Rachael Hamilton

23 Jul 2021 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what action Transport Scotland is taking to ensure that there will be regular services at Reston railway station.

Answer · Graeme Dey: Transport Scotland has been engaged, and will continue to be engaged, with key stakeholders prior, during and subsequent to the timetable consultation for May 2022 to seek to secure its preferred service pattern for Reston station namely up to eight daily dir…

21 Jul 2021 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what funding from the 2019-20 budget has been made available to fund projects relating to flooding, and what support is available for Newcastleton in the Scottish Borders, to address flooding problems.

Answer · Mairi McAllan: In recognition of importance of reducing flood risk the Scottish Government has, since 2007, provided £42 million each year to local authorities through the general capital grant to invest in flood protection measures. In September 2020, the Programme for Gov…

21 Jul 2021 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on the evaluation of the Scottish Strategy for Autism.

Answer · Kevin Stewart: The Evaluation of the Scottish Strategy for Autism has been completed. The report is being finalised and is expected to be published soon.

21 Jul 2021 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what measures it has put in place to support young people with (a) autism, and (b) Asperger's syndrome who are (i) in mainstream education, or (ii) seeking apprenticeships or other work placements.

Answer · Shirley-Anne Somerville: We are committed to ensuring that all children and young people get the additional support that they need to reach their full learning potential. The Additional Support for Learning Act places duties on education authorities to identify, provide for and revi…

21 Jul 2021 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government how many teachers with specialised training in supporting pupils with additional needs there are (a) in the Scottish Borders and (b) nationally; whether targets for the number of such teachers required have been set, and, if so, whether the targets have been met.

Answer · Shirley-Anne Somerville: The Scottish Government does not hold any data on the number of teachers with specialised training in supporting pupils with additional needs. Table 1 shows the full time equivalent of teachers which have listed an ASN related subject as their main subject in…

21 Jul 2021 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what action it is taking to ensure that children with autism who display violent behaviour have access to locally-based support.

Answer · Kevin Stewart: Challenging behaviour is often the result of extreme frustrations in communication and Scottish Government recognises the challenges this brings for everyone. Scottish Government, together with the Scottish Commission for People with a Learning Disability, es…

21 Jul 2021 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what steps it has taken to help parents of autistic children with (a) home learning and (b) the return to physical education.

Answer · Shirley-Anne Somerville: We are committed to ensuring that all children and young people get the additional support that they need to reach their full learning potential, and recognise the particular challenges of Covid-19 for them. Education Scotland, in collaboration with Head Tea…

21 Jul 2021 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government how it is working with local authorities to deliver the Scottish Strategy for Autism.

Answer · Kevin Stewart: Since 2011 the Scottish Government and COSLA have been jointly responsible for the national Scottish Strategy for Autism to ensure people live healthier lives, enjoy choice and control over the services they use, and are supported to be independent and active…

21 Jul 2021 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what action it is taking to meet the needs of children with autism.

Answer · Kevin Stewart: The Scottish Government and COSLA jointly published our Learning/Intellectual Disabilities and Autism: Towards Transformation Plan in March 2021, which builds on existing autism and learning disabilities strategies. The plan looks at the actions needed to sha…

21 Jul 2021 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government, with regard to school inspections, what measures it has put in place to assess learning support facilities, and more specifically, autism and additional needs provision.

Answer · Shirley-Anne Somerville: Education Scotland’s scrutiny programme includes inspection of special schools and units within mainstream schools which provide specialist provision, including for those with autism. During all school inspections, HM Inspectors of Education evaluate the qual…

21 Jul 2021 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what pathways are in place to enable children who are diagnosed with autism to access specialist support.

Answer · Kevin Stewart: Autistic children and young people are supported through local Getting it Right Pathways and processes to have needs identified early and individualised plans in place. Support should be in place before, during or after diagnosis according to need and not dia…

21 Jul 2021 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what its position is on what engagement should be taking place between local authorities and people affected by autism, and how this is monitored regionally.

Answer · Kevin Stewart: Scottish Government expect Local Public Bodies to engage inclusively with autistic people about decisions that affect them. However, it is the decision of Local Authorities on what engagement should take place and how this is monitored. While Scottish Govern…

21 Jul 2021 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what engagement it has had with the third sector in the last year regarding support for autism services, and who is responsible for decisions on this matter.

Answer · Kevin Stewart: The Scottish Government continues to be committed to improving the lives of autistic people in Scotland. We work closely with autism organisations in the third sector and the public sector and actively seek the views of people with lived experience on autism …

21 Jul 2021 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what involvement children and families have in decisions regarding the allocation of funding for autism services.

Answer · Kevin Stewart: While the Scottish Government has overall responsibility for health and social care policy in Scotland, it is for the regional health & social care partnerships to determine the level of services that are required to meet local needs and to arrange an appropr…

21 Jul 2021 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government how the allocation of funding for autism services is assessed.

Answer · Kevin Stewart: While the Scottish Government has overall responsibility for health and social care policy in Scotland, it is for the regional health & social care partnerships to determine the level of services that are required to meet local needs and to arrange an appropr…

21 Jul 2021 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what resources (a) it, (b) sportscotland and (c) other arms-length public bodies allocate to directly support people with autism, and who monitors this.

