Chamber and committees

Action 12 in the Mental Health Strategy 2017 - 27 commits to supporting the further development of the National Rural Mental Health Forum to reflect the unique circumstances presented by rural isolation. The Government has also noted the results of a recent survey by Support In Mind and Scotland’s Rural College (SRUC). We welcome the survey's focus on people's experiences of mental health and wellbeing in rural and remote areas, which is impacted by a range of factors.

More generally, the Scottish Government sets national direction of policy on mental health and provides funding to agencies – including NHS Boards and Local Authorities – to support implementation of policy.

The management of local actions in implementing national policy, and decisions on local spending priorities, are the responsibility of relevant local agencies. This includes assessing the needs of local populations. It is therefore the responsibility of NHS Boards and local authorities to work with their partners and regularly review spending decisions to ensure they deliver fit for purpose services which respond to the needs of their local population, including children and young people in rural areas with mental health issues.

Awareness of child and adolescent mental health in schools has been improved by, amongst other things, our commitment to encouraging the establishment of explicit links between schools and child and adolescent mental health (CAMHS) specialists as well as the development of a web-based toolkit (http://handsonscotland.co.uk) aimed at improving the confidence of teachers and others in responding to the mental health needs of children.

Education Scotland continue to roll out Scotland’s Mental Health First Aid for Children and Young People. The aim of this is to train staff within secondary school communities to increase their confidence in approaching pupils who they think might be struggling with a mental health problem. This training should complement the range of mental health strategies that are already in place within the local authorities and the support should target the school communities that need it the most first.

A mental health link person is available to every school, this has been achieved in a variety of ways using various models working to meet local needs. The link worker may be a CAMHS clinician or another speciality such as a primary care worker. However the named link person will be able to contact specialist CAMHS services for advice if they have any concerns about a pupil.

In April 2016 Aberdeenshire council in association with NHS Grampian, Police Scotland and Aberdeenshire voluntary action published their Mental Health and wellbeing strategy 2016-2019 (http://www.girfec-aberdeenshire.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/GIRFEC-Mental-Health-Wellbeing-Strategy-final-e-version.pdf). The strategy focuses on ensuring that appropriate services are available to children, young people and their families throughout Aberdeenshire.

Reducing health inequalities is one of the biggest challenges we face. To tackle this, we recognise that the root of health inequalities can be found in income inequalities – inequalities which are exacerbated by the UK Government’s policies of austerity and welfare reform.

Within my own portfolio, sport and physical activity are key to maintaining a healthy lifestyle, and so contribute to tackling health inequality. Our Active Schools programme provides opportunities for sport and physical activity before school, during lunchtime, and after school. Our national agency for sport, sportscotland, invested £80 million in the programme over the period 2007 to 2015, with up to another
£50 million planned in the period 2015 to 2019.

Education authorities have duties under the Additional Support for Learning Act 2004 (as amended) to identify, provide for and review the additional support needs of their pupils, including those with ADHD. This includes ensuring there are the appropriate resources in place to support children and young people in their learning.

There is no specific guidance on the ratio of teachers of teaching assistants to pupils. This is a matter for education authorities.

The Supporting Children's Learning Code of Practice provides detailed practical guidance on supporting a child or young person with an additional support need. The code of practice is due to be revised in 2017

There is at present no standard defibrillator road sign in Scotland or internationally.

Local PAD signage is important and it is recommended, in line with Resuscitation Council (UK) guidance, there should be signs in premises directing people to a PAD and exactly where it is located. The Resuscitation Council (UK) has developed a single defibrillator sign that is due to be introduced next month.

The Out of Hospital Cardiac Arrest (OHCA) Strategy for Scotland sets out our commitment to improve outcomes after out of hospital cardiac arrest. Using a defibrillator to restart a heart is one in a series of actions that improve survival after cardiac arrest. The main ways we are improving rapid defibrillator deployment under the OHCA Strategy are: despatching emergency service vehicles or community first responders with defibrillator or directing a bystander to a publicly available defibrillator (PAD).

The SAS is working to map all PADs onto the Ambulance Control Centres system so they will be able to rapidly deploy PADs in cases of OHCA. We encourage members of the public, communities, businesses and other partners responsible for PADs to register the details. This can be done through a dedicated section of the SAS website at the following link; http://www.scottishambulance.com/YourCommunity/pad.aspx.

Further information can be found here: OHCA - A Strategy for Scotland; http://www.gov.scot/Resource/0047/00474154.pdf and OHCA - A Strategy for Scotland Review; http://www.gov.scot/Resource/0051/00510496.pdf.

There is no single definition of a ‘well-sited’ development as it depends on each project’s context and individual circumstances, but in general terms, a well-sited development maximises Scotland’s wind energy potential with due consideration given to the environmental, community and cumulative impacts. The site will balance the benefits and the impacts of the development as a whole in the context of the requirements of relevant policies.

Our draft Onshore Wind Policy statement is out for consultation until 30 May and we would encourage anyone who may have relevant comments to contribute to respond to the consultation.

Informal discussions helped shape the suggested locally co-ordinated approach that you can find in the draft Onshore wind Policy Statement, however only through our consultation will we know if these stakeholders are happy with the approach proposed as it has now been presented to stakeholders in its final form until publication. The statement is currently open for consultation until the 30 May. It is through the results of this formal consultation that the Scottish Government will proceed with or amend this approach and this is where our focus will now turn. All comments on this question and the consultation as a whole are encouraged.

The Energy Consents Unit employs 15 members of staff to assess section 36 and 37 applications under the Electricity Act 1989. The Energy Consents Unit employs no (a) environmental experts, (b) chartered landscape architects, (c) planners and (d) solicitors. In assessing such applications, the Scottish Government has access to expert advice from its statutory stakeholders namely, Local Planning Authorities, Scottish Environment Protection Agency, Scottish National Heritage and Historic Environment Scotland. In addition, subject to the details of the application, a wide range of other stakeholders may also be consulted where their specific expertise is required. Details of the individuals and resources utilised by these organisations is an operational matter for each of the bodies concerned and is not held centrally.

The Energy Consents Unit also utilises solicitors within Scottish Government Legal Directorate and on a project specific basis may also consult with Senior Counsel and the Lord Advocate.

The Scottish Government’s £12 million Transition Training Fund is focused on supporting people who have lost or face losing their jobs in the oil and gas sector and the support will help to transition into other roles in the oil and gas industry, and other energy industry and manufacturing employment. To date, more than 1900 individuals have been supported with training support while up to a further 755 are being provided with employment opportunities through two larger scale procurement rounds. The Fund is providing support by offering grants to individuals to support redeployment through retraining and upskilling. The fund is also helping people with the costs of maintaining any licences needed to work in the sector, and develop options to enable individuals to bring their skills and expertise into teaching. To note, the applicant will be required to give evidence of current job opportunities within the marketplace before receipt of support from the fund.

Health and Social Care Integration seeks to ensure that those who use services receive the right care and support whatever their needs, at any point in their care journey. With a greater emphasis on community-based care, local systems will deliver more person-centred services, improving outcomes for service-users, including those who have had a stroke.

Rehabilitation pathways from hospital care to community care are in place for individuals who have had a stroke. Through our work to deliver the priority actions identified in the Stroke Improvement Plan, we are seeking to ensure that people who have had a stroke get access to the care and support they need to help them to return to independent living.