Seòmar agus comataidhean

The cross-policy working group last met on 11 October 2023.

Members were provided with an update on the National Transitions to Adulthood Strategy, including the engagement on the Statement of Intent, and the work of the Disabled Children and Young People’s Advisory Group Engagement Sub-Group.

The Group also discussed Getting It Right For Everyone (GIRFE), a multi-agency approach of support and services from young adulthood to end of life care currently being co-designed. This included an update on pathfinders’ co-design work with people with lived experience, including young people in transition.

In addition, members were informed of the publication of the Education, Children and Young People Committee’s Stage 1 report on the Disabled Children and Young People (Transitions to Adulthood) (Scotland) Bill.

On 22 December 1999 in Larkhall, Lanarkshire an explosion destroyed the dwellinghouse at No. 42 Carlyle Road. All four occupants of that dwellinghouse, including two children, were killed. Criminal proceedings were taken against Transco PLC in relation to the explosion on 22 December and the deaths of the four individuals, with the company being charged, in the first alternative, with the common law offence of culpable homicide and, in the second alternative, a contravention of sections 3 and 33(1) of the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974. Prosecution on the culpable homicide charge was unsuccessful. The trial proceeded on the charge under sections 3 and 33(1) of the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974 and the jury unanimously found the company guilty of that offence on 25 August 2005. A fine of £15 million was imposed.

The Corporate Manslaughter and Corporate Homicide Act 2007 created a new offence of corporate homicide in Scotland.

COPFS Health and Safety Investigation Unit leads the investigation and prosecution of all work-related deaths and all health and safety cases across Scotland. It provides advice, support and direction to investigators from Police Scotland, the Health and Safety Executive (HSE), Local Authorities and other regulatory agencies from the very earliest stages of an investigation.

Every fatality at a place of employment or fatality that occurs as a result of a work-related activity in Scotland is investigated as a potential corporate homicide. The very nature of this category of case means that detailed and lengthy investigation, often involving technical and medical issues and expert opinion, may be required. The Work Related Death Protocol for Scotland – which has been signed by COPFS, Police Scotland (ACPOS), British Transport Police and HSE - ensures that when a work-related death occurs, a thorough, co-ordinated and multi-agency investigation takes place allowing all possible offences to be considered.

Once reported each case is carefully considered by lawyers within the COPFS Health & Safety Investigation Unit and turns on its own facts and circumstances. Corporate homicide is considered in every work-related death reported for prosecution, and lines of investigation in connection with corporate homicide are explored regardless of whether or not such a charge was reported in connection with the death.

Since 2008 16 cases have been reported to the Crown in respect of corporate homicide as well as other charges. Of those cases two remain under consideration by the Crown. Two cases, reported in 2011 and 2016, were marked for no proceedings. In the remaining cases all have resulted in guilty convictions in a solemn court. Whilst there have been no prosecutions under the Corporate Manslaughter and Corporate Homicide Act 2007 the cases have resulted in guilty pleas to breaches of either section 2 or section 3 of the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974 or maritime health and safety legislation. The Court has the same sentencing powers available to them for these offences as for the offence of corporate homicide. The fines issued in these cases range from £4,000 to £234,000.

Local Authorities are accountable to their local communities and have the financial freedom to operate independently, taking account of local needs.

As independent corporate bodies, it is the responsibility of individual local authorities to manage their own budgets and to allocate the total financial resources available to them on the basis of local needs and priorities, having first fulfilled their statutory obligations and the jointly agreed set of national and local priorities.

Ultimately, it is for locally elected representatives to make local decisions on how best to deliver services to their local communities.

This information is not held centrally.

In early 2024, the Scottish Government intends to publish its Review of the 2019 Food Waste Reduction Action Plan. Alongside this, Zero Waste Scotland will publish the 2021 nationwide statistics for food waste.

We are fully committed to taking action to support the recommendations of the Alternative Pathways to Primary care and to our key aim of ensuring people can access the right care, in the right place, at the right time.

