- Asked by: Rachael Hamilton, MSP for Ettrick, Roxburgh and Berwickshire, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Thursday, 16 January 2025
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Current Status:
Answered by Neil Gray on 28 January 2025
To ask the Scottish Government, further to the expansion of guidance on breast screening protocols by risk category in 2023, and as set out in the Scottish Cancer Network's Breast Cancer Clinical Management Pathway, what support has been provided to NHS boards to provide screening to women aged 25 to 30 who are identified as very high risk, as per the updated guidance.
Answer
The Familial Breast Cancer pathway which is hosted by the Scottish Cancer Network’s Clinical Management Pathway website is a consensus document which is not a rigid constraint on clinical practice, but a concept of good practice against which the needs of the individual patient can be considered by health care professionals.
Surveillance for high-risk breast cancer is the responsibility of NHS Health Boards and are managed locally by health care professionals. The inclusion of a treatment or approach within a consensus document is not a guarantee of immediate access.
- Asked by: Roz McCall, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 14 January 2025
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Current Status:
Answered by Natalie Don-Innes on 28 January 2025
To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S6W-25979 by Natalie Don on 14 March 2024, how (a) many families have received support and (b) much Whole Family Wellbeing Funding has been spent to date, broken down by local authority area.
Answer
Whole Family Wellbeing Funding continues to be provided by the Scottish Government to deliver transformational change to improve holistic family support so that families get the right support, in the right way and at the right time. By the end of this financial year the Scottish Government expects to have invested over £110m across financial years 2022-23 - 2024-25. This includes £96m provided directly to Children's Service Planning Partnerships (through the General Revenue Grant) to build local service capacity and transform family support services at the local level. CSPPs have responsibility for deciding how to spend their allocation and do so in a variety of ways in line with set criteria. We do not hold figures of how many families have received support via WFWF funded activity, but examples of how CSPPs are spending their allocations can be found in our Evaluation of year 1 activity which was published on 31 January 2024 (https://www.gov.scot/publications/whole-family-wellbeing-funding-wfwf-year-1-process-evaluation-final-report/) and CSPP annual reports published at a local level.
Despite the tight fiscal position, we have once again protected our £50m investment for 2025-26. This investment will ensure that CSPP allocations will remain the same as 2024-25 protecting the good work already being delivered. The following table provides a breakdown of the distribution to date of funding per Local Authority. The allocations for 2025-26 will be published in due course.
Local Authority | 2022-23 Allocation (£m) | 2023-24 Allocation (£m) | 2024-25 Allocation (£m) |
Aberdeen City | 1.025 | 1.029 | 1.028 |
Aberdeenshire | 1.464 | 1.467 | 1.463 |
Angus | 0.657 | 0.654 | 0.647 |
Argyll and Bute | 0.439 | 0.438 | 0.422 |
City of Edinburgh | 2.199 | 2.201 | 2.234 |
Clackmannanshire | 0.337 | 0.337 | 0.341 |
Dumfries and Galloway | 0.917 | 0.917 | 0.902 |
Dundee City | 0.894 | 0.893 | 0.954 |
East Ayrshire | 0.832 | 0.833 | 0.825 |
East Dunbartonshire | 0.471 | 0.473 | 0.478 |
East Lothian | 0.579 | 0.583 | 0.590 |
East Renfrewshire | 0.492 | 0.495 | 0.484 |
Falkirk | 0.923 | 0.921 | 0.937 |
Fife | 2.289 | 2.288 | 2.290 |
Glasgow City | 4.666 | 4.663 | 4.594 |
Highland | 1.420 | 1.417 | 1.353 |
Inverclyde | 0.423 | 0.421 | 0.479 |
Midlothian | 0.535 | 0.540 | 0.565 |
Moray | 0.546 | 0.545 | 0.524 |
Na h-Eileanan Siar | 0.161 | 0.159 | 0.156 |
North Ayrshire | 0.959 | 0.954 | 0.954 |
North Lanarkshire | 2.351 | 2.346 | 2.281 |
Orkney Islands | 0.132 | 0.133 | 0.129 |
Perth and Kinross | 0.805 | 0.806 | 0.811 |
Renfrewshire | 0.988 | 0.986 | 1.009 |
Scottish Borders | 0.668 | 0.669 | 0.661 |
Shetland Islands | 0.158 | 0.157 | 0.146 |
South Ayrshire | 0.604 | 0.603 | 0.608 |
South Lanarkshire | 1.827 | 1.835 | 1.868 |
Stirling | 0.495 | 0.493 | 0.476 |
West Dunbartonshire | 0.604 | 0.602 | 0.621 |
West Lothian | 1.140 | 1.143 | 1.150 |
Variations in allocations are due to data refreshes to reflect population movement.
In addition, East Lothian received £1863.00 2022-23 and £164.5k in 2023-24 for collaborative planning support and provide local learning that can be shared nationally.
- Asked by: Sharon Dowey, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 14 January 2025
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Current Status:
Answered by Angela Constance on 28 January 2025
To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to
question S6W-30309 by Angela Constance on 28 October 2024, whether it
will provide an update on its engagement with the Scottish Police Authority
regarding any deployment by Police Scotland of live facial recognition
technology.
