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The Scottish Government is currently consulting on draft guidance on social care procurement which provides a framework and defines a set of guiding principles for social care procurement activity. The draft guidance underlines the need for local authorities to be realistic in specifying requirements and outcomes which can be delivered within available budgets. It also states that local authorities must take account of the need for a skilled and competent workforce.

The consultation documents can be accessed on the Scottish Government''s website:

http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Publications/2010/01/13125045/0.

The consultation period ends on 5 April 2010.

Given the complexity of social care procurement, it is necessary to consider the desirability of national contracts and pricing frameworks on a case-by-case basis. The Scottish Government, COSLA and Scotland Excel (the procurement Centre of Expertise for local authorities) are working together to explore best practice in relation to social care contracts and pricing frameworks. Scotland Excel is currently consulting local authorities on the opportunities for joint commissioning of services.

Funding for social care workforce development is included in the revenue funding to local authorities. I attach the revenue allocations for the period 2008-11.

Local Authority Revenue Funding 2008-11

Local Authority	2008-09 Revenue (£ million)	2009-10 Revenue (£ million)	2010-11  Revenue (£ million)
Aberdeen City	340.892	361.814	367.204
Aberdeenshire	403.25	425.866	435.271
Angus	204.43	215.706	219.556
Argyll and Bute	218.977	229.042	231.488
Clackmannanshire	92.659	99.381	101.271
Dumfries and Galloway	298.173	314.925	323.027
Dundee City	305.863	318.822	320.514
East Ayrshire	231.717	242.747	244.425
East Dunbartonshire	178.372	192.372	192.558
East Lothian	166.234	174.857	178.328
East Renfrewshire	169.014	179.382	182.851
Edinburgh (City of)	775.511	821.286	816.288
Eilean Siar	108.241	112.307	115.895
Falkirk	269.922	289.470	295.158
Fife	646.636	683.358	690.629
Glasgow City	1,399.38	1,464.773	1,443.286
Highland	463.765	487.826	501.429
Inverclyde	177.484	185.289	184.431
Midlothian	155.422	161.450	162.346
Moray	160.306	168.237	173.026
North Ayrshire	274.125	288.097	288.547
North Lanarkshire	631.972	663.777	668.503
Orkney Islands	68.124	71.864	74.785
Perth and Kinross	242.05	256.972	265.090
Renfrewshire	336.408	347.025	347.507
Scottish Borders	212.846	228.118	231.130
Shetland Islands	94.533	97.377	98.691
South Ayrshire	201.934	214.080	215.982
South Lanarkshire	566.856	596.062	600.887
Stirling	169.674	179.691	183.103
West Dunbartonshire	203.867	217.489	216.582
West Lothian	293.541	313.354	318.580
Distributed	10,062.18	10,602.816	10,688.368

 

The information requested is shown in the following table.

Table 1. Deaths in Scotland for which norovirus or an equivalent term¹ was mentioned on the death certificate in calendar years 2007 and 2008:

Year of Registration of Death

NHS Board	2007	2008
Ayrshire and Arran	0	0
Borders	0	0
Dumfries and Galloway	0	0
Fife	2	1
Forth Valley	0	0
Grampian	0	0
Greater Glasgow and Clyde	2	2
Highland	0	0
Lanarkshire	2	0
Lothian	0	2
Orkney	0	0
Shetland	0	0
Tayside	0	1
Western Isles	0	0
All Scotland	6	6

Source: General Registry Office Scotland.

Note: 1. This table counts all deaths for which any one of the following words or terms was mentioned in the death certificate: norovirus, noroviral, norwalk (as this is what norovirus was originally called when it was identified in 1968); small round structured virus (SRSV, a term which was used later) and winter vomiting (as such illnesses are usually caused by norovirus). It also includes the deaths for which the underlying cause or any contributory cause was coded, in terms of the International Statistical Classification of Diseases and Related Health Problems, Tenth Revision (ICD10) as A08.1, Acute gastroenteropathy due to Norwalk agent.

