish Government’s National Advisory Committee for Neurological Conditions and the Centre for Sustainable Delivery have set up a working group to improve workforce and care pathways in neurology. This includes development of tools to support statutory providers to make effective workforce decisions. Alistair Haw, Chief Executive Officer at the SHA is a member of this group, representing the Neurological Alliance of Scotland.