Answer
I refer the member to the answer to the question S6O-03953 on 13 November 2024. All answers to Oral Parliamentary Questions are available on the Parliament’s website, the search facility for which can be found at Official Report: search what was said in Parliament | Scottish Parliament Website
I can also confirm that in autumn 2024, Police Scotland, the Scottish Police Authority (SPA) and the Scottish Biometrics Commissioner set up a short life working group to draft and propose a live facial recognition policy within twelve months, either having found sufficient evidence of how this can support policing in a legal and ethical way, or a recommendation to the contrary. When the SPA policing performance committee met on 10 December 2024, it was confirmed that the first session of the short life working group had been held on 25 October 2024. The publicly available paper submitted to the 10 December meeting confirms the remit of the short life working group; its sub-groups; its Terms of Reference; and a high level timeline of its intended activities.
- Asked by: Pam Duncan-Glancy, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 14 January 2025
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Current Status:
Answered by Graeme Dey on 28 January 2025
To ask the Scottish Government how many students from Scotland have undertaken an exchange as part of the Scottish Education Exchange Programme in each of the last two years.
Answer
The Scottish Government funded Scottish Education Exchange Programme test and learn project enables Scottish colleges and universities to re-establish some of the opportunities Erasmus+ provided, which the UK Government Turing Scheme does not. In particular, to encourage the development of partnerships between institutions that could enable staff and inward exchanges.
The test and learn project has been developed with stakeholders from across the sector. Feedback from institutions to the working group has been positive and we have committed to working collaboratively on the project moving forward.
The project focuses on closing the shortfall between the UK Government Turing Scheme and Erasmus+. In year 1 the project did not directly fund any student exchanges. Institutions prioritised staff mobility projects supporting the development of sustainable partnerships.
Projects in year 2 of the test and learn are providing opportunities for disadvantaged students from Scotland, who are excluded from the UK Government Turing Scheme, to undertake an exchange.
These projects are live. Details of the number of students who participated will be shared after the projects conclude in March 2025.
Additional information on the Scottish Education Exchange Programme projects can be found on the Scottish Government website. Link
- Asked by: Foysol Choudhury, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Friday, 17 January 2025
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Current Status:
Answered by Neil Gray on 28 January 2025
To ask the Scottish Government what plans it has to use public deliberation methods, such as citizens' juries, to improve cancer services.
Answer
The Scottish Government continues to use a range of methods to ensure meaningful public input to our work, including focus groups and formal public consultation.
The Scottish Cancer Patient Experience Survey (SCPES) asks people about their experience of cancer care. The survey is jointly funded by the Scottish Government and Macmillan Cancer Support. The most recent findings of the survey were published in September 2024.
Care Opinion is an independent, not-for-profit organisation that gives people a platform to tell their own story about their experience of health and care services. We regularly look to this resource to understand experience of cancer services by all people affected by cancer accessing services across Scotland.
- Asked by: Foysol Choudhury, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Friday, 17 January 2025
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Current Status:
Answered by Neil Gray on 28 January 2025
To ask the Scottish Government what steps are being taken to ensure that cancer patients are able to receive patient-centred care that is tailored to their individual needs.
Answer
The Scottish Government published our Cancer Strategy for Scotland 2023-2033 along with an initial three year Cancer Action Plan for Scotland 2023 – 2026 in June 2023. The strategy and plan take a comprehensive approach to improving patient pathways from prevention and diagnosis through to treatment and post-treatment care with an ambition to provide person centred care for all.
The actions contained in the plan will enable health and care professionals to work in partnership with the people they care for to ensure shared decision making with realistic medicine approaches in mind.
Scottish Government launched Single Point of Contact pilots in 2020, which ensure people recently diagnosed with cancer have person-centred support and can discuss their specific circumstances. This helps ease anxieties related to their care and treatment plans and to relay the support available to them and their families. Scottish Government is considering how best to scale up this approach.
We are also working in partnership with Macmillan to improve the service we offer patients with cancer through the Transforming Cancer Care Programme. This partnership is worth £27 million and is the first of its kind in the UK. The programme ensures that every patient with cancer in Scotland has access to a specialist key support worker, who can provide emotional, financial, and practical support to those who need it most.
- Asked by: Pam Duncan-Glancy, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 14 January 2025
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Current Status:
Answered by Jenny Gilruth on 28 January 2025
To ask the Scottish Government what plans it has for a reintroduction of the school libraries strategy, which ended in 2023.
Answer
The Scottish Government funds the School Library Improvement Fund which has provided £1.72m of funding to support improvement in library provision across Scotland since 2017.
The Scottish Government is working with partners and stakeholders to reconvene the School Libraries Education and Policy Working Group to build on the success of the National School Library Strategy – Vibrant Libraries, Thriving Schools at a national level.
- Asked by: Murdo Fraser, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Monday, 27 January 2025
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Current Status:
Taken in the Chamber on 28 January 2025
To ask the Scottish Government what action it is taking to reduce the number of unauthorised absences from schools.
Answer
Taken in the Chamber on 28 January 2025
- Asked by: Collette Stevenson, MSP for East Kilbride, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Monday, 27 January 2025
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Current Status:
Taken in the Chamber on 30 January 2025
To ask the First Minister, in light of the Joseph Rowntree Foundation report, UK Poverty 2025, whether he will provide an update on the Scottish Government's actions to tackle poverty in Scotland, including in relation to any potential impact of planned UK Government welfare reforms.
Answer
Taken in the Chamber on 30 January 2025
- Asked by: Jackson Carlaw, MSP for Eastwood, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Monday, 27 January 2025
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Current Status:
Taken in the Chamber on 30 January 2025
To ask the First Minister whether he will join HM The King and other world leaders in commemorating the 80th anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz extermination camp and offer his reflections on the theme of this year's Holocaust Memorial Day, "For a Better Future".
Answer
Taken in the Chamber on 30 January 2025
