Parliamentary questions
Paul Sweeney
1,340 questions tabled in the Scottish Parliament, most recent first.
5 Dec 2023 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on progress with the proposed introduction of a community water fluoridation scheme by NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde.
Answer · Jenni Minto: In Scotland, under current water quality legislation, the decision to introduce fluoridation of drinking water supplies lies with local NHS Boards. There are currently no known plans to fluoridate the public water supply in Scotland and any decision to do so …
4 Dec 2023 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government whether the in-year budget reprofiling of spend under the Mental Health Recovery and Renewal Fund and the Mental Health Transformation Fund will impact any resources earmarked for the delivery of the (a) Mental Health and Wellbeing Strategy and its (i) workforce plan and (ii) delivery pl…
Answer · Maree Todd: The vast majority of spending on mental health is delivered through NHS board budgets – and this is not directly affected by the budget reprioritisation. Between the Scottish Government and NHS boards we expect spending on Mental Health to be well in excess o…
4 Dec 2023 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government when it plans to appoint the membership of its Mental Health and Wellbeing Leadership Board.
Answer · Maree Todd: We committed in the Mental Health and Wellbeing Strategy to put appropriate governance arrangements in place to oversee implementation and track progress. We will therefore establish a Mental Health and Wellbeing Leadership Board during the first year of the …
29 Nov 2023 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government when it expects any feasibility studies for overdose prevention pilot proposals in (a) Edinburgh and (b) Dundee to be published.
Answer · Elena Whitham: Edinburgh City Council has indicated their strong interest in Safer Drug Consumption Facilities and have commissioned a feasibility study. The findings of which are being finalised and should be released early 2024. At present there has not been, and current…
29 Nov 2023 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government how many people have been found in possession of drugs in each year since 2021, also broken down by (a) class of drugs and (b) how many were (i) issued with a Recorded Police Warning (ii) referred to the prosecution service.
Answer · Elena Whitham: a) The Scottish Government collect data on police recorded crimes. In 2020-21 the police recorded 30,344 crimes of drugs possession, in 2021-22 they recorded 23,747 crimes of drugs possession and in 2022-23 they recorded 22,356 crimes of drugs possession. Sco…
29 Nov 2023 · Portfolio Question
To ask the Scottish Government what steps it is taking to support student mental health and wellbeing.
29 Nov 2023 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government for what reason the £7.5 million from the Mental Health Transformation Fund, which is to be reprioritised as part of 2023-24 in-year budget changes, had not yet been spent.
Answer · Maree Todd: Financial planning to address the significant challenges our public finances face took place in advance of the Deputy First Minister and Cabinet Secretary for Finance's update on the 2023-24 in-year budget changes on 21 November. The difficult decisions whi…
29 Nov 2023 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what impact the reprioritisation of the £7.5 million funding from the Mental Health Transformation Fund will have on the delivery of priorities outlined in the Mental Health and Wellbeing Strategy.
Answer · Maree Todd: The vast majority of spending on mental health is delivered through NHS board budgets – and this is not directly affected by the Path to Balance reprioritisation. Between the Scottish Government and NHS boards we expect spending on Mental Health to be well in…
29 Nov 2023 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide a breakdown of the £7.5 million funding from the Mental Health Transformation Fund, which is to be reprioritised as part of 2023-24 in-year budget changes, by the mental health programmes that were previously earmarked for spending from this budget line.
Answer · Maree Todd: Financial planning for the significant challenges our public finances continue to face took place in advance of the Deputy First Minister and Cabinet Secretary for Finance's update on the 2023-24 in-year budget changes on 21 November. The difficult decision…
28 Nov 2023 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what steps it is taking to ensure that members of the veterans and armed forces community are aware of the NHS services that are available to them so that they can access the medical and practical support that they need.
Answer · Graeme Dey: As is stated in The Strategy for Our Veterans, published in 2022, the Scottish Government is committed to ensuring all armed forces personnel and veterans who serve and live in Scotland are able to access the best possible care and support, including safe, ef…
28 Nov 2023 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what assessment it has made of the view of medical professionals who were consulted on the Mental Health and Wellbeing Strategy regarding the final strategy as published.
