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We provide year round support for children from low income families, including over the summer holiday period, through the Scottish Child Payment (worth £20 per week for every eligible child under the age of 6), Bridging Payments (worth up to £520 in 2022 with over 148,000 school age children benefitting and a further £130 paid for each eligible child ahead of the summer holidays) and School Clothing Grants (worth £120 for eligible primary school children and £150 for secondary). We recognise that holiday periods can present additional challenges for families, so we have provided local authorities with £21.75 million to fund free school meals alternatives for all eligible families. This is provided directly to families in the form of vouchers or cash payments. This year we have also invested a further £10 million into a targeted summer holiday programme, designed to reach those school age children and their families who can benefit most from access to free holiday childcare, activities and nutritious food.

In line with the Grant Agreement between Scottish Rail Holdings Ltd and ScotRail Trains Ltd, the first Service Level Commitment (SLC) has to be prepared within the first quarter from 1 April 2022 i.e. end of June 2022.

Transport Scotland’s will publish the Service Level Commitment on the Transport Scotland website once this process has been agreed and finalised.

There is no budget allocated as part of the Scottish Government marketing budget for 2022-2023 for campaigns on buses and coaches.

The Scottish Government has supported additional staffing costs, including the Social Care Staff Support Fund, through sustainability payment funding to Integration Authorities.

£561 million in 2020-21 and over £700 million in 2021-22 was allocated to Integration Authorities for social care Covid-19 support, including sustainability payments. While no further Barnett consequentials have been provided, the Scottish Government has continued funding a number of additional Covid-19 costs in 2022-23, providing funding for all costs associated with vaccinations and testing in care homes to 31 March 2023. The emergency legislation underpinning the Social Care Staff Support Fund is due to expire on 30 September 2022 and officials are currently reviewing options for support beyond this date.

The Scottish Government does not receive separate reporting relating to the cost of the Social Care Staff Support Fund for delegated services, and such information would require to be requested from Integration Authorities.

The Social Care Staff Support Fund was set up in June 2020 using emergency powers provided by the Coronavirus (No.2) (Scotland) Act. This provision is intended for a group of workers who, due to the nature of their work or work environment, may be expected to self-isolate on more than one occasion as part of infection prevention and control. The aforementioned emergency powers are due to expire on 30 September 2022, and my officials are currently scoping what support may be required beyond this date.

The Scottish Government welcomed the Setting the Bar report and its findings will inform future policy decisions. Social workers make a highly skilled, unique and make a valuable contribution to supporting individuals and families across Scotland. We acknowledge the significant pressures social workers face around increasing workloads, staff shortages and the more complex needs of those they support – all of which have been exacerbated by COVID.

Social workers are primarily employed by local authorities. It is the responsibility of local authorities to plan their workforce and ensure they have the appropriate levels of staff in place to provide social services for their residents. To aid with this, the Scottish Government provided additional funding of £25m, announced as part of the 2022-23 Budget, to relieve pressure on the adult social care sector to ensure care can be delivered safely to those who need it. As agreed by COSLA Leaders, £22m of funding was distributed based on grant aided expenditure for adult social work for 2022-23. It will be used to employ additional social workers or associated social work assistants or support staff – with the clear purpose of adding to the capacity of the social work workforce to respond to the current pressures.

An additional £25m funding has been invested by the Scottish Government to support the training of social workers over the last 5 years, including post-graduate bursaries and support for practice-based learning. In addition, between 2021 – 2023, the Scottish Association of Social Work is receiving £200,000 of funding to provide a peer support service covering a range of issues, including wellbeing and resilience.

The recently published National Care Service (Scotland) Bill will establish a new National Social Work Agency, which will support the social work profession in a range of areas, including: workforce planning and social work terms and conditions.

Considering the findings of the report, the Scottish Government will continue to work with COSLA and other stakeholders to look at how social workers can be supported while they undertake their vital work across our communities.