In particular, since 2018, we have significantly expanded the multi-disciplinary primary care workforce, with total staff of 4731 WTE working in multi-disciplinary services including physiotherapy, pharmacy and phlebotomy, at March 2023.

There was an increase of 518 WTE staff overall between March 2022 and March 2023, giving the average practice access to more than 5 multi-disciplinary team members.

However, recognising that implementation gaps remain, we are now also introducing an additional ‘phased investment programme’ working with a small number of areas to demonstrate what a model of full multi-disciplinary team implementation can look like in practice, over an initial 18 month period.

The findings from this work will inform a long-term Scottish Government investment for all areas.

The Scottish Government has now delivered all the bus powers within the Transport (Scotland) Act 2019 (the 2019 Act) and encourages all local transport authorities to consider the full range of tools available to them, to ensure that everyone has accessible public transport regardless of where they are in Scotland. As part of the development and delivery of the bus powers within the 2019 Act the Scottish Government has been engaging with a wide range of stakeholders, including local transport authorities. As part of this engagement we have received interest in each of the Act powers from local authorities across Scotland, however it will be for local transport authorities to decide what flexible tools within the 2019 Act, if any, they want to use to improve bus provision in their area.

We recognise that the third sector needs clarity and stability to secure its resilience and to grow its capacity. That is why we have committed to develop a Fairer Funding approach for the sector as a means to embed systemic change and to create conditions for third sector organisations to thrive as part of a mixed economy.

Our initial focus has been on improving grant-making arrangements, including increasing multi-year funding. Officials are working with grant managers across the organisation to ensure that they are aware of, and operating within, the terms of the commitment.

There have been 5 fatalities as a result of road accidents on the A90 north of Aberdeen from where the A944 intersects with the A90 to where the A90 meets the A98 in Fraserburgh since 1 April 2021.

In June 2023, NHS Scotland Assure completed a desktop review of the entire NHS estate which identified 254 health properties that were assessed to have a high or medium likelihood of RAAC. The Scottish Government made a commitment that all 254 priority properties would be subject to an intrusive survey by the end of November and that work is now complete; RAAC has been identified in 32 properties across NHS Scotland. Across NHS Scotland, the approach taken when RAAC is discovered follows the risk-based approach recommended by the Institution of Structural Engineers.

One property, Denburn Health Centre, was permanently vacated in September as a result of risks associated with RAAC. Prior to the identification of RAAC, there was an intention to vacate Denburn Health Centre at the earliest opportunity, so disruption was minimal and all services have now transferred to Carden Place which has much improved facilities. RAAC was also identified in one plant room in the Western General Hospital in Edinburgh where an initial review on the area did not highlight any structural concerns and although some repair work is required, the structural engineer confirmed the area is structurally sound. For the remaining 30 NHS properties identified with RAAC, there is no immediate disruption or concern, though additional monitoring and management of the situation is required in all cases.

Since the commencement of the survey programme, a better and wider understanding of the incidences of RAAC and a general raising of awareness has resulted in several NHS Boards approaching NHS Scotland Assure with additional properties to add to the desktop triage process. We expect somewhere in the region of 150 additional buildings will require a survey along with the 148 properties which were originally identified as having a low likelihood of RAAC.

The survey programme is now continuing with the additional properties identified as having a high or medium likelihood of RAAC followed by all properties identified in the desktop review with a Low likelihood of RAAC.

As of 7 December 2023 a total of 281 properties have been surveyed.

Details of the survey programme are available on NHS Scotland Assure’s website which also contains a link to each NHS Boards RAAC webpage for current information about progress of the survey programme:

https://www.nss.nhs.scot/publications/reinforced-autoclaved-aerated-concrete-raac-discovery-survey-programme-list-of-properties/

Currently, as of 4 December 2023, the Scottish Governments proportion of live contracts, delivered on a multi-year basis, is 65%. Multi-year has been classed as a contract over 12 months. Data on wider public sectors can either be found here: Home - Public Contracts Scotland or by contacting them directly.

Each grant fund is managed locally by a specific policy area within the Scottish Government, currently the Scottish Government does not hold central information at the detailed level of individual scheme operation.