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We have today launched our consultation on the proposed Wellbeing and Sustainable Development Bill, including the potential role of an Independent Commissioner for Future Generations. The consultation will run until 14 February 2024 and can be accessed at https://consult.gov.scot/national-performance-framework-unit/wellbeing-and-sustainable-development-scotland .

We committed in the 2022-23 and 2023-24 Programmes for Government to explore the development of a Wellbeing and Sustainable Development Bill, and we are now at the stage of seeking views on how this legislation could best ensure that wellbeing and sustainable development are embedded into public sector decision making and that future generations are considered in decisions made today.

We are seeking views on providing legislative definitions of “sustainable development” and “wellbeing”, strengthening duties on public bodies to consider the National Outcomes in decision making, and extending these duties to Scottish Ministers. We are also asking for views on how best to ensure that the necessary accountability and support for these duties is in place, including the potential role of an Independent Commissioner for Future Generations. I look forward to receiving a range of views on these matters.

I have also written to the Finance and Public Administration, Net Zero and Transport, Economy and Fair Work and Rural and Islands Committees to inform them of the consultation launch.

I am pleased to confirm that the report ‘NHS Recovery Plan 2021-2026 Annual Progress Update 2023' is being published today.

NHS Recovery Plan: annual progress update 2023 - https://www.gov.scot/isbn/9781835214251

We remain committed to delivering on the actions set out in the NHS Recovery Plan, and this report sets out the significant progress we have made. However, it is also important to recognise how much has changed since it was first published, and we are also supporting the ongoing recovery of our health and social care services with refreshed commitments as set out in the First Minister’s “Equality, opportunity, community: New leadership - A fresh start” which was published in April this year, and our ‘Programme for Government 2023/24’.

Looking ahead, in the coming months we will be working with partners across the health and social care system, Local Government and wider stakeholders, to set out our shared long term planning for population health and integrated health and social care services development.

The Scottish Government doesn’t inform the Met Office about landslips, as this is not an operational requirement of this UK Weather Agency. The role of the Met Office is to make meteorological predictions across all timescales from weather forecasts to climate change.

It should be noted however, The Met Office is one of a number of stakeholders the Scottish Government liaise with in the course of preparing responses to resilience and weather related events. The Met Office provide weather related advice to the Scottish Government, which in turn serves to inform our wider resilience response, including consideration of landslip risk in areas such as the A83, Rest and be Thankful.

We know through the views and experiences shared during the Independent Care Review that care experienced people can often feel stigmatised. Through the Each & Every Child initiative, we are working to shift public attitudes towards families, children and adults who are in care, leaving care or are care experienced. We also work alongside partners such as The Promise Scotland and Who Cares? Scotland to build on the aims set out in The Promise and broaden our understanding of, and to challenge, the stigma faced by Care Experienced people in the community.

On 23 November, the Minister for Children, Young People and Keeping the Promise announced that we will launch a consultation in Spring 2024 to inform development of a universal and inclusive definition of care experience. We will explore how this definition can best be reflected in relevant legislation to ensure a consistent and respectful use of this language.

Argyll and Bute Council requested activation of the Bellwin Scheme on 9 October and the Scottish Government responded on the same day to confirm that Ministers had activated the Bellwin Scheme in relation to the flooding on 7 and 8 October 2023.

The Bellwin Scheme allows Ministers to make additional revenue support available to local authorities to assist with immediate and unforeseen costs in dealing with the aftermath of emergency incidents. The key criterion of the Scheme is to safeguard life and property, and prevent suffering or severe inconvenience.

The Scheme addresses revenue and uninsurable expenditure incurred within a two month period from the date of the incident (or such later date as agreed between the Scottish Government and local authority).

Payments are only made once the local authority has exceeded its annual Bellwin Threshold which represents 0.2 per cent of their net revenue budget for the year in question. This is the amount local authorities are deemed to set aside to cover unforeseen emergencies across the financial year.

The 2023-24 Bellwin Threshold for Argyll and Bute is £528,662.

Under section 70 of the Education (Scotland) Act 1980, any interested party can make a complaint to the Scottish Ministers that a responsible body (the managers of a school or education establishment, an education authority, or other persons) has failed to discharge a duty imposed on them by, or for the purposes of any enactment relating to education.

For Independent Adjudication, applicants write officially to Scottish Ministers with their complaint. Ministers will nominate an Independent Adjudicator. However they do not have any involvement in decisions after that point. Ministers also officially appoint the panel of Independent Adjudicators.

Since 2016-17, 7 complaints have been made under section 70 of the Education (Scotland) Act 1980 relating additional support needs provision, and 13 complaints have been made through applications for independent adjudication.

Complaints under section 70:

1 – City of Edinburgh Council

1 – Perth and Kinross Council

2 – Highland Council

1 – West Dunbartonshire Council

1 – Comhairle nan Eilean Siar (Western Isles)

1 – Midlothian Council

Complaints through Independent Adjudication:

1 – East Dunbartonshire Council

1 – Aberdeen City Council

2 – Scottish Borders Council

1 – Dundee City Council

2 – Glasgow City Council

1 – East Lothian Council

1 – Comhairle nan Eilean Siar (Western Isles)

1 – West Dunbartonshire Council

1 – North Lanarkshire Council

2 – City of Edinburgh Council

Under the Additional Support for Learning Act 2004, education authorities have duties to identify, provide for and review the additional support needs of their pupils. Parents and carers are encouraged to continue to engage with their child or young person’s school about the support that is in place. The aim is for disagreements to be resolved at as local a level as possible, and as quickly as possible, to ensure that children and young people receive the support they need to access and benefit from learning. As these complaints are dealt with at a local level, the information is not held centrally.

This information is not held centrally.

However, the Pupils with complex additional support needs: research into provision published on 19 September 2023 reflects practice and provides examples of the transition process followed by a child or young person with additional support needs to a specialist settings.