Tim Eagle

26 Sep 2024 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what action it took to promote the awareness and treatment of migraines during Migraine Awareness Week 2024, and how much funding it provided to support the event.

Answer · Jenni Minto: The Scottish Government continues to support the Centre for Sustainable Delivery in updating their national headache pathway for Scotland, which was launched last year, which will help to improve care for migraines and headache.The Scottish Government receive…

26 Sep 2024 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government how many times the (a) Cabinet Secretary for Health and Social Care, (b) Minister for Public Health and Women’s Health and (c) Minister for Social Care, Mental Wellbeing and Sport has met the Migraine Trust since 2021, and what was discussed.

Answer · Jenni Minto: Our records indicate that since 2021:a) The Cabinet Secretary for Health and Social Care has not met with the Migraine Trust.b) The former Minister for Public Health, Women’s Health & Sport, Maree Todd MSP, met with the Migraine Trust once.The curre…

26 Sep 2024 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government for what reason the Scottish Sea Fisheries Statistics, 2023, which was due to be published in November 2024 is recorded in its calendar of statistical releases as being delayed, and by what date this will be published.

Answer · Mairi Gougeon: The Scottish Sea Fisheries Statistics 2023 was originally scheduled for publication in September 2024. This publication was delayed until November 2024 as a result of an unscheduled revision of previous years data for the United Kingdom by the Marine Manageme…

26 Sep 2024 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government whether it is able to directly attribute any decline in rates of teenage (a) smoking, (b) drinking and (c) drug-taking to either (i) the Planet Youth pilot scheme or (ii) pre-existing anti-substance abuse health campaigns.

Answer · Neil Gray: No. We are investing in Planet Youth over 2 years, from 2023-2025. Planet Youth, sometimes referred to as the Icelandic Model, is an approach to prevention which empowers communities to support their young people to reduce the risk of substance use and harms.…

26 Sep 2024 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will publish an updated version of the Scottish Schools Adolescent Lifestyle and Substance Use Survey (SALSUS) before the end of the current parliamentary session.

Answer · Neil Gray: The Scottish Government has no plans to recommission the Scottish Schools Adolescent Lifestyle and Substance Use Survey (SALSUS), as it was integrated into the Health and Wellbeing Census in 2021-22.

26 Sep 2024 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government how much funding it has provided to Winning Scotland to fund its Planet Youth in Scotland programme in each year since the programme was established.

Answer · Neil Gray: The Scottish Government are funding a total of £1.5 million to Winning Scotland for Planet Youth. This is £750,000 per year in financial years 2023-24 and 2024-25.

26 Sep 2024 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government whether it can share the results of the Planet Youth pilot scheme in each year since the scheme was established across participating schools in the Highlands and Islands region.

Answer · Neil Gray: The information requested is not held centrally. Highland is one of 6 local authority areas implementing Planet Youth in Scotland. Data on the Highlands and Islands schools participating in the Planet Youth pilot is held by the Highland Alcohol and Drug Partn…

26 Sep 2024 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government for what reason it has not published an updated Scottish Schools Adolescent Lifestyle and Substance Use Survey (SALSUS) report since 2018, in light of its reported commitment to publishing one every two years.

Answer · Neil Gray: The Scottish Schools Adolescent Lifestyle and Substance Use Survey (SALSUS) was integrated into the Health and Wellbeing Census in 2021-22. A link to the Health and Wellbeing Census is provided here:Health and Wellbeing Census Scotland 2021- 2022 - gov.scot (…

26 Sep 2024 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government how many successful reductions of substance abuse have been produced by the Planet Youth pilot scheme, compared with the rates of reduction produced by pre-existing anti-substance abuse campaigns.

Answer · Neil Gray: Planet Youth is a long term, upstream preventative approach and as such we would not yet expect to see a reduction in the substance use. The purpose of the pilot, which only started last year, is to build capacity in local communities to allow them to better …

25 Sep 2024 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what the minimum number of road workers is that are required to be onsite at the (a) A83 Rest and Be Thankful and (b) Old Military Road when operating under convoy control.

