- Asked by: Liam McArthur, MSP for Orkney Islands, Scottish Liberal Democrats
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Date lodged: Thursday, 21 November 2024
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Current Status:
Answer expected on 6 December 2024
To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S6W-30729 by Shona Robison on 20 November 2024, whether the quantitative evaluation that was carried out by an independent research agency to assess campaign performance included assessment in terms of (a) quality-adjusted life years (QALY) and (b) other public health metrics, and, if so which metrics; and, if this was not the case, which quantitative metrics were used.
Answer
Answer expected on 6 December 2024
- Asked by: Liam McArthur, MSP for Orkney Islands, Scottish Liberal Democrats
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Date lodged: Thursday, 21 November 2024
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Current Status:
Answer expected on 6 December 2024
To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answers to questions S6W-30730 and S6W-30726 by Shona Robison on 20 November 2024, whether the process that was put in place across all policy areas included assessment in terms of (a) quality-adjusted life years (QALY) and (b) other public health metrics, and, if so, which metrics.
Answer
Answer expected on 6 December 2024
- Asked by: Liam McArthur, MSP for Orkney Islands, Scottish Liberal Democrats
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Date lodged: Thursday, 17 October 2024
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Current Status:
Answered by Shona Robison on 20 November 2024
To ask the Scottish Government, further to the statement in the letter of 3 October 2024 from its Directorate for Culture and Major Events to the managing director at The Orcadian that it is advised by procured agencies on the most "cost-effective media mix", what its position is on whether (a) "return on investment" is an appropriate aim for essential public health messaging and (b) maximising lives saved or quality-adjusted life years (QALY) would be a more reasonable aim.
Answer
Since the announcement of the freeze on marketing expenditure, the following public health campaigns have subsequently been assessed and approved to run in 2024-25 in line with the process set out in the answer to question S6W-30726 on 20 November 2024, and the desired health outcomes and aims that need to be achieved for each.
• Early Cancer Detection – Detect Cancer Earlier
• Dementia Stigma
• Appropriate Use of NHS Services - Right Care Right Place
• Adult Mental Health
• Organ Donation & Tissue
• Winter Vaccines (delivered by Public Health Scotland)
• The Importance of Home Recovery - Home First
• Sexual Assault Referral Centres
• Abortion Safe Access Zones
All activity is developed and evaluated against SMART objectives to help deliver policy outcomes, which includes actions that contribute to improving or saving lives. Where there is substantial spend on paid-for media, quantitative evaluation is carried out by an independent research agency to assess campaign performance. Return on investment is considered to assess the number of people in a target audience who can be reached, and how frequently, via a particular media channel to ensure campaigns are delivered cost-effectively.
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-committees/written-questions-and-answers.
- Asked by: Liam McArthur, MSP for Orkney Islands, Scottish Liberal Democrats
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Date lodged: Thursday, 17 October 2024
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Current Status:
Answered by Shona Robison on 20 November 2024
To ask the Scottish Government, further to the letter of 3 October 2024 from its Directorate for Culture and Major Events to the managing director at The Orcadian, how it defines "essential need" relative to paid-for media activity.
Answer
As part of the process to assess essential marketing expenditure for 2024-25, the use of paid-for-media activity is considered where it is required to help achieve specific policy outcomes. This can include a requirement to reach specific audiences or to ensure audiences are presented with messages a number of times to achieve the desired impact.
Marketing activity and campaigns that are without expenditure, such as no-cost approaches that have no external production, service or media costs, continue to support delivery of policy outcomes as part of the communications mix.
- Asked by: Liam McArthur, MSP for Orkney Islands, Scottish Liberal Democrats
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Date lodged: Thursday, 17 October 2024
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Current Status:
Answered by Shona Robison on 20 November 2024
To ask the Scottish Government whether any assessment was undertaken regarding the anticipated quality-adjusted life year (QALY) impact of the freeze on public sector marketing expenditure as a whole, and, if so, what the outcomes of any such assessment were.
Answer
The freeze on public sector marketing expenditure was part of a wider exercise to introduce the necessary emergency spending controls to achieve a balanced budget. Cabinet Secretaries were given a directive to freeze all marketing expenditure with immediate effect, with any spend deemed essential then requiring to be assessed accordingly in line with individual policy priorities and outcomes, and approved by the First Minister before proceeding. Many campaigns have gone ahead.
Further details on this process are set out in the answer to question S6W-30726 on 20 November 2024, alongside the now approved public health campaigns listed in the answer to question S6W-30729 on 20 November 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-committees/written-questions-and-answers.
- Asked by: Liam McArthur, MSP for Orkney Islands, Scottish Liberal Democrats
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Date lodged: Thursday, 17 October 2024
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Current Status:
Answered by Shona Robison on 20 November 2024
To ask the Scottish Government, further to the statement in the letter of 3 October 2024 from its Directorate for Culture and Major Events to the managing director at The Orcadian that it is advised by procured agencies on the most "cost-effective media mix", whether it oversees the assessments made by procured agencies, and, if so, how.
