Alexander Burnett

11 Dec 2024 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S6W-22849 by Angela Constance on 21 November 2023, whether the "review of the suite of Preparing Scotland guidance" was completed in spring 2024 as proposed, and when any new guidance on responding to emergencies will be published.

Answer · Angela Constance: The review of the Preparing Scotland guidance has been completed by officials within Civil Contingencies Division in early 2024 as initially planned. Due to a number of competing demands on the time of responder agencies, and a range of other consultations an…

11 Dec 2024 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S6W-30798 by Gillian Martin on 7 November 2024, whether it will provide an update on the current status of Aberdeenshire Council’s application for funding under the flood protection scheme regarding Ballater, and where in the list of applicants it…

Answer · Gillian Martin: Local authorities are responsible for the development and delivery of flood protection schemes in Scotland. Decisions on the allocation of funding for flood resilience are made jointly by Scottish Ministers and COSLA leaders, informed by SEPA flood risk asses…

10 Dec 2024 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government for what reason the Caledonian Sleeper service between Aberdeen and London has been reduced by 50% to three services a week.

Answer · Fiona Hyslop: Scottish Rail Holdings oversees Caledonian Sleeper services on behalf of Scottish Ministers and it advises that the temporary reduction in Sleeper services between Aberdeen and London is to enable the release of train carriages for necessary and planned heavy…

10 Dec 2024 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government how it plans to mitigate any negative impact on (a) accessibility and (b) travel for (i) residents and (ii) businesses that rely on the Caledonian Sleeper service as a result of reductions to the service.

Answer · Fiona Hyslop: During the short period of reduction in Aberdeen sleeper services it will be possible for passengers to use regular evening and morning ScotRail Aberdeen services, providing connections with the Caledonian Sleeper services at Edinburgh and Glasgow.

10 Dec 2024 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government when the Caledonian Sleeper service between Aberdeen and London will return to the regular service of six times a week.

Answer · Fiona Hyslop: Scottish Rail Holdings oversees Caledonian Sleeper services on behalf of Scottish Ministers and it advises that the regular Sleeper service of six times a week between Aberdeen and London is currently scheduled to recommence in February 2025.

5 Dec 2024 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government which third sector organisations it has given funding to since 2023-24, including the current financial year to date, broken down by organisations that received funding from (a) its third sector budget and (b) each portfolio area that has allocated funding to third sector organisations.

Answer · Shirley-Anne Somerville: Scottish Government grant making is allocated across portfolios to various parts of the third sector to improve a wide range of outcomes. Some Scottish Government funding will be issued through third sector intermediary organisations. Spending is not all spec…

4 Dec 2024 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what the current policy guidance is on the evidence and processes required by local authorities before making decisions on the demolition of listed buildings under emergency powers.

Answer · Paul McLennan: Guidance on enforcement powers for local authorities in the Building (Scotland) Act 2003 is provided in the Building Standards Enforcement Handbook and the Building Standards Procedural Handbook. The National Planning Framework 4 states that development propo…

4 Dec 2024 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what powers Historic Environment Scotland has to ensure that consultations are sought prior to any emergency demolition of listed buildings, so that the minimum works needed are carried out to make a dangerous building safe.

Answer · Angus Robertson: In the context of unauthorised work and listed buildings, Historic Environment Scotland’s role is advisory. Historic Environment Scotland has no legal powers in relation to enforcement and listed buildings in general, nor in ensuring that consultation o…

4 Dec 2024 · Portfolio Question

To ask the Scottish Government what additional support it will provide to local authorities in relation to holding public inquiries into onshore wind farms.

3 Dec 2024 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on when the scheduling for the R100 scheme will be confirmed to provide specific forecast dates for properties.

Answer · Richard Lochhead: The Scottish Government’s Reaching 100% (R100) programme is delivered through three key strands of activity – the over £600 million R100 contracts (North, Central and South), the R100 Scottish Broadband Voucher Scheme (R100 SBVS) and continu…

2 Dec 2024 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government how it is ensuring that people in (a) rural and (b) remote areas have access to special care dentists.

Answer · Jenni Minto: Special care dentistry is predominantly carried out by the Public Dental Service (PDS). The PDS are NHS Board-run services and therefore the responsibility of the health boards.

2 Dec 2024 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what plans it has to improve access to special care dental care for people with complex needs, including disabled people, older people and people with underlying health conditions.

Answer · Jenni Minto: Special care dentists provide services through the Public Dental Service (PDS). As these are NHS services run by Health Boards, matters of management of the PDS will be Board responsibility.

2 Dec 2024 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government how many special care dentists there are.

Answer · Jenni Minto: The Scottish Government does not hold information on dentists working in NHS dentistry in Scotland who are also registered with the General Dental Council (GDC) as a specialist in special care dentistry.However, the Public Dental Service (PDS) does provide sp…

26 Nov 2024 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what analysis it has undertaken of any impact of ticket office closures on rail passenger numbers, and what measures it has put in place to mitigate any accessibility problems caused by closures.

Answer · Fiona Hyslop: There will be no ticket office closures or job losses further to the adjustments to the ticket office opening hours proposed by ScotRail and Scottish Rail Holdings.The purpose of these adjustments is to enable ScotRail to provide assistance to passengers, whe…

26 Nov 2024 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S6W-04899 by Kevin Stewart on 15 December 2021, how many inspections of care homes for adults have been carried out by the Care Inspectorate in each year since 2021, and how many of these were return inspections.

