Chamber and committees

Community views are an essential part of informing future service options. The community feedback gathered at engagement events in Kilcreggan on the 1st of October, Dunoon on the 2nd of October, and Gourock on the 3rd of October, along with the online user survey outcomes, is currently being analysed as part of the appraisal of the possible options. No decisions on the future service design of the Gourock-Dunoon and Gourock-Kilcreggan routes have been made at this stage.

The Gourock Dunoon Kilcreggan Infrastructure and Vessels Programme is working to develop resilient vessel and port design options. Preferred vessel options will be considered as part of the associated business case and any investment in new vessels and infrastructure will be subject to value for money and affordability considerations.

I refer the member to the answer to question S6W-31114 on 15 November 2024. 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.

Further to question S6W-25674, the latest Bikeability Scotland participation statistics are as follows:

XL Bully owners in Scotland had from 1 April 2024 to 31 July 2024 to apply to the Scottish Government for a Certificate of Exemption for their XL Bully dog, to allow them to legally keep their dog. Under the relevant legislation that set these dates, the time period for applications for a Certificate of Exemption to keep an XL Bully dog has closed.

The only means by which an exemption can be granted now is as follows.

The XL Bully dog is on the list of prohibited dogs under the Dangerous Dogs Act 1991.

Following the passing of the Dangerous Dogs (Amendment) Act 1997, it continued to be the case that it is a criminal offence to own a prohibited type of dog, but following a conviction the court has discretion in sentencing so that a dog of this type is not always required to be destroyed where an owner was found to have kept a dog in breach of the legislation.

The court can, as an alternative to ordering the destruction of the dog, authorise a person owning such a dog to be able to apply to place the dog on the Index of the Exempted Dogs. Only courts can direct that an owner can be authorised to apply for a dog to be placed on the Index of Exempted Dogs.

The Scottish Government does not have any role to play in the decision making of the independent court when it considers how to dispose of cases, but will of course consider any application for exemption on the back of any court direction that would permit the owner of an XL Bully dog to apply to Scottish Ministers to seek a Certificate of Exemption.

The Scottish Government recognises the value of social care support to all who require additional support in living independently at home or in the community.

Under the Social Work (Scotland) Act 1968 local authorities and Health and Social Care Partnerships have a duty to assess the social care support needs of people and decide, in light of that assessment, whether to arrange any services, and if so, which services.

We know that the system needs to work better for everyone in Scotland and we are continuing to work with partners and people with lived experience on ongoing improvement and reform.

These statistics show the fewest amount of people waiting for a social care support assessment this year – a reduction of 12% since January.

We are working closely with all NHS Boards to support implementation of the CAMHS specification to improve the service provided to children, young people and families, as well as improve performance across CAMHS. We remain committed to supporting all Boards to meet the standard that 90% of patients start treatment within 18 weeks of referral.

Local CAMHS teams continue to respond well to demand, with 1 in 2 children and young people referred to CAMHS starting treatment within 6 weeks, compared to 12 weeks pre-pandemic. In the first half of this year, we have seen the best national performance against CAMHS waiting times since the 18 week standard was introduced in 2014.

Recognising that performance does still vary across Health Boards, we continue to provide enhanced support to those Boards not on track to meet the standard. This includes providing access to professional advice, ensuring they have robust improvement plans in place and monitoring their implementation. This is in addition to a programme of routine engagement with all 14 territorial Health Boards.

We have directly allocated £120 million to NHS Boards and Integrated Joint Boards for a new Enhanced Mental Health Outcomes Framework in 2024-25. The Framework provides a single, flexible funding stream to support continued improvements and better outcomes across a range of mental health and psychological services in line with the Mental Health and Wellbeing Strategy, including CAMHS and implementation of the CAMHS Specification.

We continue to work with NHS Boards to monitor the Service Specification’s implementation, to improve services and enhance support for children and young people and their families.

The National Specification includes requirements for Boards to fully engage with children, young people and families and to gather outcome data against these standards, including experience of service, and to report performance, quality and governance.

While there are no current plans to carry out a specific evaluation, we are working closely with all NHS Boards to support implementation of the CAMHS specification and to improve the service provided to children, young people and families, as well as improve performance across CAMHS. We remain committed to supporting all Boards to meet the standard that 90% of patients start treatment within 18 weeks of referral. We continue to provide enhanced support to those Boards not on track to meet the standard, providing access to professional advice, ensuring they have robust improvement plans in place and monitoring their implementation.

The Scottish Government does not have any role to play in operational matters that fall to Police Scotland and Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service (COPFS) when considering allegations of criminal offences under dangerous dogs legislation. In addition, the Scottish Government does not have any role in the decision making of the independent court when it considers how to dispose of cases.

Within this context, the information requested is not held by the Scottish Government.

Scottish Government officials are continuing to engage with Police Scotland, COPFS, local authorities and Scottish SPCA about the impact of enforcing and implementation of the new safeguards on XL Bully dogs.

Dogs need to be over 8 weeks old to be microchipped.

Where an XL Bully dog was too young – under 8 weeks – as at the date of application for exemption to be microchipped, the owner was given additional time to provide evidence of microchipping having occurred.

There are also exemptions for those dogs deemed unfit for a microchip to be fitted. A dog is unfit to be microchipped if a veterinary surgeon has issued a certificate indicating a dog is unfit to be microchipped under the Microchipping of Dogs (Scotland) Regulations 2016.

Further information about microchipping can be found on the mygov.scot website:

Exemptions - mygov.scot.