Parliamentary questions
Monica Lennon
3,484 questions tabled in the Scottish Parliament, most recent first.
2 Oct 2024 · Portfolio Question
To ask the Scottish Government what discussions the justice secretary has had with Police Scotland and the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service regarding their role in addressing food crime, in light of reports of counterfeit vodka being seized in the Central Scotland region.
1 Oct 2024 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide details of any trade union engagement that took place regarding the Onshore Wind Sector Deal.
Answer · Alasdair Allan: The Scottish Government publicly consulted on the draft Onshore Wind Policy Statement between October 2021 and January 2022. A final Onshore Wind Policy Statement was published in December 2022 after careful consideration of the 163 responses received during …
1 Oct 2024 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide the full list of members of the Scottish Offshore Wind Energy Council.
Answer · Gillian Martin: The Scottish Offshore Wind Energy Council is a strategic leadership group that brings together the Scottish public sector and the offshore wind industry. The group is co-chaired by the Minister for Climate Action, and Brian MacFarlane of SSE.Group membership …
1 Oct 2024 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide the full list of members of all five Scottish Offshore Wind Energy Council subgroups.
Answer · Gillian Martin: The Scottish Offshore Wind Energy Council (SOWEC) is a strategic leadership group that brings together the Scottish public sector and the offshore wind industry. SOWEC has five subgroups that are administered by individual group leads and are tasked with deal…
26 Sep 2024 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what its position is on extending the one-year school meal debt write-off permanently.
Answer · Jenny Gilruth: School meal debt is a matter for local authorities in the first instance, and the Scottish Government expects them to use the powers available to them to support families struggling with school meal debt. Authorities approach to the management of meal debt sh…
26 Sep 2024 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government, in order to prevent school meal debt and hidden hunger among pupils, what plans it has to widen the eligibility for free school meals to all families in receipt of Scottish Child Payment.
Answer · Jenny Gilruth: We remain focused on delivering the next phase of our free school meal expansion programme, which is to Primary 6 & 7 pupils in receipt of the Scottish Child Payment and will deliver this within the parliamentary term. We are committed to universal expans…
25 Sep 2024 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government whether it plans to publish details of the number of pupils with 50% or less attendance as part of its summary school statistics series and, if so, how often it will do so.
Answer · Jenny Gilruth: The Summary Statistics for Schools in Scotland series now includes attendance on an annual basis. Headline statistics on school attendance for the 2023-24 school year will be published in December 2024. Detailed statistics on school attendance, including a me…
25 Sep 2024 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what its response is to the report by the Centre for Social Justice, Where Have All the Children Gone?, which suggests that there are "crisis levels" of persistent and severe school absence.
Answer · Jenny Gilruth: I refer the member to the answer to question S6O-03714 on 12 September 2024. All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament’s website Meeting of the Parliament: 12/09/2024 | Scottish Parliament Website.
24 Sep 2024 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what its response is to the recommendations as theyrelate to Scotland that are contained in the report, Taking responsibility: How the government can improve enforcement of farmed animal welfare laws, which was published in October 2024 by the Social Market Foundation andsponsored b…
Answer · Jim Fairlie: The Scottish Government is aware of the report.The Scottish Government already has in place service level agreements with the Animal and Plant Health Agency and local authorities to ensure farm animal welfare legislation is complied with. In addition, Scottis…
23 Sep 2024 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what action it is taking to ensure that GPs are confident in delivering treatment aligned with the Medication Assisted Treatment standards, including the provision of training opportunities for GPs related to these standards.
Answer · Neil Gray: Ensuring individuals have access to Primary Care is a key component in tackling the Drug Crisis we face in Scotland, MAT Standard 7 specifies ‘All people have the option of MAT shared with Primary Care’The Scottish Government provides funding to t…
23 Sep 2024 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what action it has taken to ensure that GPs are aware of the Medication Assisted Treatment standards.