The information which is available is given in the following table.

Deaths in Scotland for which the underlying cause was allocated to norovirus, calendar years 2007 and 2008.

Year of Registration of Death

NHS board	2007	2008
Ayrshire and Arran	0	0
Borders	0	0
Dumfries and Galloway	0	0
Fife	0	0
Forth Valley	0	0
Grampian	0	0
Greater Glasgow and Clyde	0	1
Highland	0	0
Lanarkshire	1	0
Lothian	0	0
Orkney	0	0
Shetland	0	0
Tayside	0	0
Western Isles	0	0
All Scotland	1	1

Source: General Register Office for Scotland.

The vast majority of capital resources are allocated by formula directly to NHS boards. NHS boards receive a capital resource limit within which they identify and prioritise their capital spending requirements. Boards are only obliged to bring capital projects over their delegated limits, for consideration and approval by the Capital Investment Group.

Following the UK Government''s pre-budget report announcement on 9 December 2009, it is clear that there is likely to be a significant reduction in the amount of capital funding available for the public sector, including the NHS. At this stage it is not clear how this will affect future devolved Scottish budgets. In line with this, NHS boards are currently reviewing their capital plans and are devising a process that will allow them to reach logical and well evidenced decisions on what investments they can take forward.

The boards have recently submitted draft five year financial plans as they do annually. These plans are currently being assessed and are subject to review and possible change to reflect the evaluation currently being undertaken.

Currently there are three health capital projects with a capital value of circa £51.2 million which have been agreed by individual NHS boards, considered by the Capital Investment Group, but await formal Scottish Government approval as there are outstanding issues to be resolved. These projects are listed in the following table:

NHS Board	Status	Capital Project	Capital Value
Grampian	Full Business Case	The Modernisation of Primary Health and Community Care Services in Forres	£12.130 million
Lothian	Full Business Case	Musselburgh Primary Care Centre	£18.290 million
Greater Glasgow and Clyde	Outline Business Case	Alexandria Medical Centre	£20.820 million

 

Scottish Government officials are liaising with the boards concerned with a view to resolving the outstanding issues.

This information is not held centrally.

The Care Commission takes a risk-based and proportionate approach to regulation. It takes account of a number of factors when determining the regulatory activity required for each service to ensure that people receive good quality care. These include the size of the service, the number of people who receive care, complaints activity and regulatory history. As part of the corporate governance arrangements, officials monitor regularly the commission''s regulatory activities, including its approach to inspections.

The creation of Social Care and Social Work Improvement Scotland (SCSWIS) will build on the work of the predecessor bodies. At present the Care Commission must inspect services at a minimum frequency set out in regulations. A key opportunity for SCSWIS is that it will be able to move away from a fixed programme of cyclical inspection to move further towards risk-based and more proportionate scrutiny.

The Scottish Government''s Joint Improvement Team is supporting the development of Telecare services in Scotland through a £16.35 million national programme, launched in August 2006. All 32 health and social care partnerships across Scotland are now in receipt of funding from the programme, and all are pursuing and developing local telecare services. Additional funding of £4 million is being made available for the financial year 2010-11 for the programme, which will be allocated to local health, housing and social care partnerships responsible for providing local care and support services in order to encourage a consistent and mainstreamed approach to telehealthcare across Scotland.

Partnerships in receipt of 2010-11 funding will wish to work closely with local private and voluntary sector providers of care and support, to develop integrated healthcare solutions which benefit their specific client groups in their respective areas.

As part of the eCare Programme, Local Data Sharing Partnerships are upgrading their social care systems to allow them to interact on a multi-agency basis with partners across health, education, the police, and other public sector agencies. Greater emphasis is also being placed on the involvement of the third sector in the technology supporting Getting it Right for Every Child (GIRFEC) requirements, which involves private and voluntary sectors.