Chamber and committees

The amount spent by each local authority in each year since 1999 on energy efficiency for homes is a matter for individual local authorities. The information requested is not held centrally by the Scottish Government.

Spaces for People (SfP) schemes are the responsibility of individual local authorities. It is therefore for local authorities to determine the length of time SfP measures should remain in place and to take decisions on their removal. Sustrans has provided support and advice to local authorities intending to make SfP infrastructure permanent.

The Spaces for People programme provided local authorities with funding to deliver temporary active travel infrastructure. As local authorities are fully responsible for the delivery of SfP measures, they hold information on installation and removal costs for individual interventions.

A total of £38.9 million was awarded to local authorities, Regional Transport Partnership (RTPs), the National Health Service (NHS) and the Scottish Environment Protection Agency (SEPA) via Spaces for People as set out in the following table:

ScotRail has commenced the Equality Impact Assessment (EIA) and the timetable consultation process will contribute to this assessment. The purpose of the consultation is to enable passengers and stakeholders to provide specific feedback on how the proposals impact their journey compared to ScotRail’s current timetable and will allow completion of the EIA prior to finalising the timetable from May 2022 onwards.

Following the completion of the timetable consultation, a copy of the EIA document would be available directly from ScotRail.

The information requested by Mr Briggs MSP is readily available on the SSSC website, and a detailed breakdown by local authority can be obtained directly from the official source.

Every year in August, the Scottish Social Services Council (SSSC) publishes the ‘Scottish Social Service Sector: Report on 2020 Workforce Data’. This year's edition was the 10th set of official statistics. Official figures, therefore, only go back to 2011.

According to the most recent data, published in August this year, as of December 2020, there were 6,049 social workers employed in local authorities, the highest number recorded, representing a 1.5% increase since the previous year, 2019, or a 6% increase since 2011.

Scottish Government officials hold regular discussions with Department for Work and Pensions officials on a range of matters including eligibility criteria for Adult Disability Payment. During these discussions, our overriding commitment is to ensure processes are in place for the safe and secure transfer of clients to Adult Disability Payment. It is essential clients continue to receive the payments they rely on. Moreover, we have made changes to how clients will experience accessing disability assistance in Scotland, such as replacing assessments with person centred consultations. Also the reliability criteria, used to determine eligibility, will be enshrined more fully in legislation for Adult Disability Payment.

Safety of passengers on our railway is paramount and the British Transport Police (BTP) is accountable to the Scottish Government through the Scottish Railway Policing Committee.

I recently met with Chief Constable Lucy D’Orsi of the BTP and the topic of women’s safety on the rail network was discussed. The Chief Constable highlighted to me the campaigns currently running across the rail network to promote the reporting of unwanted sexual behaviour and a campaign against sexual harassment on the network.

More information on the campaigns can be accessed via:-

Campaigns | British Transport Police (btp.police.uk)

Policy on transport fuels is reserved to the UK Government and the roll-out of the E10 petrol grade is an initiative led on by the UK Department for Transport (DfT).

DfT's "Know Your Fuel" campaign has run across Scotland to inform motorists of the change and also offers an online vehicle compatibility checking tool. The Scottish Government's Traffic Scotland information service recently released tweets alerting motorists to the E10 introduction and provided links to DfT's online information resources."

I refer the member to the answer to question S6W-02881 on 23 September 2021. 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 information requested is not held centrally.

Children and young people whose referral is not accepted by CAMHS are sensitively and appropriately signposted to a more suitable service within their community.

We are committed to improving the availability of community mental health and wellbeing services for children and young people. This year we have provided local authorities with an additional £15 Million to fund over 200 new and enhanced supports and services for 5 -24 year olds. These services are expected to set up links to local CAMHS with signposting the minimum expectation and direct referral to community services the aspiration. The recently published Scottish Government and Scottish Green Party shared policy programme commits to doubling the budget for community based mental wellbeing services for children and young people to £30 million.

In addition, we have implemented a National CAMHS Service Specification, which sets out the standards of service that children, young people and families can expect from CAMHS across Scotland and have provided funding to support Boards to implement the specification. The specification includes a clear expectation that services should have appropriate re-engagement policies in place.

We will work closely with The Promise Scotland and partners across local government, social justice, health, the third sector, and with children and families to design and deliver the Fund. Further details will be provided in due course.

The commitment to investing at least £500m over the life of this Parliament to create a Whole Family Wellbeing Fund is significant. This will enable transformational change by building services which are universal, holistic support services available in communities across Scotland giving families access to help when and where they need it, and help Scotland #KeepThePromise.

Our ambition is that, from 2030, we will be investing at least 5% of all community-based health and social care spend in preventative whole family support measures that will enable us to continue to #KeepThePromise and create a Scotland where more children will only know care, compassion and love.