- Asked by: Craig Hoy, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 25 January 2023
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Current Status:
Answered by Kevin Stewart on 1 February 2023
To ask the Scottish Government, in light of the recommendation in Coming Home Implementation: A report from the working group on complex care and delayed discharge, what it has done to increase the amount of available evidence for, and to explore the issues related to, people with enduring mental health conditions who are subject to delayed discharge from hospital.
Answer
The Scottish Government has accepted all 5 key recommendations in the Coming Home Implementation Report and is working with people with lived experience, COSLA, professionals from Local Authorities; Health and Social Care Partnerships (HSCPs); the NHS; and other key stakeholders to implement these recommendations. This includes progressing the Dynamic Support Register, Peer Support Network and National Support Panel recommendations, focussing in the first instance on getting it right for people with learning disabilities using a collaborative and partnership approach.
We will work to address wider issues around the delayed discharge that people with enduring mental health conditions experience. Our work on the National Care Service, the Barron Forensic Services Review, and the Scottish Mental Health Law Review will further improve the care and support of people with enduring mental health conditions.
- Asked by: Craig Hoy, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 25 January 2023
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Current Status:
Answered by Kevin Stewart on 1 February 2023
To ask the Scottish Government, in light of the recommendation in Coming Home Implementation: A report from the working group on complex care and delayed discharge, whether it will provide an update on what it has done to develop the Dynamic Support Register into a tool for national use.
Answer
The Scottish Government is committed to implementing the recommendations set out in the Coming Home Implementation Report to reduce delayed discharges and out-of-area placements for people with learning disabilities and complex care needs.
Significant work has been undertaken to develop and test a Dynamic Support Register, which has been led by a working group and co-designed with people with lived experience, HSCPs and NHS professionals across Scotland. We will be launching the Register soon following successful testing.
- Asked by: Craig Hoy, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 25 January 2023
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Current Status:
Answered by Kevin Stewart on 1 February 2023
To ask the Scottish Government, in light of the recommendation in Coming Home Implementation: A report from the working group on complex care and delayed discharge, whether it has established a National Peer Support Network.
Answer
The Scottish Government is committed to implementing the recommendations set out in the Coming Home Implementation Report to reduce delayed discharges and out-of-area placements for people with learning disabilities and complex care needs.
Following the publication of the Coming Home Implementation report, the Scottish Government has worked with key stakeholders to understand the role and remit of a Peer Support Network in order to design a model that provides value and allows for genuine collaboration across Scotland. Further details on the establishment of the Peer Support Network will be available soon.
- Asked by: Pauline McNeill, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 24 January 2023
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Current Status:
Answered by John Swinney on 1 February 2023
To ask the Scottish Government what its position is on whether both of Scotland's Freeports should be based in the east of the country.
Answer
The Scottish and UK governments received five strong bids for Green Freeport status from across Scotland. Each of the bids demonstrated strengths and ambition, however only two could be selected. The bids were jointly assessed by both Governments, and the winners selected following the rigorous process set out in the joint bidding prospectus. The selection of Firth of Forth and Opportunity Inverness and Cromarty Firth delivers Green Freeport Status to the strongest bids from the Central Belt and North of Scotland respectively. A document with more information about the assessment and selection process will be published in due course.
- Asked by: Liam McArthur, MSP for Orkney Islands, Scottish Liberal Democrats
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Date lodged: Thursday, 19 January 2023
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Current Status:
Answered by Clare Haughey on 1 February 2023
To ask the Scottish Government, with reference to the recently published Children (Care and Justice) (Scotland) Bill, whether its commitment to make changes in relation to the provision of secure accommodation and the regulation of secure accommodation services, including those services that take children from other parts of the UK, will include secure transportation services.
Answer
The care provided by Scotland’s independent secure providers is highly-regarded. We need to consider how the secure care system operates overall in the coming years, taking in to consideration the asks from the Independent Care Review’s Promise and the incorporation of UNCRC, before embarking on any redesign work.
In the short term, the Children (Care and Justice) (Scotland) Bill will give effect to the necessary legislative changes to displace all under 18s from custody. Contractual and other non-statutory interventions to guarantee secure capacity and to minimise providers’ reliance on placements from elsewhere in the UK are already in train.
Over the coming years, preparing to keep the Promise by 2030 will likely entail a transformational change to the current secure provision for children in Scotland. A secure estate configured to meet Scotland’s future demands means we will need to undertake significant redesign activity with providers and purchasers. Resource shifts, system and practice change will also be required.
Alongside that, a national service specification for secure transport is being developed by the joint Scottish Government and COSLA led Secure Care Group. This specification aims to bring consistency to the expectations and requirements, wherever secure transport requires to be commissioned.
- Asked by: Pam Duncan-Glancy, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 18 January 2023
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Current Status:
Answered by Shona Robison on 1 February 2023
To ask the Scottish Government what support it will give to welfare rights services, such as that run by Epilepsy Scotland, to protect them against the current cost of living crisis.
Answer
The Scottish Government recognises the critical role of advice services, often delivered by our diverse third sector and providing lifeline services to the most vulnerable communities during the cost crisis. We are directly investing around £12.5 million this year in free income maximisation, welfare and debt advice services delivered by third sector partners.