Answer · Neil Gray: Public Health Scotland’s (PHS) MAT Standards Implementation Team (MIST) has a role in working with and supporting Scotland’s Alcohol and Drug Partnerships in collating information from frontline services and partners that are used for Benchmarking…
23 Sep 2024 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government whether it can provide an update on the establishment of river management plans.
Answer · Gillian Martin: Scotland’s River Basin Management Plans 2021-2027 (RBMP) set out a range of actions aiming to improve the overall condition of Scotland’s water environment by 2027.The Scottish Government invested almost £5m last year in the Water Environmen…
23 Sep 2024 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what action it is taking to address the reported decline of capercaillie populations.
Answer · Alasdair Allan: The Scottish Government, its partners and agencies, have undertaken a range of measures to address the reported decline in capercaillie populations. This includes providing funding through schemes to support capercaillie conservation directly.Funding has also…
17 Sep 2024 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S6W-29551 by Gillian Martin on 17 September 2024, whether the Acting Cabinet Secretary for Net Zero and Energy will commit to meeting the Beyond Oil and Gas Alliance at COP29.
Answer · Gillian Martin: As set out in response to S6W-29551, the Scottish Government continues to engage with the Beyond Oil and Gas Alliance and other international climate initiatives as part of wider ongoing engagement with a range of organisations and stakeholders. Ministerial e…
17 Sep 2024 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S6W-29551 by Gillian Martin on 17 September 2024, when it last directly engaged with the Beyond Oil and Gas Alliance in relation to joining as a core member.
Answer · Gillian Martin: I refer the member to the answer to question S6W-29551 on 17 September 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-commit…
11 Sep 2024 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what its position is on the Mental Health Tribunal for Scotland having a role in appointing a named person, and whether it plans to make reforms in this area.
Answer · Maree Todd: We outlined our plans to reform and modernise mental health legislation in Scotland in our “Mental Health Capacity Reform: Delivery Plan” published in June 2024 (Mental Health and Capacity Reform: delivery plan October 2023 to April 2025 - gov.sco…
11 Sep 2024 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what progress has been made towards developing a framework for mental health security and assurance.
Answer · Maree Todd: In line with the recommendation made in the Scrutiny and Assurance Review, we have been working with the Care Inspectorate, Mental Welfare Commission and Healthcare Improvement Scotland to develop a framework for scrutiny and assurance in mental health. We ar…
11 Sep 2024 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what progress has been made since the publication of the Mental Health Capacity Reform: Delivery Plan October 2023 to April 2025 report in June 2024.
Answer · Maree Todd: The initial Delivery Plan for the Mental Health and Capacity Reform Programme published in June 2024 set out a range of actions being taken forward under Adults with Incapacity (AWI) and mental health law reform.In terms of reforming capacity legislation, the…
11 Sep 2024 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government whether it plans to amend the Mental Health (Care and Treatment) (Scotland) Act 2003 to better reflect developing human rights standards.
Answer · Maree Todd: We outlined our plans to reform and modernise mental health legislation in Scotland in our “Mental Health Capacity Reform: Delivery Plan” published in June 2024 (Mental Health and Capacity Reform: delivery plan October 2023 to April 2025 - gov.sco…
10 Sep 2024 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what steps it is taking to ensure that ongoing research into the optimal length of drug and alcohol residential rehabilitation programmes is adequately funded and prioritised.
Answer · Jenni Minto: As outlined in a previous answer by Christina McKelvie on 31 July (S6W-28596), the Scottish Government commissioned Public Health Scotland (PHS)to carry out monitoring and evaluation of the residential rehabilitation programme throughout the course of the Nat…
10 Sep 2024 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what mechanisms are in place to monitor and evaluate the effectiveness of individualised drug and alcohol residential rehabilitation plans, and how such data will be used to inform future policy decisions.
