- Asked by: Sarah Boyack, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Friday, 07 October 2022
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Current Status:
Answered by Neil Gray on 25 October 2022
To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S6W-11199 by Neil Gray on 4 October 2022, whether it will list the meetings that its (a) ministers and (b) officials have had with COSLA between March 2022 and October 2022 to discuss Scotland's welcome to Ukrainian refugees.
Answer
Scottish Government officials and COSLA are working together as a partnership to ensure all Ukrainian displaced people are supported during their time in Scotland. As they are a key stakeholder in this work, the Scottish Government has regular and ongoing engagement with COSLA at Ministerial and official level.
I met with the COSLA spokesperson for Community Wellbeing this week, and details of Ministerial engagements are regularly published on the Scottish Government’s website: Ministerial engagements, travel and gifts - gov.scot (www.gov.scot) .
- Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Friday, 07 October 2022
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Current Status:
Answered by Maree Todd on 25 October 2022
To ask the Scottish Government whether it has established the short life working group tasked with undertaking a national review of domiciliary eye care services provision, and, if it has, what the membership of the group is, and when the group last met.
Answer
The SLWG has yet to be established as we are presently intending to recruit additional clinical advisory capacity and expect to progress once this resource is in place.
- Asked by: Katy Clark, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Thursday, 29 September 2022
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Current Status:
Answered by Jenny Gilruth on 25 October 2022
To ask the Scottish Government what stakeholder engagement exercises it has undertaken in communities on the Clyde and Hebrides ferry network to canvass opinion on procurement of the next contract, since the interim findings of the Ferry Law Review were published in December 2017.
Answer
I regularly meet with and engage directly with island communities to seek their views on the provision of ferry services and areas which the travelling public are keen to see improvements.
This work will be carried out as part of the preparatory work for the next Clyde and Hebrides Ferry Service (CHFS) contract. We are committed to ensure that the views and perspectives of key stakeholders and communities are considered, reflected upon and help shape the detail within the next CHFS contract.
- Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Monday, 10 October 2022
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Current Status:
Answered by Kevin Stewart on 25 October 2022
To ask the Scottish Government how much it expects to recoup from asking Integration Joint Boards to return any unspent COVID-19 funding.
Answer
The majority of Integrated Joint Board reserves are earmarked for specific purposes, in particular the ongoing response to COVID-19 and cannot be used to fund new spending commitments.
Further Covid funding has not been available from the UK Government for Covid related pressures in 2022-23.
Further work will be carried out to assess the amounts to be re-couped from IJBs in line with Covid requirements
More than £1.6 billion has been provided for social care and integration in 2022-23in addition to support for Covid, and we are committed to increasing spend in social care by at least 25% by the end of this Parliament, an increase of over £840 million.
- Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Monday, 10 October 2022
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Current Status:
Answered by Kevin Stewart on 25 October 2022
To ask the Scottish Government how much money it expects to spend on the use of private companies in undertaking contracts for work relating to the establishment of a National Care Service in the financial year of (a) 2022-23, (b) 2023-24 and (c) 2024-25, broken down by the purpose of any such spending.
Answer
Please see the following table of contracts which have been awarded so far by year, as part of the National Care Service Programme.
Currently, there is no additional budget specifically allocated for procuring external advice from private companies, although the National Care Service Programme will retain flexibility to procure external expertise as necessary to deliver the National Care Service.
