Chamber and committees

Parliamentary question S6W-15763 asked “how many patients under 18 have been admitted to an NHS facility for vaping-related illnesses or disorders in each year since 2019”. At that time (March 2023) Public Health Scotland (PHS) responded that these data were not currently held. However, PHS are now carrying out work to identify the number of individuals with vaping related illness in Scotland and will publish figures in July 2023.

I’m very much looking forward to meeting with police officers and staff across Scotland as the Cabinet Secretary for Justice and Home Affairs.

My predecessor met with police officers at Wester Hailes Police Station on 14 December 2023 and was pleased to attend the Chief Constable’s Bravery and Excellence Awards at Tulliallan Police College on 10 February.

The Scottish Government does not produce estimates or collect data on the number of trees that have died and the age when this occurs.

All forests once established will experience some mortality and natural thinning through competition between individual trees. This will vary according to the planting density, management regimes, effects of pests and diseases, woodland type and location, and is an understood and accepted part of sustainable forest management.

However, any woodland creation that is publicly funded through the Forestry Grant Scheme is required to attain a specified stocking density when established, normally by year five, as set out in published guidance on the Rural Payments website at https://www.ruralpayments.org/topics/all-schemes/forestry-grant-scheme/woodland-creation/

Forest Research publishes data on forest yields and management information on the patterns of tree growth that can be expected in forests of different tree species, with varying growth rates, and when managed in different ways. This can be found at https://www.forestresearch.gov.uk/publications/forest-yield/ . These data, which factor in mortality rates, provide forecasts for the number of live tree over time and are used for example to estimate timber yields, forest biomass and carbon stocks, and the modelling of forest greenhouse gas balances.

Information on Ministerial meetings is routinely published on the Scottish Government website and can be found at: www.gov.scot/collections/ministerial-engagements-travel-and-gifts/ .

Civil servants should be present for all discussions relating to Government business. Where that is not the case any significant content should be passed back to the Private Office as soon as possible after the event, who should arrange for the basic facts of such meetings to be recorded.

We are unable to provide a breakdown of minutes prepared. The basic facts of formal meetings between Ministers and outside interest groups are recorded, setting out the reasons for the meeting, the names of those attending and the interests represented. Routine meetings with policy officials may only require a short note setting out the reasons for the meeting, the names of attendees and any action points or decisions taken. For courtesy conversations where no policy decisions arise it may be sufficient to record within the official diary that the meeting has taken place.

The Scottish Government have fully accepted the findings of the Feeley Review and we are working in partnership with stakeholders to implement its key recommendations. The Scottish Government are not waiting for the National Care Service to be established before we take action and we have continued to progress a number of key projects to take forward and improve Fair Work principles, including providing an additional £100m to increase the minimum rate of pay for adult social care workers to £10.90 per hour. Work is already underway to develop pay and bargaining arrangements ahead of the introduction of the NCS.

Through the National Care Service (NCS), The Scottish Government is going to continue to take forward its commitments to Fair Work for the social care sector, and to improve pay and conditions for workers, including through of national sectoral bargaining.

Information about national and local numbers of Drug Treatment and Testing Orders (DTTOs) is published annually. The relevant spreadsheet can be accessed directly online via this link: justice social work local authority tables up to 2021-22 for drug treatment and testing orders

Alternatively, this spreadsheet (“JSW local authority tables up to 2021 - 22 for drug treatment and testing orders”) can be found on the following page on the Scottish Government website: www.gov.scot/publications/criminal-justice-social-work-statistics-additional-tables-back-to-2004-2005/

Within the spreadsheet, the information for each relevant year can be accessed by selecting ‘Orders and Individuals: Number of Orders, Number per 10,000 Population and Number of Individuals’. Contextual information is contained in the footnotes of the table in relation to each year.

The Scottish Government remain committed to improving the mental health and wellbeing of Scotland’s population. Delivering this can only be achieved with the right workforce capacity and capability.

We have invested heavily in staffing in recent years, which is why both CAMHS and Psychology Services workforces have more than doubled under this Government.

Information on workforce numbers is publicly available through the Turas Data Intelligence system, including by NHS Boards, provided by NHS Education for Scotland: NHS Scotland Workforce Data

The Liberty Steel Dalzell site had been mothballed prior to acquisition by GFG Alliance. The Scottish Government took action to ensure the security of high skilled, high quality jobs in our steel industry and today there are 133 people employed at Liberty Steel as a result of the Scottish Government’s intervention.

The Sheku Bayoh Public Inquiry publishes its expenditure on a quarterly basis on its website: http://www.shekubayohinquiry.scot/inquiry-costs

The latest published figures show that the Inquiry has spent £10.4m since its setting-up date on 30 November 2020 until 31 December 2022:

The methods used to treat sewage is a matter for Scottish Water to consider to ensure regulatory standards are met in an efficient manner. I refer the member to the answer for S6W-16184 on 11 April 2023 for further information on the discussions regarding the potential presence and impact of pharmaceuticals in water.

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