Chamber and committees

It is anticipated that services operated by MV Glen Sannox will commence in mid-January 2025 on the Troon to Brodick route.

The Scottish Government recognises the importance of ensuring that the public has a clear understanding of the correct disposal methods for batteries and battery-containing products. While progress has been made in raising awareness, we acknowledge that more needs to be done to further improve public understanding and encourage proper recycling practices.

We are committed to working with local authorities, industry partners, and the other UK nations to enhance public awareness campaigns and ensure that information on battery disposal is widely accessible and easily understood. Correct disposal involves taking batteries to designated recycling points, such as those found at supermarkets, local recycling centres, or household waste recycling facilities, rather than disposing of them in general waste bins where they can pose environmental and safety risks. Guidance on how to properly dispose of batteries can be found here

As part of this effort, we are exploring ways to update recycling regulations and improve infrastructure, ensuring the availability of convenient recycling options. This will complement public education initiatives aimed at fostering greater awareness of the importance of correct disposal and the locations of appropriate facilities.

The information requested is not held centrally by the Scottish Government.

Public Health Scotland (PHS) uses the national waiting times datamart to collect electronic patient records covering the waits that patients experience waiting for treatment as an inpatient or day case under the Treatment Time Guarantee. This data source can be used routinely to identify the specialty of treatment. However, these records are unable to accurately capture procedural level data.

More detailed information on the procedure(s) that is planned or undertaken for a patient will be held locally by NHS Boards.

Following reports from members of the public on 11 November of a number of dead fish found in Linlithgow Loch, SEPA officers inspected the site on the morning of 12 November. During the inspection, no visible signs of pollution were identified and water quality samples, taken at various points around the loch, did not reveal any pollutants. SEPA is satisfied that there is no ongoing pollution incident within the loch.

The total number of NHS patients that have been treated in private (independent) hospitals in each of the last five financial years and reported to PHS is presented in the following table.

The Scottish Government is committed to preventing and mitigating psychological trauma and adversity. We are taking a wide range of actions to support the health, wellbeing and resilience of all those who have been negatively impacted by trauma throughout their lives. This includes:

• Working to address poverty, tackle harmful drug and alcohol use, support mental health, and reduce inequalities;
• Working to support the development of trauma-informed and responsive approaches in a wide range of services and settings including in social work, healthcare, justice and education.

We are not aware of the Miracle Foundation’s calls for a bespoke service in NHS Lanarkshire. We are however working closely with partners in key sectors and services across Scotland to prevent psychological trauma and adversity, and mitigate their impacts. The Scottish Government and COSLA also have a joint ambition to develop trauma-informed and trauma-responsive workforces and services across Scotland. Since 2018, we have invested over £12 million in a National Trauma Transformation Programme (NTTP).

Through the Communities Mental Health and Wellbeing Fund for Adults, and the Children and Young People’s Community Mental Health and Wellbeing Supports and Services funding, the Scottish Government has, since 2020, provided more than £130 million to local authorities and the third sector to deliver community-based mental health support. This includes funding for the Miracle Foundation to deliver mental health, wellbeing and resilience workshops for children and young people in North Lanarkshire, as well as the following projects for adults: Encouraging Growth & Resilience Mental Health Workshops; Diverse Community Development & Engagement; and Living Well in North Lanarkshire Community Groups.

Additionally, Scottish Government has provided funding to North Lanarkshire Council through Bairns’ Hoose Development Fund (Phase 2) which aims to support partnerships at an earlier stage of development to work towards the establishment of Bairns’ Hoose services.

The Scottish Government is committed to ensuring that compassionate support is available to anyone affected by self-harm.

We believe our Self-Harm Strategy and Action Plan, delivered jointly with COSLA, is a world first; its priorities are:

• Increasing knowledge and compassionate understanding of self-harm in order to reduce stigma and discrimination;
• Enhancing supports and services across Scotland for anyone affected by self-harm; and
• Improving and sharing data and evidence so we can continue to learn about self-harm and adapt our approach.
  

