Chamber and committees

The Programme for Government 2020/21 commits to developing and improving the current Scottish Model for Chronic Pain, and to publish a new Framework for Chronic Pain Service Delivery in 2021.

This will involve developing and agreeing pain management pathways that provide more sustainable support for people living with chronic pain by delivering better health outcomes and improving their quality of life.

It is intended that this work will also lead to less variation in the quality and availability of services for people with chronic pain, and support the sharing of best practice.

Scottish Enterprise receives an annual budget from the Scottish Government to support their work in helping deliver sustainable economic growth across Scotland. Scottish Enterprise also generates its own income through investments and property assets.

Scottish Enterprise’s budget for this financial year is £529m. This includes substantial in year allocations in relation to the COVID-19 pandemic in order to provide additional support for companies through a variety of new funds, including the Pivotal Enterprise Resilience Fund and the Creative, Tourism and Hospitality Enterprises Hardship Fund. Both of these were administered by Scottish Enterprise in partnership with Highlands and Islands Enterprise and South of Scotland Enterprise.

Some of the products and services routinely provided by Scottish Enterprise have also been re-prioritised to provide targeted support to companies adversely affected by COVID-19.

The experience of administering the COVID-19 funding has given Scottish Enterprise valuable insight into how the agency might offer business funding in the future, with an increased focus on eligibility criteria that would allow funding to address a particular challenge or opportunity.

Scottish Enterprise is continuing to develop the range of products and services it offers to support businesses’ growth ambitions. The agency is currently reviewing all projects (other than those for which there is already a legal commitment) and will be working closely with partners and customers to ensure they are kept abreast of any changes.

The full breakdown by year since 2008-09 is as follows. Data prior to 2008 is not available as this was previously held by the network of local enterprise companies.

Scottish Enterprise’s ‘pipeline’ includes companies at all stages in the large grant application process prior to a company formally accepting an offer. This includes those who have made an initial enquiry, those with projects under appraisal and those considering an offer.

Not all companies in the ‘pipeline’ will proceed to full application and, for a variety of reasons, not all will receive an offer. It is therefore not possible to accurately predict how many companies in the ‘pipeline’ will receive support funding from Scottish Enterprise.

In addition, grant funding is only one element of the support Scottish Enterprise provides to companies. The expertise and advice provided by Scottish Enterprise staff is often a key support mechanism for companies across Scotland.

Data on the number of children who have been refused support by Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services (CAMHS) is not held. However, Public Health Scotland collects data on ‘rejected referrals’ in CAMHS, which correspond to cases in which a referral is deemed as not appropriate and the individual may be referred back to their GP or sign-posted to another service.

The earliest reliable data on rejected referrals in CAMHS is from January 2015 up until June 2020 (i.e. the latest period for which published data is available). The number and proportion of rejected referrals is shown in the following table.

Annual CAMHS Summary – Scotland (2015-2020)

* Incomplete year so figures likely to change

These figures sit within a wider context of work to improve the support that is available to children, young people and their families. Our 2020-21 Programme for Government references the work which is underway to develop a full recovery plan for mental health services; to ensure the implementation of the CAMHS Service Specification; and to introduce Community Mental Health and Wellbeing support services for 5-24 year olds. We are also investing in a range of other support measures which include enhanced digital resources on mental health and wellbeing available via Young Scot’s website and social media, and the expansion of the Distress Brief Intervention (DBI) programme which is now available nationally to those above the age of 16.

Existing information held by Scottish Enterprise grants to life sciences companies is provided in the following table:

The following table details the total cost of the Government Car Service since 2007.

Existing information held by Scottish Enterprise on R&D grants (including large R&D, SMART and small R&D awards) is provided in the following table:

The following table details the total number of journeys conducted by the Government Car Service since 2007.

Wearing a face covering continues to be a legal requirement in certain environments open to members of the public. The enforcement of the Coronavirus Regulations is, of course, a matter for the Chief Constable and Police Scotland. Police Scotland have indicated that, to date, the vast majority of people are, as we would expect, complying with the regulations. It is, however, important to note that some people are exempt from wearing a face covering, and their reasons for this might not be immediately apparent.

In Police Scotland’s approach, enforcement has always been a last resort, where engagement, explanation and encouragement to comply have all failed. The Chief Constable made it clear at the outset that it is important that Police Scotland’s policing tone and style reflects the need for positive engagement and that common sense needs to be applied by everyone.

The Scottish Government will continue to keep the Coronavirus Regulations under review.