Chamber and committees

In partnership, the Scottish Government and COSLA provide £2m investment per year to deliver the training programme for educational psychologists.

The formulation for this investment takes into account the number of students, the tuition fees paid for each student, individual membership to the British Psychological Society and an allocation to help students with living costs associated with studying.

The living costs grant is not income assessed, is not indexed to inflation and does not need to be paid back.

The grant has been reviewed since 2018 and the amount was agreed with the National Scottish Steering Group for Educational Psychologists.

Data generated from the day-to-day running of the Thistle Service will be recorded and collated by Glasgow HSCP alongside a range of routine data from other Health and Social Care services to enable a comprehensive evaluation. This includes data to assess:

1.Extent to which people use the service,

2.Interventions provided within the service (such as reviews of injecting practice, peer support and referrals into drug treatment); and

3.Public Health outcomes such as incidence of drug overdose, Accident and Emergency attendances and drug deaths, uptake of testing for HIV, Hepatitis B and Hepatitis C and engagement in addictions treatment and care.

Data collated for evaluation will be published in due course in aggregate form. The format and timeline for these publications has not been set but likely to consist a full evaluation report which will be published in a few years’ time as well as an interim report which will be produced in the nearer term.

In his question to me in the chamber on 17 December, the Member asked about the handling of a Freedom of Information request made to the Scottish Government in April 2021, which sought information regarding James Hamilton's investigation under the Ministerial Code (see: https://www.gov.scot/publications/independent-report-by-james-hamilton-on-the-first-ministers-self-referral-under-the-scottish-ministerial-code/).

The Member has corresponded with the Scottish Government on a number of matters relating to this issue. On 17 December I was aware that the Member was awaiting the Scottish Government’s response to his letter of 20 November, specifically regarding the costs of legal advice in relation to these matters. The Scottish Government’s response to the Member’s letter of 20 November was subsequently issued on 19 December. This is the response referred to in my answer.

Scottish Forestry is working with partners to develop a project that will provide the small scale nurseries that specialise in native species of northern and western provenances with more resilience. The aim of the project is to share best practice, provide training and share resources where possible. The outcome is to ensure that the supply of harder to source tree stock is increased and more robust.

Scottish Forestry has worked closely with forest nursery sector representatives to identify solutions to improve the sector’s resilience. The Forestry Grant scheme was expanded in 2017 to cover forest nurseries which they have used to invest in their equipment to increase production. This increase in productive capacity supports both native and non-native species. The Scottish Government undertakes plant health inspections of forest nurseries which are conducted by Horticulture and Marketing Unit (SASA). There is also a system of plant passports that allows the internal movement within GB of regulated plants and plant products to be traced.

Trainee educational psychologists enrol as students and do not have an employment contract. Students are allocated a placement in Local Authorities to gain experience and to gather evidence so that they can complete their coursework. The grant for educational psychologist trainees, in addition to tuition fee funding, is not income assessed and is provided to help towards living costs associated with studying.

In Scotland trainee clinical psychologists are recruited through a UK clearing house system to NHS employment on nationally evaluated NHS Agenda for Change band 6 job roles in common with their peers across the UK. NHS Education for Scotland provides funding for salaries to NHS Scotland Boards via service level agreements and funding for fees to university programme providers. The training is a three year postgraduate doctoral programme and Clinical Psychology trainees provide clinical services during training as part of supervised and assessed practice, including contributing to the NHS Scotland Psychological Therapies waiting time standards.

In partnership, the Scottish Government and COSLA provide £2m investment per year to deliver the training programme for educational psychologists.

Through the Forestry Grant Scheme, administered by Scottish Forestry, grants are available to assist with the purchase of capital items that support nursery production and seed supply businesses. These measures are made available to encourage increased production within the nursery and seed supply sectors to help delivery of the Scottish Government's ambitious woodland creation target.

The information requested is not held centrally by the Scottish Government the member may wish to contact NHS Grampian directly for information.

This is a question for NHS Grampian and its planning partners. It is for local health bodies to plan and provide services that best meet the needs of their resident populations, including those that live in rural communities, consistent with clinical best practice, national policies and frameworks.

Decisions on the effectiveness of operational protocols are for Police Scotland and other emergency services to consider and review as required. You may wish to contact them directly on this matter.