We recognise the impact that rising operating costs are having across society, including on charities and voluntary organisations, and we are committed to doing everything within our powers to support the third sector.
However, our ability to fulfil our devolved responsibilities and the support we would wish to provide remains a significant challenge due to the limitations on our parliament and the UK Government’s economic mismanagement.
- Asked by: Jamie Greene, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Friday, 06 January 2023
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Current Status:
Answered by Jenny Gilruth on 1 February 2023
To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on how many customer complaints ScotRail has received since it was brought into public ownership.
Answer
ScotRail has provided the below data for its closed customer complaints since 1 April 2022, by four-weekly rail period, with the prior year (2021-22) and final pre-pandemic year (2019-20) included for comparison:
Rail Year Period | Complaints 2022-23 | Complaints 2021-22 | Complaints 2019-20 |
Period 1 | 1,142 | 643 | 2,174 |
Period 2 | 1,867 | 1,079 | 2,218 |
Period 3 | 1,500 | 1,364 | 2,228 |
Period 4 | 1,015 | 1,316 | 2,130 |
Period 5 | 1,136 | 1,543 | 2,013 |
Period 6 | 1,038 | 924 | 2,125 |
Period 7 | 973 | 1,313 | 1,910 |
Period 8 | 1,088 | 1,951 | 1,482 |
Period 9 | 1,491 | 1,079 | 2,115 |
Period 10 | 1,269 | 1,034 | 1,534 |
Period 11 | TBC | 970 | 1,894 |
Period 12 | TBC | 575 | 1,519 |
Period 13 | TBC | 1,059 | 1,447 |
Total | 12,519 | 14,850 | 24,789 |
Complaints as % of total journeys | 0.0265% | 0.0318% | 0.0257% |
ScotRail submits complaints data to the regulator, the Office of Rail and Road (ORR), and this data is published quarterly on the ORR website at https://dataportal.orr.gov.uk/statistics/passenger-experience/passenger-rail-service-complaints/
- Asked by: Collette Stevenson, MSP for East Kilbride, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Monday, 23 January 2023
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Current Status:
Answered by John Swinney on 1 February 2023
To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide details of the (a) original capital value of, (b) total spend to date on, (c) cost in each of the last five financial years of and (d) estimated cost per year until the end of the contract to service, each (i) NHS, (ii) education, (iii) justice and (iv) other Private Finance Initiative/Public Private Partnership (PFI/PPP) project in the East Kilbride constituency.
Answer
There are 3 operational Private Finance Initiative (PFI) contracts which comprise facilities within the East Kilbride area. These are NHS Lanarkshire’s Hairmyres Hospital, the Police Scotland College (formerly Police Force Training Centre) and South Lanarkshire’s Secondary Schools Modernisation PFI Programme. The Schools PFI Programme included a total of 19 new or refurbished secondary school facilities, 4 of which were within the East Kilbride area. These were Calderglen High School, Duncanrig Secondary School, Sanderson High School and St Andrew's and St Bride's High School.
There is also one operational NPD/hub contract which formed part of the Non-Profit Distributing (NPD) programme that comprises facilities within the East Kilbride area. This is the NHS Lanarkshire Bundle which includes 3 new health centres, 1 of which is in East Kilbride area.
The Scottish Government annually update and publish the cost information in relation to the referred PFI and NPD/hub contracts but not for each of the individual facilities within the contracts as this is not held. Information relating to PFI and NPD/hub contracts as described, is available from the Scottish Government website by way of the following link www.gov.scot
- Asked by: Mark Griffin, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 18 January 2023
Submitting member has a registered interest.
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Current Status:
Answered by Shona Robison on 1 February 2023
To ask the Scottish Government how (a) the Scottish Government and (b) local authorities monitor the number of landlords with buy-to-let mortgages in arrears, and what steps it (i) has taken and (ii) will take to prevent tenants being evicted due to lender repossession.
Answer
The Scottish Government monitors statistics collected by UK Finance on the number of buy-to-let mortgages in arrears across the UK. The latest trends are reported by the Scottish Government in the Scottish Housing Market Review, which is published each quarter as a resource for housing market stakeholders, including local authorities.
The Scottish Government is providing all local authorities with an annual share of £30.5 million in 2023-24 for homelessness prevention and response measures. We recognise that support to tenants being evicted is important and PRS landlords are under a duty to inform the local authority if their tenant is being evicted and at risk of homelessness. Anyone experiencing homelessness should contact their local authority as they have a legal duty to offer a minimum of temporary accommodation, advice and assistance to anyone at risk of homelessness. Organisations such as Shelter Scotland and Citizens Advice Scotland are also able to provide advice and guidance.
- Asked by: Pauline McNeill, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 24 January 2023
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Current Status:
Answered by John Swinney on 1 February 2023
To ask the Scottish Government what it considers the potential economic impact will be for areas that unsuccessfully bid for Freeports.
Answer
I refer the member to the answer to question S5W-14081 on 30 January 2023. All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament’s website, the search facility for which can be found at https://www.parliament.scot/chamber-and-committees/written-questions-and-answers