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: S5W-08933

Asked by: Alex Cole-Hamilton, MSP for Edinburgh Western, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Friday, 21 April 2017
Current Status: Answered by Mark McDonald on 3 May 2017

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S5W-03289 by Aileen Campbell on 28 October 2016, what progress it is making with the development of the child and adolescent health and wellbeing strategy; by what date it will be published; how it will align with the mental health strategy, and how it will ensure the meaningful engagement of children and young people with its (a) development, (b) implementation and (c) roll-out.

Work around the child and adolescent health and wellbeing strategy is continuing to develop and will be published to coincide with the Year of the Young Person in 2018. The Scottish Government is ensuring there is a joined up approach to this work involving many policy areas, including alignment with the Mental Health Strategy.

Engagement with a wide range of experts and stakeholders is being planned and there will be meaningful involvement of children and young people throughout the development, implementation and roll-out.

Question reference: S5W-08816

Asked by: Alex Cole-Hamilton, MSP for Edinburgh Western, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Thursday, 13 April 2017
Current Status: Answered by Aileen Campbell on 3 May 2017

To ask the Scottish Government what role community level schemes play in providing access to affordable nutritious food play as outlined in the 2017-2027 Mental Health Strategy, particularly in communities at higher risk of developing mental health problems.

Improving food access is an important part of the Scottish Government’s work to tackle health inequalities and close the opportunity gap. Community food initiatives are a key route through which we are working to improve food access in communities across Scotland.

Through Community Food and Health Scotland (CFHS), the Scottish Government supports work within low-income communities to improve access to, and take-up of, a healthy diet. As part of their work, CFHS engage with community food initiatives to highlight the positive impact that work involving food can have on mental health and wellbeing.

For 2016-17, the Scottish Government also provided £95k to community food networks across Scotland, to help them build capacity and support local food projects which improve access to healthy, affordable food in the community.

Question reference: S5W-08612

Asked by: Alex Cole-Hamilton, MSP for Edinburgh Western, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Monday, 03 April 2017
Current Status: Answered by Maureen Watt on 2 May 2017

To ask the Scottish Government how it ensures that unscheduled care takes account of the needs of people with mental health problems. and what action it is taking to address concerns that they might wait longer for this.

Question reference: S5W-08614

Asked by: Alex Cole-Hamilton, MSP for Edinburgh Western, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Monday, 03 April 2017
Current Status: Answered by Maureen Watt on 2 May 2017

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on what steps it is taking to improve the provision of services to treat child and adolescent mental health problems.

Question reference: S5W-08601

Asked by: Alex Cole-Hamilton, MSP for Edinburgh Western, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Monday, 03 April 2017
Current Status: Answered by Maureen Watt on 2 May 2017

To ask the Scottish Government how it supports (a) integration authorities and (a) local authorities in determining and addressing the levels of mental health and wellbeing inequalities experienced in their areas.

Question reference: S5W-08615

Asked by: Alex Cole-Hamilton, MSP for Edinburgh Western, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Monday, 03 April 2017
Current Status: Answered by Maureen Watt on 2 May 2017

To ask the Scottish Government when it will begin the recruitment process for the 800 additional mental health workers to cover all A&E units, GP practices, police custody suite and prisons, and how it will determine how many staff will be placed in each of these places.

Question reference: S5W-08594

Asked by: Alex Cole-Hamilton, MSP for Edinburgh Western, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Monday, 03 April 2017
Current Status: Answered by Maureen Watt on 2 May 2017

To ask the Scottish Government how it supports local authorities in developing mental health strategies.

Question reference: S5W-08643

Asked by: Alex Cole-Hamilton, MSP for Edinburgh Western, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Tuesday, 04 April 2017
Current Status: Answered by Maureen Watt on 27 April 2017

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S5W-06583 by Maureen Watt on 6 February 2017, whether the updated national dementia strategy has been published and, if not, (a) what the reason is for the delay and (b) by what date it will be published.

The Scottish Government now plans to publish the 2017-2020 National Dementia Strategy in June.

We have taken some additional time to ensure that all aspects of the strategy and its commitments are designed to provide maximum national support to local dementia service delivery, re-design and improvement; and to ensure that stakeholders are content with the overall strategy and its commitments.

Question reference: S5W-08588

Asked by: Alex Cole-Hamilton, MSP for Edinburgh Western, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Monday, 03 April 2017
Current Status: Answered by Maureen Watt on 27 April 2017

To ask the Scottish Government what steps it is taking to further support the physical activity programme developed by SAMH.

The ALBA (Active Living Becomes Achievable) programme, a collaboration between the Scottish Government and SAMH, will build on the well-established links between physical activity and improved mental wellbeing, and includes partnership working with Leisure Trusts in three targeted areas (Fife, North Ayrshire and West Lothian).

The ALBA programme is already underway, with the first cohort of individuals joining the programme in Fife in early 2017. Leisure providers in North Ayrshire and West Lothian are expected to start working with participants in Summer 2017.

The Scottish Government has invested nearly £1m (£992,000) in this programme to encourage people with mental health problems to become more physically active.

Question reference: S5W-08584

Asked by: Alex Cole-Hamilton, MSP for Edinburgh Western, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Monday, 03 April 2017
Current Status: Answered by Shona Robison on 25 April 2017

To ask the Scottish Government what steps it is taking to improve the quality of anticipatory care planning approaches for children and young people.

The Scottish Government is working with Healthcare Improvement Scotland’s Living Well in Communities programme which has a dedicated improvement workstream on Anticipatory Care Planning. This has included work with the Children’s Hospice Association Scotland (CHAS) and other representatives of children’s palliative care services to develop an Anticipatory Care Plan for children and young people, recognising that it is vital to ensure person-centred care meets the needs of people of all ages.