Questions and answers

Question reference: S6W-01074

Asked by: Miles Briggs, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 28 June 2021
Current Status: Answered by Kate Forbes on 13 July 2021

To ask the Scottish Government what percentage of its Budget local government has received in each year since 1999.

Question reference: S6W-01090

Asked by: Miles Briggs, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 25 June 2021
Current Status: Answered by Jamie Hepburn on 13 July 2021

To ask the Scottish Government what action it is taking to promote the Turing Scheme to young people in Scotland to promote study and work abroad, and what information it has on any action local authorities are taking in this regard.

The Turing Scheme is currently signposted on the Scottish Government mygov.scot public services website, as well as on the website for the Scottish Funding Council.

Any action to promote the Turing Scheme will be for local authorities themselves to decide and report on.

It is the Scottish Government’s position that the UK Government’s Turing Scheme is not fit for purpose. It is a replacement scheme, which cannot match the breadth and scope of Erasmus+. With funding only guaranteed for one year, no provision for inward mobility to the UK, and no support being offered for adult education and youth work, Turing will see support for our most disadvantaged learners cut, and opportunities for our students, staff and young people reduced.

We will continue to engage with the UK Government to ensure Turing better reflect the needs of Scotland.

Question reference: S6W-01085

Asked by: Miles Briggs, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 25 June 2021
Current Status: Answered by Tom Arthur on 13 July 2021

To ask the Scottish Government how much has been (a) unallocated, and (b) underspent from each fund it has announced to the Parliament, in each year since 2007.

The provisional HMT fiscal underspend against total budget, for each funding type, in each year since 2007 is summarised in the following table:

Table: 2007-08 to 2020-21 Provisional Outturn Variances Comparison – HM Treasury Budgets

	Resource	Capital	Financial
			Transactions
	£million	£million	£million

2020-21	(374)	(8)	(67)
2019-20	(86)	(76)	(96)
2018-19	(305)*	(23)*	(121)
2017-18	(358)	(84)	(11)
2016-17	(98)	(40)	(53)
2015-16	(75)	(40)	(40)
2014-15	(151)	(41)	(12)
2013-14	(144)	(1)	(31)
2012-13	(150)	(29)	-
2011-12	(149)	(30)	-
2010-11	(10)	(2)	-
2009-10	(116)	(3)	-
2008-09	(121)	(3)	-
2007-08	(40)	(2)	-

* Including £126 million of fiscal resource and £22 million of fiscal capital of late Barnett consequentials re-allocated by HM Treasury to 2019-20

It is important to note that there is no loss of spending power as a result of these underspends and all have been carried forward in full through to the next financial year either through the Scotland Reserve or the Budget Exchange (year-end flexibility mechanism prior to the Reserve being introduced in 2017-18).

Further details of outturn by individual portfolio, compared to the Budget authorised by the Scottish Parliament, can be found in the published annual Scottish Government consolidated accounts for the relevant financial year.

Question reference: S6W-01086

Asked by: Miles Briggs, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 25 June 2021
Current Status: Answered by Shirley-Anne Somerville on 12 July 2021

To ask the Scottish Government how many school clothing grant payments have been made since the scheme was introduced, broken down by local authority area.

Information about number of school clothing grants issued by local authorities has been recorded centrally through the Scottish Local Government Financial Statistics returns since the 2017-18 financial year. Information about the number of school clothing grants paid by local authorities prior to 2017-18 is not held centrally.

The number of school clothing grants issued in each local authority since 2017-18 is contained within the following table:

Local Authority	Number of School Clothing Grants Issued
	2017-18	2018-19	2019-20

Aberdeen City	2,401	2,728	3,373
Aberdeenshire	2,731	2,820	3,259
Angus	2,340	2,640	2,680
Argyll and Bute	1,345	1,456	1,672
Clackmannanshire	1,107	1,191	1,207
Dumfries and Galloway	2,769	2,904	3,522
Dundee City	6,628	6,512	6,690
East Ayrshire	4,421	4,764	4,780
East Dunbartonshire	2,109	2,475	2,260
East Lothian	990	1,110	1,573
East Renfrewshire	1,997	2,072	2,019
Edinburgh, City of	4,913	5,776	6,072
Eilean Siar (Western Isles)	403	493	449
Falkirk	3,850	4,562	4,980
Fife	12,890	13,197	13,526
Glasgow City	28,953	29,747	32,115
Highland	3,744	4,090	4,265
Inverclyde	2,298	2,354	2,983
Midlothian	1,873	1,855	2,236
Moray	1,315	1,366	1,342
North Ayrshire	5,400	6,079	6,077
North Lanarkshire	9,997	10,902	10,852
Orkney Islands	205	244	243
Perth and Kinross	1,133	1,325	1,826
Renfrewshire	5,625	6,147	6,293
Scottish Borders	2,488	2,480	2,408
Shetland Islands	307	392	434
South Ayrshire	3,092	3,358	3,380
South Lanarkshire	9,860	11,845	11,999
Stirling	1,505	1,829	1,820
West Dunbartonshire	4,577	4,329	4,099
West Lothian	6,338	6,226	7,151

These statistical returns are also available on the Scottish Government’s website which are contained within the following web links.