The Scottish Government welcomes the Setting the Bar for Social Work in Scotland report and will consider and discuss the findings with its partners to inform and develop future social work workforce policy. Social workers make a highly skilled, unique and valuable contribution to supporting individuals and families across Scotland. We acknowledge the significant pressures social workers face around increasing workloads, staff shortages and the more complex needs of those they support – all of which have been exacerbated by COVID.

Social workers are primarily employed by local authorities and it is the responsibility of local authorities to plan their workforce and ensure they have the appropriate levels of staff in place to provide social services for their residents.

The Scottish Government has invested £25m, as part of the 2022-23 Budget, to relieve pressure on the adult social care sector. £22m of this funding was distributed based on grant aided expenditure, as agreed by COSLA Leaders, and will be used to employ additional social workers or associated social work assistants or support staff – with the clear purpose of adding to the capacity of the social work workforce. Another £2m has been given to local authorities since 2019 to provide additional capacities for Mental Health Officers.

There are a range of social work degrees available from full-time undergraduate to in-work postgraduate courses. Since 2018, an additional two universities offer social work courses, which has resulted in nine universities offering courses across Scotland. More information can be found here: Studying social work at university - Scottish Social Services Council (sssc.uk.com)

The number of individuals applying for these courses continues to exceed the number of places available, with an overall increase of almost 100 individuals in the last three years. This is shown by 629 applications in 2018-19 versus 720 applications in 2021-22.

As part of our ambition to increase access to the social work profession the Scottish Government is working with Skills Development Scotland and the Scottish Social Services Council to explore the creation of a Graduate Apprenticeship in Social Work. We are also providing an extra £264,000 to Robert Gordon University and Open University to support distance learning courses.

As you have correctly stated, over the last five years, the Scottish Government has provided £25m to support the training of social workers by funding distributed by the Scottish Social Services Council. This includes approximately £2.7m per year for post-graduate bursaries and £2.4m per year support for practice-based learning to increase the number of entrants into the profession.

The Scottish Government has invested £25m, as part of the 2022-23 Budget, to relieve pressure on the adult social care sector. £22m of this funding was distributed based on grant aided expenditure, as agreed by COSLA Leaders, and will be used to employ additional social workers or associated social work assistants or support staff – with the clear purpose of adding to the capacity of the social work workforce. Another £2m has been given to local authorities since 2019 to provide additional capacities for MHOs.

As part of our ambition to increase access to the social work profession the Scottish Government is also working with Skills Development Scotland and the Scottish Social Services Council to explore the creation of a Graduate Apprenticeship in Social Work. We are also providing £264,000 to Robert Gordon University and Open University to support distance learning courses.

In regards to the number of social workers recruited and retained, this is not information the Scottish Government holds centrally. This would be a matter for local authorities. Please see the following table, which provides a breakdown of how many social workers are employed in local authorities. More information can be found at: Workforce data reports | Scottish Social Services Workforce Data (sssc.uk.com)

Table 1 – Number of social workers (up to December 2020)

The Scottish Government welcomes the Setting the Bar report and will consider and discuss the findings with its partners to inform and develop future social work workforce policy.

Social workers, and the business support staff that assist them, are primarily employed by local authorities. It is the responsibility of local authorities to plan their workforce and ensure they have the appropriate levels of staff in place to provide social services for their residents. To aid with this, the Scottish Government provided additional funding of £25m, announced as part of the 2022-23 Budget, to relieve pressure on the adult social care sector to ensure care can be delivered safely to those who need it. As agreed by COSLA Leaders, £22m of funding was distributed based on grant aided expenditure for adult social work for 2022-23. Local authorities have the flexibility to allocate Scottish Government funding based on their individual needs. The intention of the funding is to allow local authorities to employ additional social workers or associated social work assistants or support staff – with the clear purpose of adding to the capacity of the social work workforce to respond to the current pressures.

Considering the findings of the report, the Scottish Government will continue to work with COSLA and other stakeholders to look at how social workers can be supported while they undertake their vital work across our communities.

I refer the member to the answer to question S6W-09444 on 27 July 2022. 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 .