- Asked by: Mark Ruskell, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Green Party
-
Date lodged: Thursday, 29 June 2023
-
Current Status:
Answered by Fiona Hyslop on 17 July 2023
To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S6W-18387 by Mairi McAllan on 9 June 2023, whether it will provide an update on its work with ATCO and COSLA in developing the Community Bus Fund, and when it plans to launch the Community Bus Fund.
Answer
The Scottish Government continues to work closely with ATCO and COSLA in developing the Community Bus Fund (CBF). We are currently running proposals through the COSLA governance process with a view to launch the fund later this year.
- Asked by: Jamie Greene, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
-
Date lodged: Thursday, 29 June 2023
-
Current Status:
Answered by Maree Todd on 17 July 2023
To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on its progress towards its target for out-of-area residential placements and inappropriate hospital stays to be greatly reduced by March 2024, as set out in its report, Coming Home Implementation: A report from the working group on complex care and delayed discharge.
Answer
We are committed to delivering the Coming Home recommendations to reduce inappropriate out-of-area placements and delayed discharges experienced by people with learning disabilities and complex care needs. We continue to work closely with COSLA and the local partners which have statutory responsibility for providing and commissioning appropriate services to meet their population’s needs.
In terms of progressing the recommendations, Dynamic Support Registers have been developed and launched, and local partners are now populating these. The Registers will provide an overview of the position across Scotland and help local areas to plan for people with learning disabilities and complex care needs to live in their home communities. We know that a number of local areas are already using these registers.
The Practitioner Peer Support Network to support local areas to share best practice will go live soon and we are also progressing work to establish a National Support Panel, to support local areas to share best practice and ensure genuine change is delivered.
- Asked by: Alexander Burnett, MSP for Aberdeenshire West, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
-
Date lodged: Monday, 26 June 2023
-
Current Status:
Answered by Maree Todd on 17 July 2023
To ask the Scottish Government what funding is allocated to Self Directed Support Scotland to provide training to personal assistants in autism-affirming ways.
Answer
The Scottish Government recognises the importance of Personal Assistants who offer bespoke, personalised and flexible care, enabling those with support needs to remain healthy and at home for longer.
The Personal Assistant (PA) Programme Board was established in 2021 to provide advice to Ministers on issues and actions needed to support this workforce. The work of the PA Programme Board Training sub group is led and informed by key stakeholders including PA employers. Work underway during 2023 includes funding of up to £91K, to build on the successful leadership in this area by Self Directed Support Scotland, to prepare a national PA training framework which will be developed with consideration of neurodiversity. Further information about the PA Programme Board is available at: Self Directed Support Scotland .
- Asked by: Carol Mochan, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Labour
-
Date lodged: Monday, 26 June 2023
-
Current Status:
Answered by Siobhian Brown on 17 July 2023
To ask the Scottish Government what its response is to the statement in the Transvaginal Mesh Case Record Review report, regarding the findings of the 2018 investigative review, that "Despite being well received, to date, none of the 46 recommendations made have been implemented by the Scottish Government", and how it plans to address this.
Answer
Professor Britton’s 2018 Investigative Review gave 46 recommendations regarding the process of establishing, managing and supporting Independent Reviews in Scotland.
We accepted and agreed with the vast majority of her conclusions and recommendations. The recommendations have already been reflected in a number of inquiries and reviews established in recent years. We are also developing guidance to support inquires and reviews that will build upon Professor Britton’s recommendations and hope to publish that shortly.
- Asked by: Alexander Burnett, MSP for Aberdeenshire West, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
-
Date lodged: Monday, 26 June 2023
-
Current Status:
Answered by Maree Todd on 17 July 2023
To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update regarding the funding for post-diagnostic services to support autistic people.
Answer
The Scottish Government is prioritising investment in a range of support available both pre and post diagnosis.
Our new £1 million Autism Support Fund will soon be launched by Inspiring Scotland. Individual funding awards will be announced following a fair and open application and assessment process based on set criteria.
