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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: S6W-24339

Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 04 January 2024
Current Status: Answered by Maree Todd on 1 February 2024

To ask the Scottish Government what action it is taking through its Budget for staff, services and patients in relation to those in need of support who are waiting more than six weeks for a social care assessment due to the sector reportedly being under-resourced.

The Scottish Government invested £1.7 billion in social care support and health and care integration in 2023-24, and the Scottish budget for 2024-25 provides and additional £2 billion investment in social care and integration. This delivers on our commitment to increase spending by 25% over this parliament – two years ahead of our original target.

Whilst the Scottish Government has overall responsibility for health and social care support policy, local authorities and health and social care partnerships are responsible for commissioning appropriate services for local and individual needs.

Question reference: S6W-24340

Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 04 January 2024
Current Status: Answered by Maree Todd on 1 February 2024

To ask the Scottish Government what percentage of the current social care workforce is female.

Question reference: S6W-24343

Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 04 January 2024
Current Status: Answered by Maree Todd on 1 February 2024

To ask the Scottish Government what its position is on how its Budget recognises the part that social care plays within Scotland’s communities as an investment in the overall health of the nation.

We have protected and prioritised additional investment into social care despite the extreme pressure the Scottish Government is under as a result of the ongoing impacts of Covid, Brexit and inflation, and UK Government spending decisions, this years Budget has managed to increase the social care and integration budget by over £1 billion compared to 2021-22, exceeding our commitment to increase funding for social care by 25% over the life of the Parliament.

Social care workers delivering direct care in commissioned services will see their pay increase to a minimum of £12 per hour from April 2024 thanks to an additional £230 million investment. This represents a 10.1% increase from the £10.90 minimum rate that was introduced in April 2023, and a 14.3% increase in the last two years.

We acknowledge the importance of social care as an investment in the health of the Scottish population, this is why we continue to work closely with Health and Social Care Partnerships to support people out of acute settings and back into the community or home as quickly as possible using a 'Home first' approach.

Question reference: S6O-03061

Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 31 January 2024
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 7 February 2024

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on progress against the five fair work benchmarks in the National Strategy for Economic Transformation.

Question reference: S6W-24341

Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 04 January 2024
Current Status: Answered by Maree Todd on 30 January 2024

To ask the Scottish Government what its position is on how paying social care staff £12 per hour is consistent with the aims of the Fair Work agenda, in light of this level of pay reportedly contributing to a level of gender pay inequality.

The Scottish Government has a long-standing commitment to the principles of Fair-Work as we recognise and value the work that the social care sector do.

The £12 minimum pay-rate from April 2024 for Adult Social Care workers represents a 14.3% increase for these workers in the last two years; with pay rising from at least £10.50 per hour in April 2022.

Four out of five people who will benefit from this uplift in pay are women. Increasing pay not only helps the workforce in question but will also positively impact on our wider priorities on child poverty, Fair Work and post-Covid pandemic recovery in the health and care sector.

The creation of the National Care Service will help to provide consistency in further improved pay and conditions, access to training and development and ensuring a career in social care is attractive and rewarding – but we are beginning to make those improvements now .

Question reference: S6W-24342

Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 04 January 2024
Current Status: Answered by Maree Todd on 30 January 2024

To ask the Scottish Government how much has been saved from the revised and delayed National Care Service proposal, and how much of that money has been ringfenced for reinvestment in social care.

From a funding perspective there was no funding committed to the National Care Service as a result of the original Financial Memorandum, its purpose was only to show, as a result of the Bill, the potential additionality of cost that could be incurred were the Bill to progress as introduced. This is also the case for the revision to the Financial Memorandum and the associated Shared Accountability costing.

The commitment to increase social care funding by at least £840 million over this Parliament has been surpassed 2 years early, with funding for social care increasing by over £1 billion compared to 2021-22. Furthermore, the 2024-25 draft Budget supports services with investment of over £2 billion to support health and social care integration.

Despite increased investment and vision of the National Care Service, it is noted that the system is under extreme pressure as a result of the ongoing impacts of Covid, Brexit and inflation. We will continue to work with partners across health and social to address these challenges and to take forward the reform that is essential for delivery of financially, environmentally and socially sustainable services for the people of Scotland.

Question reference: S6W-24330

Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 04 January 2024
Current Status: Answered by Michael Matheson on 30 January 2024

To ask the Scottish Government when the planned elements of reform to the Agenda for Change pay structure will be (a) approved by the Cabinet Secretary for NHS Recovery, Health and Social Care and (b) implemented.

I am delighted that both Staff Side and NHS Board representatives have worked in partnership with us to undertake an extensive review of the Agenda for Review framework, which included the existing pay structure.

I am now considering the recommendations of the review alongside the wider impact of any action we take and the budget that we need to operate within.

We will continue to engage fully with our partners on all aspects of the review, including next steps.

Question reference: S6F-02767

Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 29 January 2024
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 1 February 2024

To ask the First Minister when the Scottish Government expects the remainder of the National Treatment Centres to be opened, in light of reports that NHS capital infrastructure projects have been paused.

Question reference: S6W-24508

Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 15 January 2024
Current Status: Answered by Siobhian Brown on 29 January 2024

To ask the Scottish Government for what reason it has reportedly withdrawn funding support for the 2024-25 Mark Scott Leadership for Life Award.

Our block grant funding for this Budget is derived from the UK Government's spending decisions and has fallen by 1.2% in real terms since 2022-23 – a real terms drop of £0.5 billion. The reality is that the amount Scotland has available to spend is still largely driven by the block grant set by successive UK Governments whose constraint of public expenditure prolongs the austerity felt by public services. The Scottish Government has had to prioritise and align Justice portfolio budget decisions with the Vision for Justice. While there is significant pressure across all Scottish Government budgets in 2024/25, officials are continuing to engage portfolios across government to try and identify budgets whose objectives may be more clearly aligned to the Mark Scott Awards. We will provide an update to the Outward Bound Trust about the Mark Scott Awards when this process is complete.

Question reference: S6W-24550

Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 16 January 2024
Current Status: Answered by Michael Matheson on 25 January 2024

To ask the Scottish Government whether any funding for training anaesthesia associates and physician associates is allocated from (a) the NHS Scotland workforce training budget or (b) a separate funding stream.

The Scottish Government does not currently directly fund training for physician associates or anaesthesia associates via the Health and Social Care Portfolio. Health Boards may choose to put in place local arrangements for staff to train as an anaesthesia associate through existing UK-based course provision, in line with their local workforce and operational plans.

We are working with NHS Education for Scotland to determine whether, and to what extent, we make investment in additional domestic training provision for medical associate professionals (MAPs), in order to strengthen future workforce supply in a way that is commensurate with our commitment to take a progressive and evidence-based approach to the expansion of MAP roles across NHS Scotland.