As part of our focus on supporting people who self-harm we have invested in a bespoke self-harm support service since 2022, with funding of £1.5m continuing over 2024-2026. The Scotland-wide service is delivered through Self-Harm Network Scotland, which is run by Penumbra. The service provides reliable and accessible advice and information to anyone aged 12 or over, who is affected by self-harm. Individual 1:1 peer support can be accessed via self-referral using the contact us form on their website. People who self-harm can receive 12-15 sessions of support which is recovery focussed, and person centred. This can be delivered by phone, video call, or via text.

Additionally, the website has a Live Chat service available from 6pm-10pm, 7 days a week. This is a confidential service, staffed by peer practitioners and trained volunteers who offer immediate support to people who self-harm, or are thinking of self-harming.

The service also offers fully funded self-harm awareness training to individuals and organisations, and loved ones group sessions to support family/friends and carers - who can also seek individual support from the service at any time.

The Scottish Government have invested heavily in Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services (CAMHS) in recent years, which is why CAMHS staffing has increased by 59.1% in the last decade of this Government (+553.8 WTE). CAMHS workforce data is publicly available in NHS Education for Scotland (NES) Turas Data Intelligence at: NHS Scotland Workforce Data.

We work closely with all NHS Boards to help improve their performance across CAMHS, including to reduce their waiting times. Despite ongoing pressures, local CAMHS teams continue to respond well to demand, with statistics showing one in two children and young people referred to CAMHS start treatment within 6 weeks.

Whilst the Scottish Government sets the strategic policy direction for the NHS in Scotland, operational matters including staffing are in the first instance the responsibility of the relevant NHS Board. Decisions depend on the service needs of each board taking account of national, regional and local priorities, and we expect NHS boards to plan and provide safe, effective and high-quality care, in line with their statutory service provision and workforce planning responsibilities.

The Health and Care (Staffing) (Scotland) Act 2019 commenced in April 2024 and aims to be an enabler of high-quality care and improved outcomes for service users in both health and care services by helping to ensure appropriate staffing for high quality care. The legislation does not prescribe minimum staffing levels or fixed ratios and does not advocate a ‘one size fits all’ ratio, which would be inflexible to local needs, based on a fixed point in time, and not consistently reflective of workforce, case mix or dependencies.

To better support workforce planning across NHS Scotland, in collaboration with NES Data Group & Centre for Workforce Supply (CWS), we have developed a workforce planning data modelling tool, which sits on the TURAS data intelligence system. The tool will enable greater understanding of the timing and size of current and projected workforce demand at a local, regional, and national level.

We also undertake a robust student intake planning process to determine the target number of pre-registration students to which Scottish universities should recruit in the following academic year to meet estimated future workforce demands. The process involves significant input from key stakeholders from across the education sectors, including Council of Deans of Health Scotland, NHS Education for Scotland (NES), NHS Board Planners, and Unions.

We will continue to work with our key partners to ensure the Health and Care (Staffing) legislation is implemented effectively across NHS Boards, including within CAMHS services.

Scotland is Now was the creative platform that formally launched the Brand Scotland Partnership on 11 April 2018, seeking to establish a new narrative for positioning Scotland internationally that would more effectively challenge certain perceptions that could limit opportunities.

The Brand Scotland Partnership consists of the following organisations: VisitScotland, Scottish Enterprise/SDI, Creative Scotland, Scotland Food and Drink, HIE, Universities Scotland and the Scottish Government.

The Brand Scotland Strategic Partnership is a collaborative initiative that seeks to grow Scotland’s profile with international audiences and increase consideration as a place to live and work, study, visit and do business.

The Scottish Government routinely publishes marketing spend annually and figures for international marketing spend which would all have been delivered as Brand Scotland, can be accessed here: Marketing spend - gov.scot (www.gov.scot)

I am as committed as ever to meeting the waiting times standard for psychological therapies and to clearing waiting list backlogs as confirmed in our Mental Health and Wellbeing Strategy.