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Extending digital connectivity is vital to communities, businesses and public services. That is why the Scottish Government strategy, A changing nation: how Scotland will thrive in a digital world , sets out a series of measures to ensure that Scotland will fulfil its potential in a constantly evolving digital world.

https://www.gov.scot/publications/a-changing-nation-how-scotland-will-thrive-in-a-digital-world/pages/foreword/

As part of this there is work to improve and extend Scotland's broadband and mobile networks as enabling citizens, including care home residents, to access and use digital services is a national priority with established principles.

Health and Social Care Standards

The Health and Social Care Standards, which set out what people should expect when using health, social care or social work services in Scotland, includes a range of standards about ensuring that people remain connected. This includes standard 5.10:

“If I experience 24 hour care, I am connected, including access to a telephone, radio, TV and the internet.”

The Standards are taken into account by the Care Inspectorate in relation to inspections, and registration, of social care services.

https://www.gov.scot/publications/health-social-care-standards-support-life

To support good practice, the Care Inspectorate have published quality illustrations statements in this area for adult care homes:

“People have easy access to the internet and a telephone and are routinely and actively supported to make best use of these. This includes space to have private conversations.”

“People are unable to stay connected as providers have not taken steps to minimise the impact of poor access to technology or areas where there is limited Wi-Fi or phone signal.”

“While there may be access to telephone and the internet, people are not routinely or actively supported to use these or cannot do so in private.”

“People benefit from options to keep connected using technology such as radio, phone, TV and the internet.”

Care Home design guide

The Care Inspectorate have published “Care Homes for Adults – The Design Guide” which provides advice on the design, planning and construction considerations for new or converted care homes for adults. This sets out expectations around internet access in care homes:

“Internet access must be sufficient to enable residents to retain contact with friends and relatives, as well as for recreational use such as music and video streaming or watching live events. It is also a necessary area for contact with professionals such as GPs through Near Me consultations, and for staff to maintain digital records”.

https://www.careinspectorate.com/index.php/publications-statistics/30-professionals-registration/professionals-guidance/6583-care-homes-for-adults-the-design-guide

Technology good practice guide

From a technology enabled care perspective, the Care Inspectorate’s recent publication “Using technology and digital devices to make a positive impact on health and wellbeing for people experiencing care” highlights how access to digital connection is becoming essential for everyone’s health and wellbeing. This publication supports improvement through quality illustrations, case studies and a toolkit of resources. The guide can be accessed at:

https://www.careinspectorate.com/index.php/publications-statistics/76-professionals-registration/resources

During the pandemic

As part of the Digital Approaches in Care Homes programme launched during the pandemic, in November 2020, Scottish Government offered all care homes in Scotland digital devices for use by and with residents, as well as MiFi devices (internet connectivity dongles) with free data for up to two years for those homes with no, or partial, Wi-Fi coverage. 1034 (75%) of care homes accepted the offer of devices, and 45% the offer of MiFi devices (9% had no Wi-Fi, 36% partial only). All care homes were contacted by email and telephone to ensure the offer was received. Of the 25% of care homes that rejected the offer, the majority stated that they had both the devices and connectivity required at the time.

A recent survey by SCVO (March 2023) has established that 76 MiFi connections are still in use by 54 care homes, and remains their primary internet connection for residents. The Digital Social Care Portfolio Board has endorsed the extension of the initial offer of free data to December 2023 to allow the care homes the time to migrate to more sustainable internet connection solutions. The MiFi devices offer the fastest possible connection available via mobile telephony (3G/4G/5G) depending on the reception available in the area.

Reaching 100% (R100) programme

Through the Reaching 100% (R100) programme the Scottish Government is ensuring that all homes and businesses can access superfast broadband. This is delivered through three strands of activity – the £600 million R100 contracts, the R100 Scottish Broadband Voucher Scheme (SBVS) and continued commercial coverage. Property owners and residents can see what the R100 programme will mean for them by visiting www.scotlandsuperfast.com .

The R100 contracts are proceeding at pace and have connected over 22,400 premises with a further 5,700 connected as a consequence of contractual overspill and at no extra cost to the Scottish Government. Over 3,100 premises have also been connected through the R100 Scottish Broadband Voucher Scheme.

In 2018, a new national evidence-based pathway for coeliac disease was launched across four health boards (NHS Lothian, NHS Lanarkshire, NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde and NHS Tayside). It was funded by Scottish Government’s Modernising Patient Pathways Programme (MPPP) and co-produced in partnership with key stakeholders including Coeliac UK, and people living with coeliac disease and clinicians.

We recognise that more needs to be done and we expect all Health Boards to fully implement the pathway in order to improve services and ensure that, with dietetic person-centred support, people with coeliac disease take control of their condition and manage its impact on their health and quality of life.