Answer · Fiona Hyslop: The minimum number of road workers that are required to be onsite at the A83 Rest and Be Thankful is 5 and 6 at the Old Military Road.

25 Sep 2024 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government on how many occasions the number of road workers onsite at the (a) A83 Rest and Be Thankful and (b) Old Military Road, when operating under convoy control, has fallen below the minimum required level, resulting in the convoy being unable to operate, in each year since 2016.

Answer · Fiona Hyslop: There have been no occasions where there have been insufficient staff to operate the convoy.

25 Sep 2024 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what the maximum number of vehicles is that can travel single-file along the Old Military Route at any given time while the road is operating under convoy control.

Answer · Fiona Hyslop: There is no maximum number. Normally all vehicles queuing are convoyed through in the first convoy cycle. Those who miss the convoy vehicle are required to wait for it to return.

25 Sep 2024 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government how long traffic is required to wait on average at each end of the Old Military Route while the road is operating under convoy control.

Answer · Fiona Hyslop: The cycle time is around 20 minutes although this can vary depending on how busy it is or if there are breakdowns or the like.

23 Sep 2024 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S6W-29676 by Jenni Minto on 18 September 2024, for what reason (a) it and (b) Public Health Scotland does not (i) collect and (ii) hold this data centrally, and whether either organisation will commit to begin collecting this data to help understand how…

Answer · Jenni Minto: Many specialist medicines, often referred to as "biologics", and including the disease modifying medicines for multiple sclerosis (MS), are normally managed by secondary care specialists, but supplied to patients in their homes, most often by homecare medicin…

23 Sep 2024 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government whether it has made any assessment of its current ability to provide additional childcare to (a) parents and (b) guardians of nursery-age children with (i) short- and (ii) long-term additional support needs.

Answer · Natalie Don-Innes: Education authorities have a duty under the Education (Additional Support for Learning) (Scotland) Act 2004 (as amended) to identify, provide for and review the additional support needs of their children, including in respect of funded early learning and chil…

23 Sep 2024 · Written Question

 To ask the Scottish Government what steps it has taken to tackle the so-called evidence gap in assessing rural poverty and deprivation, as described in the Scottish Index of Multiple Deprivation’s Rural deprivation: Evidence summary, which was published in November 2016. 

Answer · Shirley-Anne Somerville: The Scottish Index of Multiple Deprivation rural deprivation evidence summary included sections describing the main issues associated with using SIMD in rural areas, as well as ways of overcoming these through using the wide range of available data sources al…

23 Sep 2024 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government whether it has made any assessment of the domestic shipbuilding sector’s ability to meet future demand for (a) new ferries and (b) ferry-related infrastructure in (i) Argyll and Bute and (ii) the Western Isles.

Answer · Fiona Hyslop: This analysis has not been carried out by the Scottish Government or by Caledonian Maritime Assets Limited (CMAL) on our behalf, although CMAL are aware of the shipyard capabilities in the UK. There is a UK Department for Transport body called the National Sh…

23 Sep 2024 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government whether it is providing any support towards the Poverty Alliance’s Taking Action on Rural Poverty campaign, and, if so, whether it will provide details of this.

Answer · Mairi Gougeon: We continue to work alongside the Poverty Alliance and others to support the aims of Taking Action on Rural Poverty.Scottish Government officials are currently working in partnership with the Poverty Alliance in preparation for Challenge Poverty week, includi…

19 Sep 2024 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government whether it reviews the Funeral Support Payment on an annual basis in response to reported inflationary rises of funeral costs.

Answer · Shirley-Anne Somerville: Scottish Ministers are under an annual statutory duty to consider and report on the impact of inflation on the rate of Funeral Support Payment, and to bring forward legislation to increase the payment in line with that report. In 2024-25 the flat rate was inc…

19 Sep 2024 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what its response is to the campaign to strengthen the Funeral Support Payment by (a) the Caledonian Funeral Aid and (b) Quaker Social Action.

