Seòmar agus comataidhean

I refer the member to the answer to question S5W-23920 on 9 July 2019. All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament's website, the search facility for which can be found at: http://www.parliament.scot/parliamentarybusiness/28877.aspx

The Scottish Government is strongly opposed to the inappropriate use of zero hour contracts. Our Fair Work Action Plan commits us to work with partners to consider and respond to the recommendations set out in the Fair Work Convention’s Social Care Inquiry Report to ensure that fair work is embedded in the delivery of social care services including the procurement process. This includes the recommendation for key stakeholders to develop and agree appropriate minimum contract standards for the provision of publicly-funded social care services, consistent with the Fair Work Framework and the Scottish Government’s Fair Work First initiative.

Fair Work First asks employers to commit to:

• investment in skills and training
• no inappropriate use of zero hours contracts (for example using zero hours contracts when people are working regular hours; exclusive contracts that stop flexible workers working for other people)
• action to tackle the gender pay gap
• genuine workforce engagement such as trade union or employee association recognition, and
• payment of the real Living Wage

The Fair Work Convention’s report made a number of recommendations relating to fair work and the social care sector and the Scottish Government is working with COSLA and other stakeholders such as the STUC, care providers including the Coalition of Care and Support Providers in Scotland and the Fair Work Convention to finalise the process which will support the implementation of these recommendations.

The Scottish Government has acted to secure improvement in social care and that is why the Cabinet Secretary for Health and Sport and Councillor Currie, COSLA spokesperson for Health and Social Care, launched a national programme to support local reform of social care on 12 June. The programme contains a commissioning and procurement workstream.

The gross expenditure on social care per person for the last five years is shown in the following table. The figures reflect social care services for all client groups and comprise public expenditure as well as contributions by individuals towards their care.

The Scottish Government is in regular dialogue with the Coalition of Care and Support Providers in Scotland (CCPS) and Scottish Care on a range of issues, including contracting, and they have had a central role in shaping the work that is required to improve the support and care that people require. CCPS and Scottish Care are members of the Ministerial Strategic Group for health and community care (MSG) charged with delivery of joint SG/COSLA review of integration and the reform of adult social care.

The Scottish Government is continuing to invest in integration and social care. In 2019-20 Integration Authorities will manage over £9 billion of funding which was previously managed separately by health boards and councils. We are increasing our package of investment in social care and integration to £711 million, an increase of 29% on last year, underlining our commitment to supporting older people and disabled people and to paying staff the real living wage.

The information requested is publically available in ‘Cancer Incidence in Scotland 2017’, published by Information Services Division in April 2019. This is available via the following link:

http://www.isdscotland.org/Health-Topics/Cancer/Publications/2019-04-30/cancer_staging.xlsx

We are continuing to invest in social care. Over the past decade a significant amount of work and investment has gone into supporting older people and people with disabilities to live well in their own homes for longer.

Integration authorities manage £9 billion of funding that was previously managed separately by health boards and councils. In 2019-20 we are increasing our package of investment in social care and integration to £711 million, an increase of 29% on last year.

We know that change is needed in social care support and that is why on 12 June, the Scottish Government launched a national programme to support local reform of social care support. It is being jointly led with COSLA, whose members are responsible for delivering and procuring these vital public services.

This information is not held by Scottish Government but is held locally by integration authorities and local government who are responsible for commissioning and procuring local social care services. The Scottish Government is in regular dialogue with the Coalition of Care and Support Providers in Scotland (CCPS) and Scottish Care on a range of issues, including contracting and sustainability, and they have had a central role in shaping the work that is required to improve the support and care that people require.

This was a survey undertaken of 3680 people from 30 medical schools across the UK and is not clear how many of them were from Scotland.

The Increasing Undergraduate Education in Primary Care Group, chaired by Dr John Gillies, was set up to make recommendations on increasing undergraduate education in primary care. Currently only around 9% of the clinical curriculum is taught in primary care and the aim of the group was to consider how this could be increased.

The group will publish its report later this summer, setting out its recommendations.

A Ministerial statement on the Tackling Child Poverty Delivery Plan, First Year Progress Report, was provided to Parliament on Wednesday 26 June.

The progress report is available on the Scottish Government's website, https://www.gov.scot/publications/tackling-child-poverty-delivery-plan-first-year-progress-report-2018-19 .

I refer the member to the answer to question S5W-23801 on 27 June 2019. All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament's website, the search facility for which can be found at http://www.parliament.scot/parliamentarybusiness/28877.aspx .