Jackie Baillie

12 Apr 2023 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government whether Marine Scotland funding for marine litter removal from the beach at the top of Loch Long, following storms, is still in place.

Answer · Mairi McAllan: There is currently no funding allocated for marine litter removal at Arrochar, Loch Long. This work is eligible for funding through Marine Fund Scotland https://www.gov.scot/policies/marine-and-fisheries-grants/   

12 Apr 2023 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what its response is to the Association of Scotland’s Self-Caterers survey from March 2023, which reported that 39% of respondents will be leaving the self-catering sector due to short-term let licensing, and how many businesses in Scotland it estimates will close as a consequence of sho…

Answer · Paul McLennan: I refer the member to the answer to question S6W-17222 on 4 May 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-committees/w…

12 Apr 2023 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will consider a review of the short-term lets regulatory framework to meet the policy objectives of short-term let licensing in a manner that will not damage the tourism sector, as proposed by the Association of Scotland’s Self-Caterers.

Answer · Paul McLennan: The Scottish Government recognises and values the importance of tourism to the Scottish economy and local communities, but it is important we take action now to ensure all short-term lets comply with basic safety standards which many hosts will already be fol…

11 Apr 2023 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on the pilot work to tackle litter sinks at the head of Loch Long at Arrochar.

Answer · Mairi McAllan: Since the inception of work to better understand the Arrochar litter sink in 2017, we have determined that approximately half of the litter has originated from the River Clyde catchment, and half from the open sea. We are using this knowledge to focus efforts…

11 Apr 2023 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what information it has on how much has been spent on tackling litter sinks at Loch Long in each of the last 10 years, and how much will be spent in 2023-24.

Answer · Mairi McAllan: The bay at Arrochar was chosen as the location of a marine litter case study in Loch Long in 2017. Since then, a total of £183,827.78 has been spent on litter removal at the site. This includes the cost of heavy machinery contracting, haulage, and the disposa…

11 Apr 2023 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what action it is taking to tackle marine litter.

Answer · Mairi McAllan: The Scottish Government is tackling marine litter with actions detailed in our Marine Litter Strategy, which aims to address the amount of litter entering the marine environment, to achieve ecological, economic and social benefits. Our Strategy and action pla…

6 Apr 2023 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government whether it plans to hold a full review of the Young Patients Family Fund, including its (a) use and (b) impact to date, and, if so, when this review will take place. 

Answer · Jenni Minto: We plan to consider the potential of an evaluation once the fund is well established. As part of any evaluation we will consider how we get direct feedback from people about their experiences of using it and impact.

6 Apr 2023 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S6W-16109 by Jenni Minto on 3 April 2023, what the latest data available is for how many families accessed the Young Patients Family Fund in 2022-23, and, if the full year returns are not yet available, whether it will provide the information that it ha…

Answer · Jenni Minto: The latest data reported from Health Boards indicates that 8415 claims were submitted under YPFF, this equates to 3740 young inpatients being claimed for.

6 Apr 2023 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government how it plans to ensure alignment between the expected renewed cancer strategy, which is overseen by the Cabinet Secretary for NHS Recovery, Health and Social Care, and the extant Children and Young People's Cancer Strategy, which is overseen by the Managed Service Network for Children an…

Answer · Michael Matheson: I am accountable to parliament for both strategies. A dedicated strategy to support young people with cancer, “Collaborative and Compassionate Cancer Care, The Cancer Strategy for Children and Young People in Scotland 2021-2026”, was published in 2021 and is …

6 Apr 2023 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government how much funding has been allocated to the Young Patients Family Fund in 2023-24.

Answer · Jenni Minto: The Scottish Budget for 2023-24 confirms funding of £4 million to deliver the Young Patients Family Fund.

6 Apr 2023 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what information it has collected from people on their experiences of accessing the Young Patients Family Fund.

Answer · Jenni Minto: The Scottish Government is committed to ensuring fund accessibility as part of ongoing implementation. We met with Health Boards in summer 2022 to discuss the implementation of the fund and areas for improvement, including accessibility.

6 Apr 2023 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what the average amount claimed was through the Young Patients Family Fund in 2022-23.

Answer · Jenni Minto: The Scottish Government does not yet have complete YPFF data for the whole period of 2022-23. We expect Health Boards to have provided this data by the end of May 2023.  

6 Apr 2023 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government for what reason families are reportedly experiencing delays of up to six months or more in being awarded Child Disability Payment, and what plans it has to urgently address any such delays.

Answer · Shirley-Anne Somerville: Social Security Scotland’s most recent statistics show that the majority of people who have applied for Child Disability Payment received a decision within four months, although processing times vary from a few weeks to over six months or more. A key part of …

6 Apr 2023 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government how it is monitoring (a) access to and (b) uptake of the Young Patients Family Fund broken down by (i) condition, (ii) age and (iii) NHS board area.  

Answer · Jenni Minto: The Scottish Government requests annual data on overall Young Patient Family Fund claims from territorial Health Boards and this allows uptake and cost within each Board area to be tracked year-on-year. This includes detail on the type of claim being made. W…

6 Apr 2023 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what analysis it has made of the Child Disability Payment assessment and award process, whether any issues have been identified, including in relation to (a) process (i) delays and (ii) consistency and (b) the implementation of the Special Rules, and how it plans to address any such issu…

Answer · Shirley-Anne Somerville: Social Security Scotland undertakes a broad and continuous programme of analysis of all aspects of the delivery of benefits, focussed on the live running performance of the system, client experience and evaluation of delivery. Research on Early Experiences …

6 Apr 2023 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what percentage of applications to the Young Patients Family Fund has resulted in the award being granted in 2022-23.    

