Chamber and committees

There will be a) a positive impact with the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions as we decarbonise our rail network and reduce the number of diesel trains operating on the network and b) & c) with ScotRail’s proposed May 2022 timetable we will see around 44,000 additional seats daily between today’s timetable and May 2022 encouraging passengers to consider train as an alternative means of transport thus, supporting modal shift.

Business Improvement Districts are business partnerships which vote to invest collectively to deliver local economic growth. There are currently 38 operating in Scotland covering town and city centres as well as themed areas such as digital, food and drink, and tourism. Business Improvement Districts in Scotland have consistently raised just over £6 million on average per annum in core levy.

The Committee on Climate Change (CCC) is the statutory advisory body to the Scottish Ministers in respect of meeting their duties under climate change legislation.

The CCC has stated that, with respect to the decarbonisation of heat, our short-term priorities should be a reduction in demand through improved energy efficiency and the installation of renewable heating systems in off-gas buildings where the carbon intensity of displaced fuel is greater than on-gas areas.

This advice is set out in the CCC’s ‘Next Steps for UK Heat Policy’ publication, which can be found at: https://www.theccc.org.uk/publication/next-steps-for-uk-heat-policy/ . This advice has informed our proposed approach to heat decarbonisation set out in our final Heat in Buildings Strategy, published on 7 October 2021.

ScotRail, when proposing the May 2022 timetable, has examined in detail previous, current and expected passenger demand. ScotRail has developed a proposed timetable that offers an increase in the number of services compared to current service levels as well as service patterns that meet demand, with scope for growth, while recognising the need for financial and environmental sustainability as we work towards Net Zero.

The Scottish Government will publish a series of impact assessments which, amongst a range of other issues, consider the effect that the actions we have set out in the Heat in Buildings Strategy will have on fuel poverty.

These impact assessments have been taken into account in the development of the Heat in Buildings Strategy, and will inform our programmes and specific policies – including in our commitment to phase out the installation of fossil fuel heating systems.

Any subsequent legislation required to deliver on our commitment to phase out the installation of fossil fuel heating systems will also be subject to appropriate impact assessments and consultation. This will allow the Scottish Parliament the opportunity to fully scrutinise the impacts of our proposals.

We will also publish our Fuel Poverty Strategy later this year and, as per the Fuel Poverty (Targets, Definition and Strategy) (Scotland) Act 2019, we will publish a report on our progress towards meeting the statutory fuel poverty targets every three years.

The spending plans for 2022-23 will be announced in the Scottish Government budget which will be published on 9 December and plans for future years will be considered as part of the Resource Spending Review .

The winter funding will be used by Health and Social Care Partnerships to fund a range of options to support the timely discharge of patients from hospital. This includes £62 million for enhancing care at home capacity, £20 million to develop multi-disciplinary teams, £40 million for the development of alternative, interim care options and up to £48 million to increase the hourly rate of pay for social care staff.

In addition to this funding, in March 2021 we issued a £20 million Community Living Change Fund to be used during 2021–2024. Funding will be used to redesign services for people with complex needs including intellectual disabilities and autism, and for people who have enduring mental health problems, avoiding the need for out of area placements and reducing delayed discharges from hospital.

Estimated spend on dementia by each Integration Joint Board in each year since 2016 is as follows:-

Since my answer to question S6W-03274, a further £24.5 million has been provided from the £120 million Recovery and Renewal Fund, bringing total allocations to date to over £74.5 million, including:

• £40 million for Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services (CAMHS) to address waiting times this year, increase access to and enhance services, including for those with complex needs;
• £15 million to grass roots community groups via a Communities Mental Health and Wellbeing Fund to help tackle the impact of social isolation, loneliness and mental health inequalities;
• £5 million to address Psychological Therapies waiting times this year;
• £5 million to implement the recommendations of the Eating Disorders Review;
• Almost £2 million to roll out digital innovations, including online access to Cognitive Behavioural Therapy.

The following table provides a breakdown of allocations by the key themes in the Mental Health Transition and Recovery Plan, as well as funding provided for key dementia, learning disability and autism priorities.

The National Services Division (NSD) in NHS National Services Scotland (NSS) have commissioning responsibility for the Scottish Genetic Laboratories. NSD are currently conducting a review of NHS Scotland’s genomics services which includes reviewing the Scottish genomic test directory and genomics infrastructure. The review is expected to be completed by the end of the 2021-2022 financial year.

The outcomes from the review will be considered by the Scottish Genomics Leadership Group, chaired jointly by Professor David Crossman, Chief Scientist for Health for the Scottish Government, and Susan Buchanan, NSD Director. This Group are supporting the Scottish Government in ensuring appropriate planning and robust decision-making processes are in place for genetic testing availability in Scotland.

Should the review highlight an inequity of access for Scottish patients for specific genetic tests, NSD will work with the Scottish Genomics Leadership Group to resolve the matter as soon as possible.