- Asked by: Alexander Burnett, MSP for Aberdeenshire West, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
-
Date lodged: Monday, 26 June 2023
-
Current Status:
Answered by Maree Todd on 17 July 2023
To ask the Scottish Government what guidelines are in place to support Self Directed Support Scotland to provide training to personal assistants in autism-affirming ways.
Answer
I refer the member to the answer to question S6W-19460 on 17 July 2023. All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament’s website, the search facility for which can be found at https://www.parliament.scot/chamber-and-committees/written-questions-and-answers
- Asked by: Monica Lennon, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
-
Submitting member has a registered interest.
-
Date lodged: Tuesday, 27 June 2023
-
Current Status:
Answered by Maree Todd on 17 July 2023
To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S6W-19037 by Maree Todd on 26 June 2023, whether it will provide details of any plans it has to assess or review the level of safeguarding in place regarding named persons defined under the Mental Health (Care and Treatment) (Scotland) Act 2003.
Answer
On 28 June 2023, the Scottish Government published its response to the Scottish Mental Health Law Review and set out initial views on the proposals. We have taken time to carefully consider Lord Scott’s recommendations and will now establish a new Mental Health and Capacity Reform Programme. Over the summer we will be designing the Programme, working with people who have experienced the mental health system, to reach decisions about the changes that are needed in the short, medium and long-term and how to put them into practice.
One of the high-level priorities for this Reform Programme is to consider whether there are changes that can be made over the shorter term to improve the current operation of the Mental Health Act and to strengthen safeguards when it is considered necessary to provide non-consensual care or treatment. This could include the consideration of improvements to provisions around named persons.
- Asked by: Oliver Mundell, MSP for Dumfriesshire, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
-
Date lodged: Tuesday, 27 June 2023
-
Current Status:
Answered by Maree Todd on 17 July 2023
To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on what action is being taken to reduce reported backlogs at the Office of the Public Guardian regarding processing power of attorney applications.
Answer
The Office of the Public Guardian (OPG) is part of the Scottish Courts and Tribunal Service (SCTS). SCTS is an independent body corporate and does not answer directly to the Scottish Government (SG). Instead, it is directly answerable to its board, chaired by the Lord President.
OPG advise that they continue to fund a dedicated taskforce to reduce the time taken to process PoA applications. They have commenced a programme to develop a new case management system, which will provide greater online capability and greater effectiveness in PoA registrations.
- Asked by: Monica Lennon, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
-
Date lodged: Monday, 03 July 2023
-
Current Status:
Answered by Maree Todd on 17 July 2023
To ask the Scottish Government whether it has identified the causes of the 19% increase in the estimated number of referrals for adults at risk of harm since 2019-20, as identified in its publication, Adult Support and Protection Scotland: April 2019 to March 2022.
Answer
It is not possible to definitively identify the reasons for this estimated 19% increase in referrals as a number of factors may affect this. However, the increase does not necessarily mean that more people are at risk of harm because individuals can be referred multiple times by different agencies. A number of other factors may also impact on this increase, including, for example, increased awareness of how to make an ASP referral (including self-referral) following National ASP awareness day campaigns and local ASP training and awareness raising.
As highlighted in the Adult Support and Protection Scotland publication , there is limited consistency between local authorities on their definition of referrals. For example, between the dates in question, some local authorities were known to apply a strict filtering process before recording a referral, while others included a far greater percentage of notifications received in their referral figures.
The existing ASP annual data is currently under review and the development of an ASP minimum dataset is being taken forward by The Institute for Research and Innovation in Social Services (IRISS). The aim is to have a shared understanding of information to generate more robust, meaningful and comparable data.
- Asked by: Monica Lennon, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
-
Date lodged: Monday, 26 June 2023
-
Current Status:
Answered by Jenny Gilruth on 17 July 2023
To ask the Scottish Government whether it can provide an update as to what contact it has had with local authorities regarding the expansion of universal free school meal provision to P6 and P7 pupils.
Answer
Scotland continues to have the most comprehensive universal free school meal provision anywhere in the UK. We are in regular contact with local authority representatives regarding our free school meal expansion programme.
