Seòmar agus comataidhean

The information that has been requested is not held centrally by the Scottish Government.

The information that has been requested is not held centrally by the Scottish Government.

Parliamentary business is a matter for the Scottish Parliament’s Parliamentary Bureau and the Parliament itself.

The Scottish Government considers youth work within the school environment to be incredibly valuable.

An independent review of Community Learning and Development (CLD), was launched in December 2023 and is expected to conclude in June 2024. This review aims to assess the impact of CLD on learners across Scotland which will provide valuable insights for the delivery of CLD in a reformed education system.

As part of our work to develop a sustainable healthcare workforce, we continue to look for opportunities to increase levels of student attraction to healthcare professions. Careers in NHS Scotland are promoted on the NHS Education Scotland (NES) NHS careers website, designed to promote opportunities to school leavers, those in education and those looking to change careers. This site can be accessed at NHSScotland Careers

Additionally, NES are leading on the AHP Careers National Working Group. The group have developed materials for a national career service including a ‘workshop toolkit’ for careers advisors and teachers.

Following the completion of the Allied Health Professions (AHP) Education and Workforce Policy Review, an advisory group has been established. NES are represented on this group and will work in conjunction with the Scottish Government, and wider stakeholders, to oversee the effective implementation of the recommendations.

The group held its second meeting on 4 March 2024 and will consider the timescales required to meet the overarching aims at its future meetings, scheduled in June and October 2024.

The primary funders of locally based advice services are local authorities and it is for them to decide how best to target resources to meet local needs. Scottish Government do not, therefore hold information on the number of money advisers employed within the most deprived communities. The Improvement Service publishes a report annually on local authority spend on money advice services. The latest report can be accessed using the following link: https://www.improvementservice.org.uk/products-and-services/performance-management-and-benchmarking/common-advice-performance-management-framework/2022-23-report

In 2023-24, the Scottish Government invested more than £12.5 million in free welfare, debt and income maximisation services. Our funding approach is intended to maximise household incomes, tackle problem debt and to reduce poverty. Whilst the majority of our funding is allocated to organisations with a national reach, our investment also supports a range of other initiatives such as the Welfare Advice and Health Partnerships, which has enabled welfare rights advisors to be integrated in up to 180 GP practices across Scotland, with 150 of these targeted in the most deprived communities and 30 in remote, rural and island settings, and the Advice in Accessible Settings programme that supports 24 local partnerships to deliver advice in community, education and health settings.

Healthcare Improvement Scotland (HIS) is the health body which undertakes assessments and reviews of the quality of care throughout Scotland, however third sector organisations are not captured by their current inspections of NHS services. Health Boards might arrange for treatment to be provided for patients by non-NHS Scotland providers in exceptional circumstances for clinical reasons however the responsibility for consultation, diagnosis and treatment of patients fully remains with the originating Health Board.

Independent Healthcare is regulated by HIS which consists of independent hospitals, private psychiatric hospitals, independent clinics and also voluntary hospices; some of which are commissioned to provide NHS services.

The Scottish Government takes an evidence-based approach to tackling child poverty by ensuring that plans are underpinned by evidence and that we carefully monitor progress. The evaluation strategy summarises the approach which is split across three key areas:

(1) Careful monitoring of the four child poverty targets(relative poverty, absolute poverty, low income and material deprivation, and persistent poverty).

(2) Examination of the three drivers of poverty via the child poverty measurement framework (income from employment, cost of living, and income from social security and benefits in-kind) and

(3) monitoring impact of key interventions on child poverty.

The hyperlinks to all key documents mentioned above are included in the background note.

The Perinatal and Infant Mental Health Managed Clinical Network Scotland (PIMHNS) has developed a workstream ‘Parents as Patients’ to develop guidance around joined-up working (i) between perinatal/infant mental health services and other mental health services (e.g. general adult mental health, unscheduled care, liaison mental health), and (ii) between perinatal/infant mental health services and other relevant medical care services (particularly primary care and acute hospital care). The important role of the third sector will feature in both. Initial meetings of two Short Life Working Groups (SLWG) have taken place to progress these workstreams, along with amending the existing care pathways which were published in 2021 ( https://www.nn.nhs.scot/pmhn/wp-content/uploads/sites/11/2021/06/Care-Pathways-full.pdf ) .

Both SLWGs will focus on the themes of:

• Interfaces – to cover both care between specialist and general or universal services. This would also include principles of joint working and good practice.
• Education and training – to address knowledge of parent infant relationships and infant mental health needs as well as child protection issues and risks in relation to childbearing.

The final guidance and updated care pathways are due to be published in the final quarter of the financial year.

The resource for Mental Health and Wellbeing in Primary Care Services was published in June 2022. The resource was developed to support staff working as part of a multi disciplinary team within GP settings. The resource provides a directory of additional sources of help, which patients can access, to complement the support, assessment and treatment they receive from the team. It brings together a range of national resources and tools that support and improve mental health and wellbeing. Section 7 of the resource contains links to sources of support specifically for Perinatal and Parent Support. The resource was promoted via the Mental Health in Primary Care National Oversight Group, Mental Health in Primary Care Leads and NHS Board Mental Health Leads.

The Scottish Government recognises the document is not exhaustive and there will be a number of local resources and tools that staff will also want to use. The resource can be found at the following link the link for the resource Resources for Mental Health and Wellbeing in Primary Care Services (www.gov.scot) .

In addition to this wider work, there is also a resource dedicated to promoting third sector perinatal and infant mental health services. This resource is available to provide information to families and professionals, including in primary care, to raise awareness of over 110 local third sector services. In the last year the resource page has received 2,693 views. Inspiring Scotland have been promoting the tool on X and in their recent newsletter which reaches NHS staff as well as wider partners. The resource can be found here: Perinatal and Infant Mental Health Third Sector Service Directory - Inspiring Scotland .