Answer · Maree Todd: Inspections of care homes for adults and older people completed 2021-22 to 2024-25 (to date) Inspection year  2021-222022-232023-242024-25 (Apr24 - Oct24)  Total number of inspections completed in care homes for adults and older peopl…

20 Nov 2024 · General Question

To ask the Scottish Government what correspondence it has had with the UK Government regarding its proposed reforms to electricity infrastructure consenting in Scotland.

14 Nov 2024 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government how many calls to the Scottish Ambulance Service made in the last year have been taken from sites outside of Scotland.

Answer · Neil Gray: At times of peak demand callers may have to wait longer for their call to be answered. Because of this, the Scottish Ambulance Service utilises the Intelligent Routing Platform (IRP) where, after waiting for 180 seconds, a caller is transferred to the next av…

14 Nov 2024 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will apply the consequentials it receives from any increased funding from the UK Government to children with special educational needs and disabilities directly to ASN services in Scotland.

Answer · Jenny Gilruth: Scottish Ministers continue to assess the full implications of the Chancellor’s autumn Budget statement and political parties are encouraged to engage with the Scottish Government on the Scottish budget ahead of 4 December 2024.Funding for schools is pr…

22 Oct 2024 · General Question

To ask the Scottish Government when the health secretary last met the Scottish Ambulance Service to discuss rural ambulance provision.

21 Oct 2024 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S6W-22487 by Mairi McAllan on 9 November 2023, whether it will provide an update on which of the 42 formal flood protection schemes or engineering works are (a) under construction and (b) at the planning or other stage of development, broken down b…

Answer · Gillian Martin: The responsibility for development and delivery of flood protection schemes rests with individual local authorities, who are best placed to respond to local resilience needs.The first set of Flood Risk Management plans covering the period 2015-2021 included 4…

18 Oct 2024 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S6W-30195 by Shona Robison on 9 October, how much funding has been provided to each of the national public awareness health campaigns that have run since the end of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Answer · Shona Robison: Financial Year 2023-24*Paid-for media public health campaigns:Detect Cancer Earlier£360,115.02Dentistry Reform£213,310.79Adult Mental Health£450,109.58Organ Donation£32,609.15Right Care Right Place£171,433.19Vaping£178,292.…

3 Oct 2024 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government, further to its news release of 25 July 2024, £30 million to reduce waiting times, whether it will provide a breakdown on how much of this funding will be allocated to each (a) specialty area where it believes that it can have the greatest impact and (b) NHS board.

Answer · Neil Gray: As part of the Scottish Government’s commitment to reduce waiting times, significant activity is already underway following an additional £30 million investment to target backlogs, announced in the spring1.This will see around 12,000 new outpatien…

1 Oct 2024 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what information it (a) currently makes available and (b) plans to make available to the Scottish Parliament for the purposes of evaluating the efficacy of community mental health funding.

Answer · Maree Todd: The Scottish Government has published the following reports relating to the Communities Mental Health and Wellbeing Fund for Adults.Year 1 (2021-2022)Communities Mental Health and Wellbeing Fund: year 1 - monitoring and reporting summary - gov.scot (www.gov.s…

1 Oct 2024 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government how the funding of £15 million to the Children and Young People’s Community Mental Health and Wellbeing Supports will be distributed to recipients, and what account is made of how those funds are spent.

Answer · Maree Todd: The £15 million per annum funding for Children and Young People’s Community Mental Health and Wellbeing Supports and Services is provided by grants from the Scottish Government to all 32 local authorities. The funding allocations are calculated an…

1 Oct 2024 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what information recipients of the Communities Mental Health and Wellbeing Fund for adults are required to provide the Scottish Government to demonstrate how grant funds were used.

Answer · Maree Todd: The Communities Mental Health and Wellbeing Fund for Adults is distributed in all 32 regions of Scotland by Third Sector Interface (TSI) organisations who allocate funding in line with the National Fund Guidance.TSIs are required to submit monitoring and repo…

25 Sep 2024 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government which national public awareness health campaigns it has funded since the end of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Answer · Shona Robison: National public health marketing campaigns which have run since the end* of the COVID-19 pandemic are as follows:Financial Year 2023-24Paid-for media public health campaignsDetect Cancer EarlyDentistry ReformMental HealthOrgan DonationRight Care Right PlaceVa…

25 Sep 2024 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what financial support is available to people seeking to install (a) solar photovoltaic (PV) systems and (b) wind generators.

Answer · Alasdair Allan: Financial support is available for the installation of solar photovoltaic (PV) systems through the Social Housing Net Zero Heat Fund, which provides support for the retrofit of Registered Social Landlords' existing housing stock, and targeted support is also …

25 Sep 2024 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what guidance it issues to local authorities in relation to granting or refusing consent for the installation of domestic (a) solar photovoltaic (PV) systems and (b) wind generators.

Answer · Ivan McKee: It is for local planning authorities to implement relevant planning legislation, policies and guidance as they deem appropriate and to ensure that the provisions of the planning system are applied properly within their areas. General guidance on the processin…

24 Sep 2024 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what regular communication it has with the UK Health Security Agency.

Answer · Jenni Minto: The Scottish Government maintains regular and ongoing communication with the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) on shared priorities. The Scottish Government and UKHSA do this through formal meetings, working groups, and collaborative efforts on public health …

24 Sep 2024 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government when it last had correspondence with the UK Health Security Agency.

Answer · Jenni Minto: I refer the member to the answer to question S6W-30125 on 30 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…