Answer · Jenni Minto: The Scottish Government does not yet have complete YPFF data for the whole period of 2022-23 so we are unable to state the percentage of successful claims across the 12 month period. We expect Health Boards to have provided this data by the end of May 2023.

5 Apr 2023 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government whether its new 10-year cancer strategy will include specific actions to address the survival rates of the six less survivable cancers, which are pancreatic, lung, liver, brain, stomach and oesophageal cancers.

Answer · Michael Matheson: I refer the member to the answer to question S6W-16943 on 28 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.parliament.scot/chamber-and-committee…

5 Apr 2023 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government, regarding its forthcoming 10-year cancer strategy, whether it will commit to producing a supplementary tailored action plan for increasing the survival rates of each of the six less survivable cancers, which are pancreatic, lung, liver, brain, stomach and oesophageal cancers.

Answer · Michael Matheson: The forthcoming 10-year cancer strategy will be accompanied by a 3-year action plan aligning with the ambitions set out in our strategy. There will not be additional action plans for specific cancer types, however in both the strategy and plan we will continu…

3 Apr 2023 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what its most recent assessment is of expanding the use of non-invasive liver scans in (a) primary and (b) community care to improve early detection of liver disease.

Answer · Michael Matheson: The Scottish Government does not assess clinical diagnostic interventions. However, non-invasive liver scans, including transient elastography devices such as FibroScan, are recommended by NICE in primary care settings and are currently used in several NHS …

3 Apr 2023 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what the timetable is for the national rollout of intelligent Liver Function Tests (iLFT), through the national Laboratory Information Management System (LIMS).

Answer · Michael Matheson: A consortium of 12 NHS Health Boards has procured a Laboratory Information Management System (LIMS) for Scotland which is described as National LIMS. NHS Fife will be the first Board to make use of the intelligent Liver Function Tests (iLFT) with the roll ou…

3 Apr 2023 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what action it is taking to ensure that the forthcoming 10-year cancer strategy improves outcomes for people with (a) liver cancer and (b) other less survivable cancers.

Answer · Michael Matheson: Our ambitious 10-year cancer strategy is nearing completion, with publication planned this Spring. The strategy will be under-pinned by action plans which will evolve with the changing cancer landscape. The strategy will take a comprehensive approach to impro…

3 Apr 2023 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what action it is taking to prioritise (a) alcohol harm and (b) obesity prevention in order to reduce the burden of liver disease.

Answer · Jenni Minto: The Scottish Government takes a whole population approach to tackling alcohol-related harms, in line with the World Health Organization’s focus on affordability, availability and attractiveness of alcohol. Our 2018 Alcohol Framework contains 20 actions to t…

27 Mar 2023 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what plans it has to continue funding hybrid closed loop systems, beyond its support for the Accelerated National Innovation Adoption (ANIA) hybrid closed loop system national onboarding program and since the £14.6 million funding allocation was made in March 2022 to help NHS boards meet…

Answer · Jenni Minto: Our Diabetes Improvement Plan, published in 2021, contains a key commitment to further increase access to existing and emerging diabetes technologies. A link to the Plan can be found at link: Diabetes Care in Scotland (www.gov.scot) . Our national policy i…

20 Mar 2023 · First Minister's Question

To ask the First Minister what action the Scottish Government is taking to tackle the reportedly high levels of delayed discharge, which are estimated to have cost over £161 million in 2022-23 to date.

16 Mar 2023 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government how many people it estimates could be eligible for a free, short-term loan of a wheelchair under its guidance issued to health and social care partnerships.

Answer · Kevin Stewart: The information requested is not held by the Scottish Government. I refer the member to the answer to question S6W-16001 on 24 March 2023. All answers to written Parliamentary Questions are available on the Parliament's website, the search facility for which…

16 Mar 2023 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government how many health and social care partnerships have implemented its guidance on the provision of wheelchairs on free, short-term loan.

Answer · Kevin Stewart: We are aware that, currently nine Health and Social Care Partnerships have fully implemented the guidance on the provision of short-term wheelchair loans, with a further three in the early implementation stage.    

15 Mar 2023 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government how many prosecutions there have been of jet ski owners for infringements on Loch Lomond since the Loch Lomond and The Trossachs National Park was established.

Answer · Keith Brown: The Scottish Government Criminal Proceedings database does not hold information on the specific type of vessel involved in charges prosecuted under Loch Lomond Byelaws. The Crown Office & Procurator Fiscal Service were able to manually search relevant case r…

15 Mar 2023 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government how many jet ski owners have had enforcement action taken against them in each year since the Loch Lomond and The Trossachs National Park was established, broken down by the nature of the enforcement.

Answer · Lorna Slater: The information requested is not held centrally by the Scottish Government as this is an operational matter for Loch Lomond and The Trossachs National Park Authority. I have therefore asked the Park Authority’s Chief Executive to write to the Member to provid…

9 Mar 2023 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government how many people in Scotland are estimated to be living with coeliac disease, and, of those, how many are undiagnosed.

Answer · Humza Yousaf: The Modernising Patient Pathway Programme Coeliac Disease Pathway Test of Change Final Report, September 2020 estimates that the incidence of diagnosed Coeliac Disease is 1% of the population in Scotland with 7-8 people remaining undiagnosed for every person …

9 Mar 2023 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will develop a training programme for primary care professionals regarding understanding coeliac disease.

Answer · Humza Yousaf: The Scottish Government will continue to work with primary care to ensure the objectives, including training requirements set out in the Modernising Patient Pathways Programme Coeliac Disease Pathway Test of Change final report in 2020, are implemented.