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Kinship care is when a looked after child is placed by a local authority with an approved kinship carer. The Looked After Children (Scotland) Regulations 2009 defines a potential kinship carer as a person who is related to the child or who is known to the child and with whom the child has a pre-existing relationship. A local authority has the power to decide whether to approve such a relative or person as a kinship carer for the child. The 2009 Regulations also set out the requirements and procedures which must be followed when a child is placed with a kinship carer.

The vast majority of the funding provided to local government by the Scottish Government, including the funding for kinship care allowances, is provided by means of a block grant. It is the responsibility of each local authority to allocate the total financial resources available to it on the basis of local needs and priorities having first fulfilled its statutory obligations and the jointly agreed set of national and local priorities including the Scottish Government’s key strategic objectives.

Data on the number of kinship carers of looked after children is not held centrally.

As of 31 July 2010 there were 3,172 children living in kinship care arrangements.

On 1 April 2011 the establishment figures for inspection staff at Social Care and Social Work Improvement Scotland was 286.78 full time equivalent.

Following the death of a resident of the Elsie Inglis Nursing Home on 18 May 2011 a report was submitted by Lothian and Borders Police to the Procurator Fiscal in Edinburgh. Lothian and Borders Police and the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service continue to lead a wide ranging investigation into the circumstances of this death.

The investigation is in partnership with the Health and Safety Executive and the Care Inspectorate, and under the direction of the Health and Safety Division of the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service. Due to the ongoing investigation there are restrictions as to what we can say on this matter.

I also refer the member to the answer to questions S4W-00276 and S4W-00277
on 9 June 2011; and questions S4W-00279 and S4W-00509 on 15 June 2011. All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament’s website, the search facility for which can be found at:

http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/parliamentarybusiness/28877.aspx.

No transfers of established staff took place from the Social Work Inspection Agency to Social Care and Social Work Improvement Scotland or Healthcare Improvement Scotland on 1 April 2010. SWIA was still operating until 31 March 2011, and the new scrutiny bodies SCSWIS and HIS were not established until 1 April 2011.

However, on 1 April 2011 SWIA transferred 25 (24.76 full-time equivalent) established staff to SCSWIS. No staff transferred from SWIA to HIS at that time.

I refer the member to the answer to question S4W-01771 on 5 August 2011. All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the parliament’s website, the search facility for which can be found at http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/parliamentarybusiness/28877.aspx.

Work to gather statistics in relation to the Licensing (Scotland) Act 2005 is currently being undertaken and will be published in due course.

The Scottish Government has asked NHS Health Scotland to lead on monitoring and evaluating the implementation and impact of current alcohol strategy in Scotland. A study specifically on implementation of the Licensing (Scotland) Act 2005 was started in January 2010 and is due to finish in March 2013. A first interim report was published in June 2011.

I refer the member to the answer to question S4W-02448 on 21 September 2011. All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the parliament’s website, the search facility for which can be found at:

http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/parliamentarybusiness/28877.aspx.