Contract | Supplier Awarded Contract | Contract Duration | Contract Dates | Total Contract Value | Contract Purpose |
Financial Controls Review | AAB | 4 months with the option for a 4 month extension which can be used purely for time to complete, not to add monetary value | 25-04-22 – 25-08-22 | £45,504 exc. VAT | To provide advice to the NCS finance team on recommendations for improvement where necessary on the financial controls in place, the capacity and capability of the finance team, and the methodology used to provide estimates set-up and running costs for the NCS. |
VAT Advice | AAB | 12 months | Spring 22-23 – Spring 23-24 | £46,749 exc. VAT | To provide advice on necessary VAT preparations for the establishment of a NCS. To provide advice on the VAT impact of different NCS scenarios and recommend any options and/or solutions that could potentially achieve a VAT neutral outcome. |
Operating Model and Business Case production | KPMG | 18 months | 13-12-21 – 13-06-23 | £546,000 | To produce a Current Operating Model for the current social care sector, a Target Operating Model for the National Care Service and a Programme Business Case. |
Provision of Consultation response analysis | PwC | 3 months | Dec 21 – Feb 22 | £68,360 | Contract to undertake analysis and the production of a report for the public consultation on A National Care Service for Scotland. Contract now complete. |
National Care Service Operating model design | PwC | 2 months | 03-09-21 – 03-11-21 | £107,020.80 | Contract for advice and the production of a report on programme governance arrangements and a Design Authority within the National Care Service Programme. Contract now complete. |
Landscape review | Socitim (Society for Innovation, Technology and Modernisation) | 12 months | 14-02-22 – 14-02-23 | £412,624 exc. VAT | A review of the technology and digital architectural landscape across the public, private and third sector organisations who are involved in the delivery of social care services in Scotland to understand what will and will not work in the system |
User research | Storm ID | 2 months | 21-02-22 – 27-04-22 | £47,300 exc. VAT | User research to explore how people experience interacting with services in Scotland, and is particularly focussed on what data is important to them. Contract now complete. |
International research | Capgemini Invents | 2 months | 24-02-22 – 15-04-22 | £49,000 exc. VAT | Research to understand what digital approaches, services and products have enabled similar services outside of Scotland and what lessons can be learned from both successful and unsuccessful digital projects and programmes. This will focus on the technical and practical elements of work rather than the policy drivers. Contract now complete. |
Technical architecture partner | Capgemini Invents | 12 months | 15-08-22 – 15-08-23 | £338,730 exc. VAT | Research to understand in detail how data is currently flowing in the social care and health system and a technical architecture review of existing national digital assets to make a technical assessment to inform design decisions and inform the re-use of assets where appropriate. |
- Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Monday, 10 October 2022
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Current Status:
Answered by Kevin Stewart on 25 October 2022
To ask the Scottish Government what modelling it has been undertaken to calculate the updated level of unmet need in adult social care since the publication of the Independent Review of Adult Social Care.
Answer
Scottish Government analysts are considering options for increasing our understanding of the nature and level of unmet need in adult social care, and will continue to engage with external partners to develop appropriate approaches and deliver new insights over the coming months.
- Asked by: Oliver Mundell, MSP for Dumfriesshire, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 04 October 2022
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Current Status:
Answered by Maree Todd on 25 October 2022
To ask the Scottish Government what action it can take in light of reports that Gretna Dental Practice will no longer provide NHS services.
Answer
The Scottish Government is responsible for putting a framework in place that is conducive to the encouragement of NHS dental services. Part of that framework includes providing funding, through the emergency support payments, multiplier payments, and bridging payments, to help NHS dental practices to provide NHS dental services.
We understand that there are particular challenges in attracting dentists to work in more remote areas which is why we have recently updated the Recruitment and Retention Allowance. This Golden Hello payment means that dentists providing NHS dental services in qualifying areas, including Gretna, can receive up to £25,000 over a two year period. We are also working closely with NHS Education for Scotland (NES) to develop a mentorship scheme for EU dentists which will allow them to work in Scotland to support areas facing recruitment challenges whilst they work towards their VT equivalence.
NHS Boards make arrangements with dental contractors to provide NHS dental services in their areas as local provision is the responsibility of the Board. However, officials meet regularly with the Board and are working closely with them on suitable contingency arrangements should these be required.
- Asked by: Sharon Dowey, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 04 October 2022
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Current Status:
Answered by Keith Brown on 25 October 2022
To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S6W-08830 by Keith Brown on 8 June 2022, whether it will provide an update on its plans to create a Peace Institute by 2022, and what the (a) location, (b) cost and (c) remit of this body will be.
Answer
It is important that we build on our existing peace work and increase our knowledge and experience to strengthen Scotland’s peace offer. That is why we are actively considering options from the expert research we commissioned. The Scottish Government is committed to Scotland being an active and responsible global citizen and our priority now is to ensure that our future peace offer is an appropriate and responsible contribution to the existing activity underway in Scotland and internationally. I look forward to updating Parliament with our plans in due course.
- Asked by: Katy Clark, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Thursday, 29 September 2022
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Current Status:
Answered by Jenny Gilruth on 25 October 2022
To ask the Scottish Government on what date Ernst and Young agreed to Transport Scotland’s request for the Project Neptune documents to be (a) shared with third parties and (b) published.
Answer
The statement of requirements for Project Neptune clearly states, “the likelihood would be that the final report and recommendations will be published by Scottish Government. It is imperative that the content remains confidential until the Scottish Parliament has been informed.” By signing the Project Neptune contract on 9 of March 2021, the consultant, Ernst and Young, have agreed to requirements as set in the statement of requirements.
- Asked by: Katy Clark, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Thursday, 29 September 2022
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Current Status:
Answered by Jenny Gilruth on 25 October 2022
To ask the Scottish Government for what reasons the figures for (a) Government subsidy and (b) farebox revenue in the Norwegian ferry sector are redacted in the benchmarking section of Project Neptune’s Strategic Framework for Options for the CHFS Network, and whether it will arrange for those figures to be published.
Answer
The redacted figures are considered to represent sensitive information as it originated from interviews with the Norwegian Government. As such, this information is not for Scottish Government to publish.
