Parliamentary questions
Rachael Hamilton
1,432 questions tabled in the Scottish Parliament, most recent first.
5 Dec 2024 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government how much of the £500 million that was allocated to the Bus Partnership Fund has been spent.
Answer · Fiona Hyslop: The awards made through the Bus Partnership Fund to date were the first step towards delivering long term investment in bus priority infrastructure, beyond the course of the parliament. To date £20.5 million has been spent through the Bus Partnership an…
5 Dec 2024 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government how much funding will be delivered through the Bus Infrastructure Fund.
Answer · Fiona Hyslop: The draft 2025-26 Budget, which is subject to Parliamentary approval, provides indicative funding for a Bus Infrastructure Fund. Work is underway to assess allocations and this will be dependent on business cases, assessments of value for money/impact of spen…
5 Dec 2024 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government how the recently announced Bus Infrastructure Fund will operate.
Answer · Fiona Hyslop: Work to scope out what the fund will deliver and how it will be managed is underway. Transport Scotland is engaging with key stakeholders on this and will confirm details in due course. However, the fund will look to build on the work undertaken through both …
5 Dec 2024 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on the operation of the Bus Partnership Fund.
Answer · Fiona Hyslop: The Scottish Government is pleased to announce in the draft budget that we will provide a Bus Infrastructure Fund in 2025-26 focussed on delivering bus priority, supporting infrastructure measures to tackle the negative impact of congestion and local public t…
4 Dec 2024 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government how many of its employees have been offered voluntary redundancy packages and rejected them, but remain employed with the Scottish Government in 2024-25.
Answer · Shona Robison: Under the terms of the Civil Service Compensation Scheme, which the Scottish Government is entitled to follow, there are three categories of early departure: voluntary exit, voluntary redundancy, and compulsory redundancy. No voluntary redundancy schemes have…
20 Nov 2024 · General Question
To ask the Scottish Government what its response is to the Cross Border Connection proposals for the Scottish Borders.
11 Nov 2024 · First Minister's Question
To ask the First Minister what the Scottish Government's response is to reports that its spending on private consultants has almost doubled in the space of five years.
5 Nov 2024 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government whether it (a) has evaluated and (b) plans to evaluate the impact of the child and adolescent mental health services (CAMHS) NHS Scotland National Service Specification, including evaluating the experience of young people and their families of CAMHS.
Answer · Maree Todd: The National Specification includes requirements for Boards to fully engage with children, young people and families and to gather outcome data against these standards, including experience of service, and to report performance, quality and governance.While t…
5 Nov 2024 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on what progress each NHS board has made on the implementation of the child and adolescent mental health services (CAMHS) NHS Scotland National Service Specification.
Answer · Maree Todd: We are working closely with all NHS Boards to support implementation of the CAMHS specification to improve the service provided to children, young people and families, as well as improve performance across CAMHS. We remain committed to supporting all Boards t…
5 Nov 2024 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what progress each NHS board has made on developing and introducing a multi-agency assessment system for child and adolescent mental health services, as called for in recommendation six of the 2018 report, Rejected Referrals Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services (CAMHS).
Answer · Maree Todd: As with all services for children and young people, CAMHS and the community mental health and wellbeing services work within the context of a multi- agency system and the Getting it right for every child (GIRFEC) model and principles. At the heart of the GIRF…
5 Nov 2024 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on progress on implementing each recommendation in the 2018 report, Rejected Referrals Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services (CAMHS).
Answer · Maree Todd: Since the Audit of Rejected Referrals was published in 2018, Scottish Government has undertaken a wide range of work to implement the recommendations in the report and take forward whole systems reform of children and young people’s mental health servic…
4 Nov 2024 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government whether it has conducted any analysis of the impact of reducing Scottish income tax on economic growth and, if so, what the outcome was.
Answer · Shona Robison: The Scottish Government analyses a range of impacts, including on the economy, when considering Income Tax policy options during the annual budget process. We also closely monitor the impacts of our existing policies on revenues, taxpayers, and the economy. S…
4 Nov 2024 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what estimate it has made of the (a) number and (b) proportion of public-sector workers that pay more in income tax than they would if they lived elsewhere in the UK.
Answer · Shona Robison: Income Tax data does not break down by public and private sector.As set out in the Public sector: economic overview - gov.scot (www.gov.scot) publication, after tax, the average full-time public sector employee in Scotland earned around £1,500 more than…
4 Nov 2024 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government whether it has revised its estimate of how many taxpayers fall into each Scottish income tax band since the publication of the 2024-25 Scottish Budget and, if so, whether it will publish this.
Answer · Shona Robison: Scottish Government relies on estimates of the number of taxpayers by tax band using forecasts provided by the Scottish Fiscal Commission. The most recent estimate for 2024-25 was published in December 2023 and can be found here: Chapter 4 – Tax –…
29 Oct 2024 · General Question
To ask the Scottish Government what discussions it has had with the UK Government regarding cross-border machinery theft in rural areas, including the Scottish Borders.