Answer · Kevin Stewart: The Scottish Government has an annual dedicated budget for our autism strategy programme of work supplemented by additional support provided throughout the pandemic. (£3.1m for financial year 2021-2022) However, a much wider range of Scottish Government and L…

21 Jul 2021 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what representation people with autism are entitled to in relation to decisions by local public bodies that affect them, and how this is monitored (a) nationally and (b) regionally.

Answer · Kevin Stewart: While the Scottish Government has overall responsibility for health and social care policy in Scotland, it is for the regional health & social care partnerships to determine the level of services that are required to meet local needs and to arrange an appropr…

7 Jul 2021 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government how many ferry services in each (a) year since 2011 and (b) month since April 2021 have been (i) delayed and (ii)cancelled, also broken down by each Western Isles’ route.

Answer · Graeme Dey: There was 117,857 scheduled sailings to the Western Isles between October 2010 and June 2021, of which 8,076 were cancelled and 8,581 delayed. A table has been placed in the Scottish Parliament Information Centre (Bib Number 62561) that provides a breakdown …

7 Jul 2021 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what contingency plans are in place for Western Isles' ferry services in the event of inclement weather.

Answer · Graeme Dey: The Scottish Government are fully committed to maintaining life line ferry services across the Clyde and Hebrides Ferry Services (CHFS) network. When periods of inclement weather are anticipated CalMac will seek to try and flex the scheduled ferry service tim…

7 Jul 2021 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what recent engagement it has had with Caledonian MacBrayne regarding Western Isles' ferry services.

Answer · Graeme Dey: Transport Scotland (TS) have weekly discussions with CalMac Ferries to identify where improvements can be made to enhance the resilience of the services across the Clyde and Hebrides Ferry Service (CHFS) which includes those services to the Western Isles. Thi…

23 Jun 2021 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what engagement it has had with the UK Government regarding the feasibility study into the Borders Railway extension to Carlisle.

Answer · Graeme Dey: Transport Scotland and the Department for Transport (DfT) are continuing to engage regularly to align their work to enable a shared understanding of the cross border benefits and challenges of options to extend Borders Rail to Carlisle. As committed to with…

23 Jun 2021 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what progress it has made on extending the Borders Railway, following comments made by the Cabinet Secretary for Infrastructure, Investment and Cities in 2015, regarding a feasibility study on linking the rail line with Carlisle, through Hawick.

Answer · Graeme Dey: Consideration of potential improvements to strategic transport infrastructure across the whole of Scotland continues to be undertaken through the second Strategic Transport Projects Review (STPR2). This work addresses the Scottish Government’s commitment with…

21 Jun 2021 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what its position is on revising the Charter of Grandchildren to give greater consideration to the role that grandparents play in a child’s life.

Answer · Ash Denham: The Charter for Grandchildren was originally published in April 2006. We republished the Charter of Grandchildren in April 2018 as part of our Your Parenting Plan resource. The Scottish Government has no plans to revise the Charter at this time. The Charter …

21 Jun 2021 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what assessment it has made of the viability of changing legislation to allow grandparents greater rights regarding accessing their grandchildren following family breakdown.

Answer · Ash Denham: The Scottish Government appreciates that grandparents can often play an important and valuable role in a child’s life. Grandparents can currently apply to the court for contact rights. A decision will be made taking account of the child’s views and according …

21 Jun 2021 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what engagement it has had with groups representing grandparents regarding their right to access their grandchildren following family breakdown.

Answer · Ash Denham: We held a number of meetings with a range of stakeholders during the parliamentary passage of the Children (Scotland) Act 2020 (the 2020 Act), which gained Royal Assent on 1 October 2020. This included Grandparents Apart UK and Shared Parenting Scotland who p…

21 Jun 2021 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what its position is on updating (a) the Family Law (Scotland) Act 2006 and (b) Section 11 of the Children (Scotland) Act 1995 to allow greater rights for grandparents to access their grandchildren.

Answer · Ash Denham: The Scottish Government is satisfied that no further change is required to the legislation in relation to the rights for grandparents to access their grandchildren. The Scottish Government appreciates that grandparents can often play an important and valuable…

21 Jun 2021 · First Minister's Question

To ask the First Minister what action the Scottish Government is taking to curb the decline of iconic woodland bird species in Scotland.

15 Jun 2021 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government whether any of the three specialist endometriosis centres in Scotland serve patients outside the NHS board area in which they are situated.

Answer · Maree Todd: There are 3 specialist endometriosis centres in operation in Edinburgh, Aberdeen and Glasgow all of which serve patients outside the NHS board area in which they are based.

15 Jun 2021 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government how many people have endometriosis, broken down by (a) NHS board area, (b) age cohort and (c) the number who have so-called "deep endometriosis".

Answer · Maree Todd: We are unable to identify the total number of people who have been diagnosed with endometriosis in the population from routine healthcare data, and therefore cannot provide figures for the required breakdowns (NHS board, age cohort and “deep endometriosis”).

15 Jun 2021 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government how many staff are employed in each of the three specialist endometriosis centres in Scotland, and what the average waiting time is for each.

Answer · Maree Todd: Each of the three specialist centres in Scotland are accredited by the British Society of Gynaecological Endoscopy and to maintain accreditation are required to demonstrate they have the appropriate clinical teams in place. The Scottish Government does not ho…