Chamber and committees

Questions and answers

Parliamentary questions can be asked by any MSP to the Scottish Government or the Scottish Parliamentary Corporate Body. The questions provide a means for MSPs to get factual and statistical information.

Written questions must be answered within 10 working days (20 working days during recess)
Other questions such as Topical, Portfolio, General and First Minister's Question Times are taken in the Chamber

Urgent Questions aren't included in the Question and Answers search. There is a SPICe fact sheet listing Urgent and emergency questions.

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Question reference: S6O-00600

Asked by: Tess White, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 22 December 2021
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 12 January 2022

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on when its refreshed Energy Strategy will be published.

Question reference: S6W-04963

Asked by: Tess White, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 09 December 2021
Current Status: Answered by Kate Forbes on 22 December 2021

To ask the Scottish Government (a) how many and (b) what percentage of premises in each Scottish parliamentary constituency have access to broadband speeds of no more than (i) 5, (ii) 10 and (iii) 24 Mbps.

We do not hold this data. However, Ofcom provides breakdowns at Local Authority and UK parliamentary constituency level as part of the interactive report they produce alongside their Connected Nations updates. Their latest published information can be found at https://www.ofcom.org.uk/research-and-data/multi-sector-research/infrastructure-research/connected-nations-update-summer-2021/interactive-report . Please also note that Ofcom breaks down this data into different speed categories than those you have requested.

Question reference: S6W-04960

Asked by: Tess White, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 09 December 2021
Current Status: Answered by Keith Brown on 20 December 2021

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S6W-03169 by Keith Brown on 1 October 2021, how many mobile phones have been confiscated from prisoners in HMP and YOI Grampian in each month since September 2021.

I have asked Teresa Medhurst, Interim Chief Executive of the Scottish Prison Service (SPS), to respond. Her response is as follows:

The following table provides the number of SPS issued mobile phone handsets that have been confiscated at HMP & YOI Grampian, each month, from 1 September 2021 to 10 December 2021:

Month

September 2021

October 2021

November 2021

December 2021 (01/12/21 to 10/12/21)

Number of SPS issued mobile phone handsets confiscated*

*Number of illegal mobile phones (handsets not issued by SPS) that have been recovered are not included.

Question reference: S6W-04964

Asked by: Tess White, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 09 December 2021
Current Status: Answered by Jamie Hepburn on 20 December 2021

To ask the Scottish Government how many (a) foundation, (b) modern and (c) graduate-level apprenticeships have been started in each (i) month and (ii) year since April 2019.

Official Modern Apprenticeship statistics are published by Skills Development Scotland quarterly, including the number of starts. The Modern Apprenticeship 2021-22 Q4 (Year End) statistics is expected to be published in May 2022. Foundation and Graduate Apprenticeship statistics are published on an annual basis.

The annual Foundation Apprenticeship (FA) statistics are:

? Cohort 4 (2019) – 3,450 (SCQF Level 6) and 442 (SCQF Level4/5) FA Starts

? Cohort 5 (2020) – 2,975 (SCQF Level 6) and 1,265 (SCQF Level4/5) FA Starts

The annual Modern Apprenticeship (MA) statistics are:

? 2019-20 – 27,875 MA Starts

? 2020-21 – 18,655 MA Starts

? 2021-22 Q2 – 11,104 MA Starts

The annual Graduate Apprenticeship (GA) statistics are:

? 2019-20 – 1,157 GA Starts

? 2020-21 – 1,158 GA Starts

The Quarter 2 statistics, published on 9 November 2021, show a positive increase in Modern Apprenticeship starts in comparison to the same time last year but are still lower than at the same point pre-pandemic, reflecting the ongoing impact from COVID-19.

The following table below provides a breakdown of the quarterly Modern Apprenticeship Starts since 2019/20 which are cumulative throughout the year.

Modern Apprenticeship starts by Quarter	2019-20	2020-21	2021-22 Q2
Q1	4,336	910	3,402
Q2	13,719	3,633	11,104
Q3	21,240	10,604	N/A
Q4 (Year End)	27,875	18,655	N/A

Prior to the impacts of COVID-19, the Scottish Government consistently exceeded its annual Apprenticeship targets year on year

Question reference: S6O-00558

Asked by: Tess White, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 15 December 2021
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 22 December 2021

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on the review of the Victim Notification Scheme.

Question reference: S6W-04965

Asked by: Tess White, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 09 December 2021
Current Status: Answered by Kevin Stewart on 15 December 2021

To ask the Scottish Government (a) how many and (b) what percentage of children in the NHS Grampian area who were referred for mental health treatment in (a) 2020 and (b) 2021 started treatment within the 18-week target.

The following table provides statistics for Child and Adolescent Mental Health Service (CAMHS) in the NHS Grampian area. It is possible that children were seen within Psychological Therapy in addition to this however it is not possible at present to disaggregate child data from the wider adult PT data return.

2021 is not complete at present, therefore a partial 2021 has been presented including activity from Jan 2021 to Sep 2021, compared to the whole of 2020 (Jan – Dec).

Table 1 - NHS Grampian

Children and Young People (CYP)

Number of CYP starting Treatment in CAMHS within 18 weeks

Percentage of CYP starting treatment within 18 weeks

2021 YTD (Jan – Sep)

1,045

92.7%

2020 (Jan – Dec)

1,188

87.4%

Question reference: S6W-04966

Asked by: Tess White, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 09 December 2021
Current Status: Answered by Kevin Stewart on 15 December 2021

To ask the Scottish Government (a) how many and (b) what percentage of children in the NHS Tayside area who were referred for mental health treatment in (a) 2020 and (b) 2021 started treatment within the 18-week target.

The following table provides statistics for Child and Adolescent Mental Health Service (CAMHS) in the NHS Tayside area. It is possible that children were seen within Psychological Therapy (PT) in addition to this however it is not possible at present to disaggregate child data from the wider adult PT data return.

2021 is not complete at present, therefore a partial 2021 has been presented including activity from Jan 2021 to Sep 2021, compared to the whole of 2020 (Jan – Dec).

Table 1 - NHS Tayside

Children and Young People (CYP)

Number of CYP starting Treatment in CAMHS within 18 weeks

Percentage of CYP starting treatment within 18 weeks

2021 YTD (Jan – Sep)

828

82.9%

2020 (Jan – Dec)

792

65.5%

Question reference: S6O-00546

Asked by: Tess White, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 08 December 2021
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 16 December 2021

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on the investment it is making in Scotland’s cultural infrastructure.

Question reference: S6F-00538

Asked by: Tess White, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 29 November 2021
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 2 December 2021

To ask the First Minister what the Scottish Government’s response is to reports that the use of antidepressant medication among children has increased by more than 80% over the last 10 years.

Question reference: S6O-00445

Asked by: Tess White, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 17 November 2021
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 25 November 2021

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on progress in relation to A Culture Strategy for Scotland.