23 Oct 2024 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government, in relation to The Brain Tumour Charity’s report, Understanding the barriers to diagnosis of brain tumours in Scotland, whether it is aware of any steps that have been taken to implement the report's recommendations on assessing the viability of a diagnostic/triage tool in remote …
Answer · Jenni Minto: There are no diagnostic tools, such as blood tests, currently available in NHS Scotland to assess brain tumours in primary care.However, the new Headache Referral pathway can be used as a triage tool across Scotland based on presentation at General Practice. …
23 Oct 2024 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on what steps are being taken to improve (a) diagnosis and (b) outcomes for people with brain tumours.
Answer · Jenni Minto: Through our 10-year cancer strategy, the Scottish Government continues to have a focus on the less survivable cancers, including brain tumours, and improving their outcomes. We will assess the suitability of any new diagnostic tests specifically for brain tum…
22 Oct 2024 · General Question
To ask the Scottish Government what its position is on how many genders there are.
10 Oct 2024 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government whether it can provide a breakdown by type of employee, for example, communications staff, policy staff, or, for the NHS, frontline health staff, or any other staff category for which data is recorded, for the Public Sector Employment in Scotland Statistics headcount figure for (a) NHS, …
Answer · Shona Robison: The Scottish Government does not collect information on the type of employee as part of the Public Sector Employment data collection. Some of the trend information on headcount can be obtained from the data sources below: NHS Scotland Workforce data: NHS Scot…
10 Oct 2024 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government how many (a) permanent and (b) other staff, as defined in its consolidated accounts, it has had in each financial year from 2000-01 to 2023-24, also broken down by portfolio.
Answer · Shona Robison: The accounts are published and available for download on the Scottish Government website for the financial years 2015-16 to 2023-24:2023-24 (page 89) https://www.gov.scot/publications/scottish-government-consolidated-accounts-year-ended-31-march-2024/2022-23 …
10 Oct 2024 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government how many of its employees have been paid a salary of at least (a) £100,000, (b) £150,000 and (c) £200,000 in each financial year since 2000-01.
Answer · Shona Robison: The pay framework for the Senior Civil Service (SCS) is reserved to the UK Government. The level of the basic pay increase to be applied to SCS staff each year is set by the UK Government in response to recommendations made by the Senior Salaries Review Body,…
24 Sep 2024 · Portfolio Question
To ask the Scottish Government what its position is on the use of locums in local mental health services.
23 Sep 2024 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government whether the further £15 million that it planned to provide to local authorities for the continuation of community-based mental health and wellbeing support and services in 2024-25 is still being provided.
Answer · Maree Todd: The Scottish Government has provided £15 million to local authorities for the provision of community-based mental health and wellbeing supports and services in 2024-25.
23 Sep 2024 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what community-based mental health and wellbeing support and services, not including child and adolescent mental health services (CAMHS), are available to young people in the Scottish Borders.
Answer · Maree Todd: In 2024-25, the following community-based mental health and wellbeing supports and services are available to children and young people in the Scottish Borders Council area through its share of the £15 million per annum funding provided to local authorit…
23 Sep 2024 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government how much funding has been provided to community-based mental health and wellbeing support and services in the Scottish Borders since 2020, broken down by (a) year and (b) project.
Answer · Maree Todd: The Scottish Government has provided funding to community-based mental health and wellbeing support services for children, young people and their families in the Scottish Borders since 2020. This is broken down into:2019-20£62,5002020-21£82,250202…
23 Sep 2024 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S6W-26430 byMaree Todd on 16 April 2024, whether it will provide a breakdown of the over£50 million that it has provided to local authorities since 2020 to"develop and deliver mental health and wellbeing supports andservices".
Answer · Maree Todd: Funding for Community Mental Health and Wellbeing Supports and Services for children, young people and their families has been distributed to each local authority area as follows: 2019-20£2020-21£2021-22£2022-23£2023-24£2024…
23 Sep 2024 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on what alternatives are offered to young people rejected from child and adolescent mental health services (CAMHS).
Answer · Maree Todd: Every child and young person should be able to access support for their mental health and wellbeing when and where they need it. Not all children and young people need specialist services like CAMHS, and many will find more suitable support in their local com…
23 Sep 2024 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government how many young people are currently using community-based mental health and wellbeing support and services, not including child and adolescent mental health services (CAMHS), in the Scottish Borders.
Answer · Maree Todd: Information on how many children and young people have accessed community-based mental health and wellbeing supports and services is provided retrospectively to the Scottish Government by local authorities. Reporting provided by Scottish Borders Council for t…
23 Sep 2024 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government for what reason the child and adolescent mentalhealth services (CAMHS) rejected referral rate in the quarter ending June 2024was reportedly much higher in NHS Borders than the national rejected referralrate.
Answer · Maree Todd: Every child and young person should be able to access support for their mental health and wellbeing when and where they need it. Not all children and young people need specialist services like CAMHS, and many will find more suitable support in their local com…
18 Sep 2024 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government, in light of them currently delivering a reported 80% of the annual deer cull, how it will ensure that the policy intention to establish deer management nature restoration orders under the proposed Natural Environment Bill will not adversely affect private deer managers, and what impact …
Answer · Jim Fairlie: We recognise the key role that private deer managers play in managing deer across Scotland. We expect to continue to work in collaboration with private deer managers in our objectives to modernise deer management across Scotland and want to work collaborative…