- Asked by: Tess White, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 04 October 2022
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Current Status:
Answered by Mairi McAllan on 24 October 2022
To ask the Scottish Government what funding has been provided to coastal local authorities for coastal change adaptation in (a) 2022-23 and (b) 2023-24, following the announcement in the Programme for Government 2020-21 that £12 million would be invested to help these areas adapt to the threat of sea level rise, broken down by local authority.
Answer
We announced the new capital budget of £11.7 million for coastal change adaptation in the 2020 Programme for Government. Scottish Ministers and COSLA agreed a methodology to distribute the new budget for the first two years to coastal local authorities based on evidence from Dynamic Coast which identifies assets most at risk from erosion ( https://www.dynamiccoast.com/ ). The budget covers the four-year period from 2022-23 until 2025-26, split as follows:
2022-23 - £1.6 million
2023-24 - £2.6 million
2024-25 - £2.7 million
2025-26 - £5.0 million
Total - £11.7 million
The distribution for 2022-23 and intended distribution for 2023-24 are as follows:
Council | 2022-23 | 2023-24 |
Argyll & Bute | £160,000 | |
Dumfries & Galloway | £160,000 | |
East Lothian | £160,000 | |
Fife | £160,000 | |
Highland | £160,000 | |
Moray | £160,000 | |
North Ayrshire | £160,000 | |
Orkney Islands | £160,000 | |
Shetland Islands | £160,000 | |
South Ayrshire | £160,000 | |
Aberdeen City | | £150,000 |
Aberdeenshire | | £150,000 |
Angus | | £150,000 |
City of Edinburgh | | £150,000 |
Comhairle nan Eilean Siar | | £150,000 |
Dundee City | | £150,000 |
Falkirk | | £150,000 |
Inverclyde | | £150,000 |
Scottish Borders | | £150,000 |
Clackmannan | | £100,000 |
Perth & Kinross | | £100,000 |
Renfrewshire | | £100,000 |
West Dunbartonshire | | £100,000 |
West Lothian | | £100,000 |
Case studies – to be allocated | | £550,000 |
Total | £1.6 million | £2.4 million |
Local authorities were informed by letter of their allocation in February and they will receive the funds in their general capital grant settlement.
We continue to work with councils and COSLA to agree a distribution methodology for the £550,000 unallocated from the 2023-24 budget as well as the 2024-25 and 2025-26 budgets.
- Asked by: Tess White, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 19 October 2022
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Current Status:
Taken in the Chamber on 27 October 2022
To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on the actions that are being taken to recruit teachers in primary and secondary schools.
Answer
Taken in the Chamber on 27 October 2022
- Asked by: Tess White, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Thursday, 08 September 2022
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Current Status:
Answered by Humza Yousaf on 28 September 2022
To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on the establishment of the National Centre for Remote and Rural Health and Social Care; whether it is on track to be operational by April 2023, and where the staff for the centre will be based, in light of it reportedly being envisaged that it will be a virtual, rather than a physical, centre.
Answer
The Scottish Government’s Programme for Government 2021-22 included a commitment to create a centre of excellence for rural and remote medicine and social care, with scoping work starting in 2021-22.
The Scottish Government has been working closely with NHS Education Scotland (NES) over recent months to carry out extensive scoping and consultation with stakeholders. NES has submitted a business case for the Centre that could be operational in Spring 2023. The Scottish Government is evaluating the business case and considering next steps. Decisions about operational matters, including where staff for the centre would be located, will be made in due course.
- Asked by: Tess White, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Thursday, 01 September 2022
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Current Status:
Answered by Maree Todd on 23 September 2022
To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on the timeline for the introduction of its Public Health Bill.
Answer
The Public Health (Restriction of Promotions) Bill will be introduced this parliamentary year.
As set out in Programme for Government 2022-23, as a first legislative step in this session to meeting wider public health commitments, the Bill will include provisions for restricting food and drink promotions to protect public health.
- Asked by: Tess White, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Thursday, 01 September 2022
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Current Status:
Answered by Lorna Slater on 22 September 2022
To ask the Scottish Government what discussions it has had with Public Health Scotland regarding the public health implications of waste accumulation across local authorities as a result of the recent strike action by refuse workers.