Answer · Maree Todd: Throughout the development of the Scottish Government and COSLA’s Mental Health & Wellbeing Strategy, we engaged with NHS Boards, Integration Joint Boards, professional bodies, third sector and equalities organisations, and many other partners and stakeholder…
28 Nov 2023 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on its work to address homelessness in the veterans community.
Answer · Paul McLennan: Ending homelessness continues to be a key priority for the Scottish Government. Our ambition can only be achieved through a shared public responsibility when government and partners all play their part. With that in mind, I met with the Scottish Veterans Com…
28 Nov 2023 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government for what reason it has chosen headcount as opposed to whole-time equivalent in relation to its commitment to increasing the number of GPs in Scotland to 800 by 2026.
Answer · Michael Matheson: The Scottish Government measures progress against the commitment to increase GP numbers using headcount data as this provides an accurate number of GPs registered on the Performers List in Scotland at the time the data is collected. Currently whole-time equiv…
28 Nov 2023 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what support it will make available to GPs and primary care services to support them in delivering the Mental Health and Wellbeing Strategy.
Answer · Maree Todd: The Scottish Government remains committed to improving mental health service provision in primary care settings. The newly published Mental Health and Wellbeing Delivery Plan sets out our ambition to drive a shift in the balance of care across mental health t…
28 Nov 2023 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what exposure medical students have to psychiatric and mental health placements, and what steps are taken to encourage students to consider a career in these fields.
Answer · Michael Matheson: Following consultation with each of Scotland five medical schools most students receive taught modules on mental health and psychiatry in years three and four of their medical degrees with the opportunity to specialist mental health units on clinical placemen…
28 Nov 2023 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government how many veterans have declared themselves homeless in Scotland in each financial year since 2018-19.
Answer · Paul McLennan: As part of the annual Homelessness in Scotland publication, the Scottish Government releases national statistics on the number of households assessed as homeless or threatened with homelessness by former armed forces status. Table T22 in the main tables, in t…
28 Nov 2023 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government how it will ensure that there are sufficient consultants to train future junior doctors, in light of reports that many consultants in Scotland are reaching retirement age and considering early retirement, as cited by the Royal College of Psychiatrists in its State of the nation report: T…
Answer · Michael Matheson: Medical training establishment is determined by the need for future trained doctor output, and modelling for supply takes into account a number of factors, including age of retirement. 153 additional trainee doctor posts were recently agreed for recruitment i…
28 Nov 2023 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what steps are being taken to support consultants with their workload so that they have sufficient time to engage in research and in supporting and training junior doctors.
Answer · Michael Matheson: The Scottish Consultants Contract is designed to ensure that Consultants who work within NHS Scotland have time for supporting professional activities. How much time received is based on working patterns and forms part of the job planning process they underta…
28 Nov 2023 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what its response is to the findings of the Royal College of Psychiatrists in its State of the nation report: The psychiatric workforce in Scotland.
Answer · Maree Todd: We are engaging with the Royal College of Psychiatrists, and other stakeholders, to ensure that the issues identified and recommendations made in the recent ‘State of Nation: the Psychiatric Workforce in Scotland’ report are considered as part of our ongoing …
25 Nov 2023 · SPCB Written Question
To ask the Scottish Parliamentary Corporate Body whether it will recognise and include the affiliation of MSPs, who are also Co-operative Party members, in official designations of party affiliations on the Scottish Parliament website and broadcast captions on SPTV.
Answer · Maggie Chapman (on behalf of the SPCB): Official designations of party affiliations are held in one central system and shared across many other parliamentary systems. There are technical considerations about making this change across these systems, including the fact that the change would not be re…
25 Nov 2023 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what plans it has to improve West Coast Main Line (WCML) (a) line speeds and (b) capacity from Glasgow Central, through grade separation of Rutherglen junction to deconflict local train movements.