The number of school clothing grants issued by local authorities in the 2019-20 financial year is available on workbook 2019-20 LFR 01 - Education, within cell reference number G50 on each local authority tab: Scottish local government finance statistics (SLGFS) 2019-20: workbooks - gov.scot (www.gov.scot)

The number of school clothing grants issued by local authorities in the 2018-19 financial year is available on workbook 2018-19 LFR 01, within cell reference number G55 on each local authority tab: Scottish local government finance statistics (SLGFS) 2018-19: workbooks - gov.scot (www.gov.scot)

The number of school clothing grants issued by local authorities in the 2017-18 financial year is available on workbook 2017-18 LFR 01 revised, within cell reference number G55 on each local authority tab: Scottish local government finance statistics 2017-18: workbooks - gov.scot (www.gov.scot)

Question reference: S6W-01087

Asked by: Miles Briggs, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 25 June 2021
Current Status: Answered by Shirley-Anne Somerville on 12 July 2021

To ask the Scottish Government how much the school clothing grant has increased by since it was introduced, broken down by local authority area.

In May 2018, we reached a joint agreement with local authorities to set the school clothing grant at a national minimum level of £100 per eligible child or young person.

The following table provides information about the value of school clothing grants provided by local authorities in 2017-18, the year before the national minimum school clothing grant was introduced, in comparison to the amounts paid for the 2020-21 school year.

In June 2021 we reached an agreement with local authorities to increase the national minimum school clothing grant level further. The new national minimum level has been set at £120 for each eligible child in primary school and £150 for each eligible young person in secondary school for the 2021-22 school year. Information about the value of school clothing grants set by local authorities for 2021-22 is not held centrally.

Local Authority	Value of School Clothing Grant
	2017-18	2020-21	Increase (£)

Aberdeen City	£60	£100	+£40
Aberdeenshire	£50	£100	+£50
Angus	£50	£100	+£50
Argyll and Bute	£50	£100	+£50
Clackmannanshire	£55	£100	+£45
Dumfries and Galloway	£80	£134	+£54
Dundee City	£100	£100	£0
East Ayrshire	£100	£120	+£20
East Dunbartonshire	£50	£100	+£50
East Lothian	£60	£100	+£40
East Renfrewshire	£75	£100	+£25
Edinburgh, City of	£50	£100	+£50
Eilean Siar (Western Isles)	£65	£100	+£35
Falkirk	£50	£120	+£70
Fife	£55	£100	+£45
Glasgow City	£70	£110	+£40
Highland	£90	£140	+£50
Inverclyde	£90	£145	+£55
Midlothian	£65	£100	+£35
Moray	£45	£100	+£55
North Ayrshire	£40	£100	+£60
North Lanarkshire	£70	£110	+£40
Orkney Islands	£56	£100	+£44
Perth and Kinross	£50	£100	+£50
Renfrewshire	£70	£100	+£30
Scottish Borders	£70	£100	+£30
Shetland Islands	£70	£100	+£30
South Ayrshire	£75	£110	+£35
South Lanarkshire	£75	£100	+£25
Stirling	£50	£130	+£80
West Dunbartonshire	£100	£100	£0
West Lothian	£110 (£94 primary)	£135 (£125 primary)	+£25 (sec.) +£31 (pri.)

Question reference: S6W-01351

Current Status: Withdrawn

Question reference: S6W-01089

Asked by: Miles Briggs, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 25 June 2021
Current Status: Answered by Angela Constance on 9 July 2021

To ask the Scottish Government what the average waiting time has been in each of the last five years for a person in each drug and alcohol partnership to enter rehab.

Table 1 shows the median waiting time (in days) for individuals with first treatment type recorded as either (1) Community based support and/or rehabilitation or (2) Residential Detoxification/Inpatient Treatment. Figures are presented for each of the last 5 financial years and include Alcohol and Drug Partnership (ADP) breakdowns as well as Scotland level data. Treatments can be for drug or alcohol clients, or clients with a combination of the two. Waiting times are calculated from date of Referral to date of First Treatment.

Table 1 Median Waiting Time (in days) from Referral to First1 Treatment for treatment types (1) Community based support and/or rehabilitation2 or (2) Residential Detoxification/Inpatient Treatment3 , drug and alcohol clients or clients with a combination of the two, by ADP and Scotland.