Answer
The Scottish Government received written advice from Public Health Scotland on the public health implications of waste accumulation as a result of the recent industrial action by refuse workers.
Public Health Scotland subsequently issued a public statement in relation to potential risks to human health and precautionary measures on 26 August 2022.
- Asked by: Tess White, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Thursday, 01 September 2022
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Current Status:
Answered by Maree Todd on 20 September 2022
To ask the Scottish Government when the Active Scotland Delivery Group last met, and what was discussed.
Answer
The Active Scotland Delivery Group last met on 21 July 2021, with partners rightly focussing on Covid management and recovery in the interim period. Meetings have recently been undertaken with individual partners with a view to reconvening the group by the end of the year and refreshing the Active Scotland Delivery plan post Covid.
- Asked by: Tess White, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 16 August 2022
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Current Status:
Answered by Maree Todd on 20 September 2022
To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on its analysis of the uptake in breast screening appointments since the programme was resumed on 3 August 2020 compared with pre-COVID-19 pandemic levels, broken down by breast screening centre.
Answer
The following tables 1 to 4 show breast screening uptake from January 2019 to June 2022 for each of the breast screening centres. Uptake is defined as the proportion of eligible patients invited who receive a technically adequate and complete screen. 2019 data is provided as a baseline. Note that table 2 reflects a period when the programme was paused due to COVID-19.
It is important to note that the data provided was collected and used for management purposes for monitoring the recovery of the program and has not been subject to quality checks for official publication. Public Health Scotland publish breast screening programme statistics every year; the last publication was in April 2022 and the next publication is due in April 2023.
Table 1 – Breast screening uptake (% of eligible participants) by screening centre, January to December 2019
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Centre | Jan-19 | Feb-19 | Mar-19 | Apr-19 | May-19 | Jun-19 | Jul-19 | Aug-19 | Sep-19 | Oct-19 | Nov-19 | Dec-19 |
East of Scotland | 80.0 | 80.3 | 79.3 | 80.3 | 79.4 | 78.7 | 76.8 | 77.8 | 78.0 | 79.2 | 80.2 | 74.9 |
North East of Scotland | 80.7 | 86.5 | 84.7 | 85.2 | 83.6 | 83.5 | 82.2 | 84.8 | 83.3 | 81.4 | 80.6 | 78.8 |
North of Scotland | 75.2 | 77.1 | 80.4 | 80.2 | 80.6 | 81.4 | 79.6 | 82.1 | 82.8 | 82.5 | 84.5 | 80.9 |
South East of Scotland | 73.0 | 72.8 | 73.2 | 75.2 | 75.8 | 73.8 | 73.0 | 77.1 | 75.4 | 76.7 | 79.8 | 73.9 |
South West of Scotland | 74.8 | 78.8 | 81.5 | 81.2 | 78.1 | 74.8 | 74.2 | 75.7 | 75.9 | 74.9 | 77.7 | 72.6 |
West of Scotland | 68.4 | 71.4 | 68.5 | 70.6 | 65.9 | 66.6 | 69.8 | 54.9 | 72.6 | 69.2 | 70.1 | 71.5 |
Table 2 – Breast screening uptake (% of eligible participants) by screening centre, January to December 2020
Centre | Jan-20 | Feb-20 | Mar-20 | Apr-20 | May-20 | Jun-20 | Jul-20 | Aug-20 | Sep-20 | Oct-20 | Nov-20 | Dec-20 |
East of Scotland | 78.4 | 79.0 | Paused | Paused | Paused | Paused | Paused | 87.2 | 84.4 | 83.5 | 77.2 | 79.5 |
North East of Scotland | 86.0 | 86.9 | Paused | Paused | Paused | Paused | Paused | 89.9 | 75.5 | 80.1 | 82.9 | 81.0 |
North of Scotland | 81.9 | 82.7 | Paused | Paused | Paused | Paused | Paused | 85.6 | 87.2 | 82.4 | 87.3 | 84.4 |
South East of Scotland | 73.3 | 74.4 | Paused | Paused | Paused | Paused | Paused | 74.4 | 76.0 | 77.6 | 75.3 | 74.0 |
South West of Scotland | 77.0 | 78.4 | Paused | Paused | Paused | Paused | Paused | 78.0 | 79.5 | 81.8 | 81.4 | 80.2 |
West of Scotland | 73.3 | 71.6 | Paused | Paused | Paused | Paused | Paused | 79.4 | 81.0 | 77.0 | 84.6 | 79.3 |