Answer · Shirley-Anne Somerville: The Scottish Government is committed to providing financial support for bereaved people on a low-income.Funeral Support Payment has provided £51.1 million of support to over 26,000 people since launching in September 2019. The average award for 2024-25,…

19 Sep 2024 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to the question S6W-03645 by Ben Macpherson on 26 October 2021, whether it can provide an update on the number of Funeral Support Payments that have been made for each year since 2021.

Answer · Shirley-Anne Somerville: Social Security Scotland routinely releases information on Funeral Support Payment including applications received, application outcomes and payments.The latest statistics show that 6,100 payments were made in 2021-22 financial year, 5,020 payments were made …

19 Sep 2024 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government how many Funeral Support Payment applications have been (a) approved and (b) rejected in each year since 2021.

Answer · Shirley-Anne Somerville: Social Security Scotland routinely releases information on Funeral Support Payment including applications received, application outcomes and payments.The following table shows total applications processed and the application outcomes by financial year since 2…

19 Sep 2024 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government in what ways it evaluates the efficacy of the Funeral Support Payment.

Answer · Shirley-Anne Somerville: The Scottish Government published the Funeral Support Payment evaluation in July 2022, which found that the payment reduced the need for people to borrow money to arrange a funeral.Social Security Scotland’s annual client survey monitors the impact of b…

17 Sep 2024 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what funding it has committed to support the World Agritourism Conference in Scotland in 2026.

Answer · Mairi Gougeon: The Scottish Government has provided Scottish Agritourism with £60k funding in 2024-2025 to support with preparations for Scotland hosting the 2026 World Agritourism Conference.

17 Sep 2024 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government how much funding will be available for the Highlands and Islands in each of the next five years from the Rural Affordable Homes for Key Workers Fund, as set out in the Programme for Government 2024-25.

Answer · Paul McLennan: The Rural Affordable Homes for Key Workers Fund is a demand led fund of up to £25 million from the Affordable Housing Supply Programme budget over a five year period 2023-24 to 2027-28.Local authorities and registered social landlords can apply to the f…

17 Sep 2024 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government how many women have enrolled in the Family Nurse Partnership programme since its introduction, broken down by NHS board.

Answer · Jenni Minto: Over 13,100 families have benefited from the Family Nurse Partnership (FNP) programme since it began in 2010 with, on average, over 81% of mothers offered the programme taking it up.NHS BoardNumber of clients enrolled(1st April 2011 - 31st March 2024)NHS Ayrs…

17 Sep 2024 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what action it is taking to support the negotiation of a new UK-EU Food and Drink/Veterinary Agreement, as set out in the Programme for Government 2024-25.

Answer · Mairi Gougeon: The Scottish Government has long called for the negotiation of an EU-UK SPS and Veterinary agreement, that could remove many Brexit barriers to benefit our businesses and consumers.Several aspects of any such agreement are devolved -like agriculture, food saf…

17 Sep 2024 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government when it plans to bring forward its proposed Community Wealth Building Bill, as set out in the Programme for Government 2024-25.

Answer · Tom Arthur: A Bill will be introduced to parliament this parliamentary year, with final decisions on timing to be taken as part of the overall legislative programme.The Scottish Government is committed to developing legislative proposals and other actions to support Comm…

17 Sep 2024 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government how many NHS boards currently deliver the Family Nurse Partnership programme.

Answer · Jenni Minto: The Family Nurse Partnership has been carefully scaled up with quality since its introduction in 2010 and Scotland became the first country in the world to deliver FNP at scale in 2018.The programme is delivered in 11 mainland health boards as follows:NHS Ayr…

17 Sep 2024 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what action it will take to improve the consenting process for fish farming in Scotland, as set out in the Programme for Government 2024-25.

Answer · Mairi Gougeon: Pilots of a new pre-application consenting process developed by the Consenting Task Group commenced in January 2024 in the Shetland and Highland local authority areas.Our priorities for this year, developed by the Consenting Task Group and agreed by the Scott…