Alcohol & Drug Partnership	2016-17	2017-18	2018-19	2019-20	2020-21
East Ayrshire	9	8	7	7	3
North Ayrshire	13	11	13	12	8
South Ayrshire	7	7	6	5	5
Scottish Borders	3.5	NA	NA	NA	NA
Dumfries & Galloway	10	9	7	5	4
Fife	7	9	9	9	8
Clackmannanshire	4	5	7	3	-
Falkirk	7	8	8	10	7
Stirling	-	-	-	-	-
Aberdeen City	14	14	14	13	3
Aberdeenshire	6	8	8	8	7
Moray	-	NA	-	NA	3
City of Glasgow	4	5	2	1	-
East Dunbartonshire	4	8	13	10	-
East Renfrewshire	3	2	-	-	-
Inverclyde	-	-	-	8	-
Renfrewshire	-	-	-	-	2
West Dunbartonshire	7	7	9	8	8
Argyll & Bute	7	7	5	3	2
Highland	13	14	10	11	7
North Lanarkshire	9	7	8	9	6
South Lanarkshire	13	11	13	10	2
City of Edinburgh	8	10	10	10	9
East Lothian	12	9	11	10	7
Mid Lothian	8	12	8	9	8
West Lothian	11	14	14	13	8.5
Orkney Islands	8	9	5	1	7
Shetland Islands	10	10	7	8	7
Angus	1	4	8.5	7	3.5
Dundee City	8	6	-	-	-
Perth & Kinross	9	9	10	16	7
Western Isles	4	3	5	7	4
Scotland	7	7	7	7	4

‘-‘ denotes zero.

‘NA’ denotes that there were no referrals for the treatment types specified above during the time period.

1 Figures in Table 1 include first treatments only. Clients may go on to have subsequent treatment however these treatments are not well recorded by services and therefore this data will be incomplete.

2 Community based support and/ or rehabilitation includes Structured Psychosocial Intervention, Structured Day Programmes, Other Structured Intervention.

3 Residential Detoxification and Rehabilitation includes Rehabilitation: Residential, Detoxification/inpatient Treatment: residential.

Source: PHS
‎Ref: IR2021-00488

Question reference: S6W-01081

Asked by: Miles Briggs, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 25 June 2021
Current Status: Answered by Jamie Hepburn on 9 July 2021

To ask the Scottish Government what information is has on how many youth centres have been operational in each year since 1999, also broken down by local authority area.

Youth work is a professional practice delivered in many environments. Delivery is carried out in a range of multi-purpose community facilities, schools, colleges and hospitals. Service provision for young people includes community based youth work, outdoor learning, direct intervention, youth awards, participation in uniformed organisations and local youth clubs.

There is no statutory obligation on youth work providers to register details of their operations with Scottish Government, and as such the Scottish Government does not hold information on the numbers of operational youth work centres in Scotland.

Question reference: S6W-01070

Asked by: Miles Briggs, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 25 June 2021
Current Status: Answered by Jamie Hepburn on 9 July 2021

To ask the Scottish Government what information it has on how many youth workers have been employed in each local authority area in each year since 1999.

There is no statutory obligation for youth workers or for youth work activity to be recorded or monitored by local authorities, third sector organisations or voluntary organisations.

However, the CLD Standards Council for Scotland, reports that over two and a half thousand CLD staff and volunteers have signed up to the CLD code of ethics which includes practice for youth work and community based adult learning. The CLD Standards Council also reports in 2018 that there is an estimated paid workforce of twenty one thousand practitioners within the CLD sector.

Question reference: S6W-01066

Asked by: Miles Briggs, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 25 June 2021
Current Status: Answered by Kevin Stewart on 9 July 2021

To ask the Scottish Government what plans it has to review the support for bereaved (a) individuals and (b) families.

The Scottish Government recognises the importance of ensuring that high quality, person centred bereavement care and support is available for those who need it. It is important to reflect that each individual and family’s experience of bereavement is unique as are their support requirements. That is why we undertake a broad range of work to improve the bereavement care and support available for those who need it, particularly at this difficult time.

Since 2016 the Scottish Government has funded Cruse Scotland and Child Bereavement UK through the Children, Young People and Families Early Intervention & Adult Learning and Empowering Communities Fund to provide support to individuals and families who have been bereaved. This Fund has been extended to end March 2022 to provide greater stability to organisations and we will announce in due course plans for funding the third sector from April 2022.

In 2020 we awarded a contract to Includem to establish a Scottish childhood bereavement co-ordinator who will ensure effective provision of bereavement support and care for children and young people.

Our Mental Health Transition and Recovery Plan, published in October 2020, sets out a number of commitments to support the mental health of people following bereavement and we will continue to engage with providers of bereavement support, and people with lived experience, to design improvements. Through the work of our National Suicide Prevention Leadership Group we are supporting the piloting of suicide bereavement support services and pilots will launch in Highland and Ayrshire & Arran in the coming months.

We will continue to work closely with NHS Boards, Integration Authorities and third sector organisations to continually revisit our work in this area and respond to the additional needs of people and families arising from the pandemic and provide additional support where needed.

Chamber and committees