Answer
All Scottish Government media planning and buying is proposed by media agencies appointed in call-off arrangements from the Media Planning, Buying and Associated Services Frameworks. The Providers of the Framework services have all been successful as a result of competition which evaluates Quality and Price, therefore offering the Most Economically Advantageous Tender(s) within the market place.
Media agencies take an evidence-based approach to developing a media strategy to deliver campaign objectives reflecting audience media consumption. All media plans and schedules procured in the call-off arrangements from media agencies are robustly assessed by Scottish Government marketing teams, across a range of different criteria including audience reach and frequency by channel; effectiveness of the media mix in delivering against SMART marketing objectives and policy outcomes; along-side quality and price.
- Asked by: Liam McArthur, MSP for Orkney Islands, Scottish Liberal Democrats
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Date lodged: Thursday, 17 October 2024
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Current Status:
Answered by Shona Robison on 20 November 2024
To ask the Scottish Government, further to the letter of 3 October 2024 from its Directorate for Culture and Major Events to the managing director at The Orcadian, what assessment it made in order to identify "essential need" prior to the freeze on public sector marketing expenditure.
Answer
Following the implementation of emergency spending controls (which included the public sector marketing expenditure freeze), a process was put in place across all policy areas to rigorously assess which essential marketing expenditure should still proceed in 2024-25 and what activity can be halted or postponed. This assessment process is aligned with the 4 key priorities of the Scottish Government and with individual policy outcomes. All Scottish Government marketing expenditure with an essential need for 2024-25 is subject to the First Minister’s approval.
For clarity, the Scottish Government has not suspended public health marketing campaigns and remains committed to the importance that campaigns have in communicating public health priorities. It should be noted, however, that marketing is just one of a number of interventions that can affect health outcomes.
- Asked by: Liam McArthur, MSP for Orkney Islands, Scottish Liberal Democrats
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Date lodged: Thursday, 17 October 2024
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Current Status:
Answered by Shona Robison on 20 November 2024
To ask the Scottish Government, further to the letter of 3 October 2024 from its Directorate for Culture and Major Events to the managing director at The Orcadian, whether any assessment was undertaken regarding the anticipated quality-adjusted life year (QALY) impact on individual campaigns as a result of the freeze on public sector marketing expenditure, and, if so, whether this impacted its assessment of "essential need".
Answer
As detailed in the answer to question S6W-30730 on 20 November 2024, individual campaign requirements were assessed on a case by case basis further to the implementation of emergency spending controls, and decisions on whether or not to proceed with planned activity were taken in line with Scottish Government priorities, the desired policy aims and outcomes, and budget impact. 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-committees/written-questions-and-answers.
- Asked by: Liam McArthur, MSP for Orkney Islands, Scottish Liberal Democrats
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Date lodged: Monday, 21 October 2024
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Current Status:
Answered by Fiona Hyslop on 15 November 2024
To ask the Scottish Government for what reason the increase in ferry fares for
2025-26 is being implemented several months earlier on Northern Isles routes
than on Clyde and Hebrides services.
Answer
The usual timing of the annual implementation of changes to ferry fares has been consistent for many years and is defined in the Northern Isles Ferry Services (NIFS) contract as January and the Clyde and Hebrides Ferry Services (CHFS) contracts as the start of CHFS summer timetable.
- Asked by: Liam McArthur, MSP for Orkney Islands, Scottish Liberal Democrats
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 06 November 2024
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Current Status:
Answered by Ivan McKee on 13 November 2024
To ask the Scottish Government what its budget underspend has been for financial years (a) 2022-23 and (b) 2023-24, broken down by (i) portfolio and (ii) line item.
Answer
Annual outturn against budget is provided in the Scottish Government’s Consolidated Accounts. Results on a portfolio basis are reported within the Summary of Total Outturn section, and more detailed portfolio information is included within the relevant Consolidated Portfolio Outturn Statement.
In 2023-24, the Scottish Government reported an overall underspend of £277 million, representing 0.5% of the total budget. The underspend in 2022-23 was £509 million, 1% of that year’s total budget.
The underspends do not represent a loss of spending power to the Scottish Government. Under the current devolution settlement, the Scottish Government must manage spending within fixed limits. It is not allowed to overspend its budget and has limited powers to carry forward funding through the Scotland Reserve. As a consequence, the Scottish Government has consistently adopted a position of controlling public expenditure to ensure we live within the budget limits that apply, whilst remaining able to carry forward any fiscal underspends for use in a future year within the current Scotland Reserve Limits.
The Scottish Government’s Consolidated Accounts are published annually and are available on the Scottish Government’s website.
2023-24:
scottish-government-consolidated-accounts-year-ended-31-march-2024.pdf (www.gov.scot)
2022-23:
The Scottish Government Consolidated Accounts for the year ended 31 March 2023 (www.gov.scot)