Table 3 – Breast screening uptake (% of eligible participants) by screening centre, January to December 2021
Centre | Jan-21 | Feb-21 | Mar-21 | Apr-21 | May-21 | Jun-21 | Jul-21 | Aug-21 | Sep-21 | Oct-21 | Nov-21 | Dec-21 |
East of Scotland | 82.7 | 77.2 | 84.2 | 67.3 | 74.5 | 75.3 | 76.4 | 78.9 | 80.6 | 84.2 | 82.4 | 85.7 |
North East of Scotland | 81.5 | 77.0 | 84.6 | 84.8 | 86.5 | 84.8 | 83.7 | 85.5 | 87.1 | 85.0 | 87.0 | 73.6 |
North of Scotland | 81.1 | 86.3 | 84.6 | 84.9 | 82.8 | 83.5 | 81.9 | 81.9 | 85.3 | 85.1 | 87.1 | 85.2 |
South East of Scotland | 75.3 | 78.1 | 82.8 | 81.0 | 78.0 | 77.2 | 76.3 | 75.5 | 78.7 | 76.1 | 74.0 | 77.3 |
South West of Scotland | 79.6 | 81.4 | 82.7 | 81.4 | 80.6 | 81.9 | 77.0 | 77.5 | 81.5 | 81.5 | 80.1 | 80.5 |
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Table 4– Breast screening uptake (% of eligible participants) by screening centre, January to June 2022
Centre | Jan-22 | Feb-22 | Mar-22 | Apr-22 | May-22 | Jun-22 |
East of Scotland | 87.2 | 80.5 | 76.8 | 82.4 | 83.3 | 75.6 |
North East of Scotland | 83.8 | 84.4 | 82.4 | 85.1 | 86.2 | 82.7 |
North of Scotland | 83.0 | 82.4 | 78.0 | 77.0 | 81.6 | 86.9 |
South East of Scotland | 74.8 | 72.9 | 72.5 | 72.6 | 71.8 | 75.9 |
South West of Scotland | 79.0 | 77.2 | 79.1 | 80.4 | 82.2 | 80.4 |
- Asked by: Tess White, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 17 August 2022
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Current Status:
Answered by Maree Todd on 5 September 2022
To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on the total number of women aged between 50 and 70 who have waited more than 36 months for their breast screening appointment in each of the last five years, broken down by breast screening centre.
Answer
This is a matter for Regional Screening Centres. The Scottish Government does not hold this information centrally.
- Asked by: Tess White, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 16 August 2022
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Current Status:
Answered by Maree Todd on 5 September 2022
To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to S6F-01264 by the First Minister on 23 June 2022 that a women's health champion would be appointed "this summer", whether it will provide an update on the selection process and the date that the appointment will be announced.
Answer
A number of candidates are being considered at present to take on the role of the Women’s Health Champion. The Government expects to make an announcement about an appointment soon.
Whilst work is underway to appoint a champion, we have been prioritising improving information and services for women, including launching a new women’s health platform on NHS Inform, initiating new research on endometriosis, and increasing the choices that women have to access contraception at community pharmacies.
- Asked by: Tess White, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 16 August 2022
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Current Status:
Answered by Maree Todd on 29 August 2022
To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on the specific restart date for the breast cancer self-referral scheme for women aged 71 and over.
Answer
From 29 August 2022, eligible groups of women over the age of 71 will be able to register for self-referral appointments by contacting their local breast screening service.
Invitations will begin issuing to the eligible groups from 26 September, with appointments commencing from 24 October.
At this stage, the eligible groups being prioritised for self-referrals are women aged 71 to 74 (+364 days), and women over 75 with a history of breast cancer who have completed their hospital follow up. This phased approach allows self-referrals to restart in a way we hope will not unduly impact on waiting times for women aged 50-70 for whom screening is recommended.
The impact of the restart on programme capacity and wait times will be monitored closely. At the same time, the programme will continue to look for opportunities to increase the number of available appointments.