Answer · Fiona Hyslop: Infrastructure on the UK rail network, including lines speed and capacity, is a matter for Network Rail, therefore Network Rail would be best placed to provide this information. Network Rail advises it is currently looking to understand the implications of t…
25 Nov 2023 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government how many level crossings are still present on the West Coast Mainline (WCML) in Scotland, and what plans there are to phase them out.
Answer · Fiona Hyslop: Infrastructure on the UK rail network, including level crossings on the West Coast Mainline, is a matter for Network Rail, therefore Network Rail would be best placed to provide this information. Network Rail advises that all level crossings fully meet the o…
24 Nov 2023 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government how many people in Scotland currently (a) have and (b) are receiving treatment for cystic fibrosis.
Answer · Jenni Minto: Information on the incidence or occurrence of rare conditions such as cystic fibrosis is not held centrally by the Scottish Government, however, it is estimated that approximately 900 people in Scotland have cystic fibrosis. I refer the member to the answer…
24 Nov 2023 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government, in light of the letter from the Deputy First Minister and Cabinet Secretary for Finance to the Finance and Public Administration Committee on 21 November 2023, for what reason it is reportedly no longer funding the delivery of mental health and wellbeing in primary care services.
Answer · Maree Todd: I refer the member to the answer to questions S6W-23303 on 11 December 2023 and S6W-16651 on 21 April 2023. All answers to written Parliamentary Questions are available on the Parliament's website, the search facility for which can be found at https://www.pa…
24 Nov 2023 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government, in light of the letter from the Deputy First Minister and Cabinet Secretary for Finance to the Finance and Public Administration Committee on 21 November 2023, how it plans to support health and social care partnerships to deliver on its Mental health and wellbeing in primary care se…
Answer · Maree Todd: refer the member to the answer to question S6W-23393 on 11 December 2023. 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-committe…
24 Nov 2023 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government, in light of the letter from the Deputy First Minister and Cabinet Secretary for Finance to the Finance and Public Administration Committee on 21 November 2023, what consideration it gave to the time and resources used to date by health and social care partnerships to plan for the delive…
Answer · Maree Todd: The Scottish Government are grateful for the efforts made by Health and Social Care Partnerships to develop plans to implement Mental Health and Wellbeing in Primary Care services. This planning activity was supported by £1.5 million of funding in December 20…
24 Nov 2023 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government for what reason the £22.4 million from the Mental Health Recovery and Renewal Fund, which is to be reprioritised as part of 2023-24 in-year budget changes, had not yet been spent.
Answer · Maree Todd: Financial planning to address the significant challenges our public finances face took place in advance of the Deputy First Minister and Cabinet Secretary for Finance's update on the 2023-24 in-year budget changes on 21 November. The difficult decisions whi…
24 Nov 2023 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government, in light of the ministerial statement on the Autumn Statement on 21 November 2023, what impact the “reprofiling of spend” will have on the Mental Health and Primary Care programme, broken down by (a) the services that will be impacted and (b) how much funding has been re-profiled.
Answer · Maree Todd: As previously set out in the response to S6W-16651 on 21 April 2023 recruitment of the 1,000 additional roles to support community mental health resilience, ensuring every GP Practice has access to a mental health and wellbeing service has not yet commenced. …
24 Nov 2023 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what impact the reprioritisation of the £22.4 million funding from the Mental Health Recovery and Renewal Fund will have on the delivery of priorities outlined in the Mental Health and Wellbeing Strategy.
Answer · Maree Todd: The vast majority of spending on mental health is delivered through NHS board budgets – and this is not directly affected by the Path to Balance reprioritisation. Between the Scottish Government and NHS boards we expect spending on Mental Health to be well in…
24 Nov 2023 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide a breakdown of the £22.4 million funding from the Mental Health Recovery and Renewal Fund, which is to be reprioritised as part of 2023-24 in-year budget changes, by the mental health programmes that were previously earmarked for spending from this budget line.
Answer · Maree Todd: Financial planning for the significant challenges our public finances continue to face took place in advance of the Deputy First Minister and Cabinet Secretary for Finance's update on the 2023-24 in-year budget changes on 21 November. The difficult decision…