Chamber and committees

More than £175 million has been invested through Warmer Homes Scotland, the Scottish Government’s national fuel poverty scheme since its launch in September 2015, helping over 25,000 households throughout Scotland.

Eligibility for the scheme is based on both the property and the individual meeting the qualifying criteria. Individual eligibility is based on “proxies” - certain benefits which are an indication of the likelihood of the household living in or being at risk of fuel poverty. The eligibility criteria are designed to target support at households who are particularly vulnerable to the impacts of poor energy efficiency and heating systems. This includes those with a long term health condition (as well as carers, older people and families with children under 16 years of age).

During the lifetime of the scheme, the eligibility criteria have been reviewed and amended to manage demand and increase referrals, and in line with policy priorities. Households also move in and out of fuel poverty and the receipt of qualifying benefits.

For these reasons an estimate as outlined is not possible.

The Scottish Government has committed to procuring a new enhanced successor to Warmer Homes Scotland when the current contract expires in June 2023, with a formal procurement process now underway. As outlined within the Fuel Poverty Strategy, working with the Scottish Fuel Poverty Advisory Panel, we will seek to ensure the eligibility criteria is aligned with the updated Scottish fuel poverty definition and that assistance continues to be targeted at those who need it most.

The Scottish Government is committed to ensuring that all people living in Scotland with Multiple Sclerosis (MS) are able to access the best possible care and support, and benefit from healthcare services that are safe, effective and person-centred.

While the NHS Recovery Plan is not condition specific, the aim is to effect whole system recovery and support prioritisation and planning. In that respect we would expect this to directly affect neurology services and the experience and outcomes for people with neurological condition, including MS.

There is a commitment to update on the progress of the plan on an annual basis and to review the strategic plan. Work on the first annual review will commence shortly and is expected to be published in the summer of 2022.

In 2019, we published a Neurological Care and Support – National Framework for Action . The aims include improving the provision of co-ordinated health and social care services, developing sustainable workforce models and ensuring high standards of person-centred care for people with neurological conditions.

Through implementation of the framework, we have awarded £1.4m since October 2020 to fund innovative projects working to achieve better outcomes for people living with neurological conditions. Over £300,000 of this has been committed to projects which improve the health and wellbeing of people with MS in Scotland.

The 2021 Fuel Poverty Strategy, states that the required level of capital expenditure to bring fuel poor households up to EPC C, including the replacement of existing fossil fuel heating systems, will be in the region of £6 billion. The Scottish Government have committed to investing at least £1.8 billion this parliamentary term to help kick-start growth in the market and support those least able to pay. Alongside public investment, we need innovative mechanisms to increase individual and private-sector investment into energy efficiency and zero emissions heating. The Scottish Government has established a Green Heat Finance Taskforce to recommend ways that the Scottish Government and private sector can collaborate to scale up investment. It will provide an interim report by March 2023 and final recommendations by September that year.

As independent Chair of the review of the role of incineration in the waste hierarchy in Scotland, Dr Colin Church has determined the scope, process and timelines of the Review.

In December 2020, Dr Church set out in a Call for Evidence his intention to commission a further piece of work, since he believes an assessment of the options to decarbonise the existing residual waste treatment infrastructure in Scotland may take longer than the intended timescale for the review.

This further work will not impact on the delivery date of the Review Report or Scottish Government’s ability to respond to the Report. Dr Church has stated his aim is to submit the report by Easter 2022 and we will publish it as soon as possible after this.

Zero Waste Scotland have shared the draft of the Operational Assessment of Alternative Residual Waste Treatment Technologies report with the Review. It is for Dr Church, as independent Chair, to determine if and how this is incorporated into the Review.

Dr Church, the independent Chair of the Review, has stated his aim is to submit the report by Easter 2022 and we will publish it as soon as possible after this.

We do not hold this information centrally. Private contractor costs that have been incurred relating to Test & Protect staff would be held by the Boards recruiting the relevant staff members. In addition, costs relating to private contractors for staff working at test sites were awarded and managed by the UK Government as part of the National Testing Programme, and are not managed by the Scottish Government.

The Scottish Government does not hold information on the number of women’s refuge places available in each local authority area in each year since 1999. The data that is available relates to the Scottish Women’s Aid provision of refuge accommodation in Scotland, and data is available for each of 2008, 2012, 2016 and 2018. The provision is as described in the following tables:

Refuge accommodation profile in Scotland 2008

We have allocated nearly £40m additional funding in 2021-22 to NHS Boards to improve CAMHS from our £120m Recovery and Renewal fund. £4.25m of that allocation is directly focussed on offering treatment to those already on CAMHS waiting lists, with a view to clearing all backlogs by March 2023.

The Scottish Government national standard is that 90% of children and young people should start treatment within 18 weeks of referral and the latest CAMHS publication reporting to quarter ending 31 December 2021 is available on the PHS website at: https://publichealthscotland.scot/publications/child-and-adolescent-mental-health-services-camhs-waiting-times/child-and-adolescent-mental-health-services-camhs-waiting-times-quarter-ending-31-december-2021/

Table 1 shows the total number of patients seen for first treatment following referral to CAMH Services broken down by NHS Board and the percentage seen within 18 weeks, 19-35 weeks, 36-52 weeks and 53+ for the latest published data for quarter ending 31 December 2021.

Table 1: Total number of patients seen from referral to treatment and percentage seen within 18 weeks, 19-35 weeks, 36-52 weeks, 53+ weeks by NHS Board

I refer the member to the answer to question S6W-02608 on 8 September 2021. All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament's website, the search facility for which can be found here: https://www.parliament.scot/chamber-and-committees/written-questions-and-answers.

Table 1: Percentage of repeat alcohol-related hospital admissions by NHS board and financial year.