Answer · Jenni Minto: The Scottish Government has commissioned Public Health Scotland to carry out an evaluation of the residential rehabilitation programme. On 13 February 2024 PHS published their baseline report, covering the first two years of the National Mission and a final e…
10 Sep 2024 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government how it plans to integrate any new research findings into existing drug and alcohol residential rehabilitation policies, particularly if it is the case that future studies suggest that longer treatment durations are more effective.
Answer · Jenni Minto: As outlined in the answer to another question raised by the member regarding treatment lengths (S6W-29773 on 3 December 2024), the Scottish Government commissioned Public Health Scotland (PHS) to carry out an evaluation of the Residential Rehabilitation progr…
10 Sep 2024 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government whether it can detail how professionals and clinicians are being supported to make informed decisions on the length of drug and alcohol residential rehabilitation programmes, and whether there are specific guidelines or training provided to ensure consistency in these decisions.
Answer · Jenni Minto: The Scottish Government has no involvement in the decision making on length of residential rehabilitation programmes, it is the responsibility of professionals and clinicians to ensure appropriate guidelines are followed and appropriate training is provided t…
10 Sep 2024 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S6W-29786by Jenni Minto on 25 September 2024, whether it will commit to providing adetailed breakdown of what the drug and alcohol residential rehabilitationprogramme, for which it provides funding, entails.
Answer · Jenni Minto: There are three key parts to our national approach to achieving improvements in treatment options and recovery pathways for residential rehabilitation; Investing in a significant increase in the capacity of residential rehabilitation services; Improving pathw…
10 Sep 2024 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government, in light of the reported decline in the number of people accessing alcohol treatment, what immediate actions are being taken to ensure that alcohol dependence recovery receives adequate attention and resources.
Answer · Jenni Minto: Scottish Government asked Public Health Scotland (PHS) to investigate the apparent decline in alcohol treatment numbers and PHS will publish their findings on 3 December 2024.We are continuing to work with partners and stakeholders to develop a national speci…
10 Sep 2024 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government how it plans to balance resource allocation between alcohol and drug addiction services to ensure that equitable and effective treatment options are available for both services.
Answer · Jenni Minto: Funding allocated to Alcohol and Drug Partnerships (ADPs) is for both alcohol and drug treatment services. In 2024-25, £112.9 million has been made available to ADPs. ADPs decide how this money is spent in their local areas to meet the needs of those wh…
10 Sep 2024 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S6W-28609 by Christina McKelvie on 6 August 2024, whether it can provide further detail on the process of developing the national specification for alcohol and drug treatment, including how stakeholders, including those with lived experie…
Answer · Jenni Minto: For the development of the national specification for alcohol and drug services, initial engagement has begun with representative groups covering service commissioners, service providers and people who use, have used or could use the services.We have invited …
10 Sep 2024 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S6W-28615 by Christina McKelvie on 9 August 2024, whether it can provide more detail on any research gaps identified in the 2022 literature review, and how it plans to address any such gaps.
Answer · Jenni Minto: The Scottish Government and Public Health Scotland have worked collaboratively with stakeholders to establish an experimental core minimum dataset to support the monitoring and evaluation of the residential rehabilitation programme. It is expected that the fi…
10 Sep 2024 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government whether it can provide a clear and precise definition of what constitutes a "residential rehabilitation placement" within the context of the reported 938 placements.
Answer · Jenni Minto: Public Health Scotland’s report, published on 18 June 2024, presents a high-level overview of the number of statutory-funded residential rehabilitation placements between April 2021 and March 2024. This includes statutory-funded placements approved by:l…
10 Sep 2024 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what its response is to reported concerns that residential rehabilitation placements often refer to short stays in facilities that may not include full detoxification or substantial rehabilitation.
Answer · Jenni Minto: The Residential Rehabilitation Development Working Group defines residential rehab as facilities offering programmes which aim to support individuals to attain an alcohol or drug-free lifestyle and to be re-integrated into society, provide intensive psychosoc…