We continue to support NHS Boards on the adoption of the pathway through our representation on the Endoscopy and Urology Diagnostic Elective Care Group (EUDECG) which includes representation from all key stakeholders to support delivery, including NHS Boards and Endoscopy units across the country, in line with our Once for Scotland approach.

In 2018, a new national evidence-based pathway for coeliac disease was launched across four health boards (NHS Lothian, NHS Lanarkshire, NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde and NHS Tayside). It was funded by Scottish Government’s Modernising Patient Pathways Programme (MPPP) and co-produced in partnership with key stakeholders including Coeliac UK, and people living with coeliac disease and clinicians.

Recently, Maree Todd MSP, the then Minister for Public Health, Women’s Health & Sport attended ‘Coeliac Disease: The Challenge of Underdiagnosis’ in the Scottish Parliament on Thursday 9 March 2023. The event was supported by Coeliac UK and included a presentation from a patient representative.

I refer the member to the answer to question S6W-17800 on 18 May 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

The Scottish Government condemns all acts of antisocial behaviour, including vandalism, and we believe that our focus should be on preventing these crimes from occurring in the first place.

There are currently a number of provisions contained in the Criminal Law (Consolidation) (Scotland) Act 1995 and Antisocial Behaviour etc. (Scotland) Act 2004 that specifically deal with the offence of vandalism and these include on the spot fixed penalties that the police can issue to those suspected of low-level statutory vandalism offences. Local agencies, such as Police Scotland and local authorities, are best placed to deal with these offences and it also open to them to undertake early intervention and diversionary work to prevent antisocial behaviour in their areas . We currently have no plans to replicate the UK Government’s proposals, but will monitor the development of this approach.

The management and opening hours of the Glasgow Subway is currently an operational matter for Strathclyde Partnership for Transport (SPT). SPT along with Glasgow City Council, are part of a working group led by Transport Scotland to develop Clyde Metro. Operating hours of the Glasgow Subway and Clyde Metro public transport provision respectively will be considered as the programme develops.

The recent Policy Prospectus confirmed the Government’s continuing, strong commitment to matters covered by the Rural Affairs, Land Reform and Islands portfolio, and set out actions that government is taking across a number of portfolios in order to create jobs, strengthen food production and food security, and support repopulation and green skills development in our rural communities – boosting the rural and coastal economy.

The Prospectus highlights a number of these commitments, including around Housing, where we will ensure that at least 10% of our 110,000 affordable homes target in remote, rural and island communities. We are also making available up to £25 million in a demand led fund targeted at affordable homes for key workers, such as those working in the public sector and emergency services; and the £30 million Rural and Island Housing Fund plays an important role in offering support to community groups.

The Rural Delivery Plan, that we will publish by the end of this Parliament, will further confirm how this Government is delivering for Scotland’s rural, island and coastal communities.

The composition of the ministerial team and the allocation of portfolio responsibilities are routinely kept under review by the First Minister and shift as a variety of factors require.

The Scottish Government welcomes the publication of the RCN Scotland report, The Nursing Workforce in Scotland, and notes the report's recommendations.

On 21 February 2023 we announced that a Nursing and Midwifery Taskforce had been established to build on efforts to make Scotland the best place for nurses and midwives to work by developing plans for recruitment and retention. The Nursing Workforce in Scotland Report, and its recommendations, will be considered by the taskforce as a part of its work.

n line with the digital strategy for Scotland - A changing nation: how Scotland will thrive in a digital world , the Scottish Government is committed to the responsible use of data to transform the way that public authorities work together to reach some of the most vulnerable people in society and to improve services, increase efficiency and support delivery of the National Outcomes, set out in the National Performance Framework.

The Scottish Government is supporting data sharing across public services through implementation of Part 5 of the Digital Economy Act 2017 (the Act). The provisions enable data to be shared by specified public authorities for tightly defined purposes, to help them to deliver their responsibilities more effectively, while ensuring safeguards and protections are in place to prevent unlawful disclosure. As with any legislative framework, the Scottish Government is monitoring and reviewing implementation of the Act in Scotland.

The Scottish Government welcomes the findings of the Information Commissioner’s Office in The ICO’sreview into data sharing under the Digital Economy Act 2017 , published in March 2023. The report highlights that the Act provides a supporting framework for data sharing including robust safeguards that ensure organisations share data responsibly and in alignment with data protection principles, while also safeguarding people’s rights.

The UK Government is reviewing and consulting on the effectiveness of the debt and fraud data sharing powers in the Act. The Scottish Ministers have responded to the consultation in support of retaining the data sharing powers.

Scottish Government and local authority websites provide information on a range of non-domestic rates reliefs, including the Small Business Bonus Scheme, with advice on eligibility criteria and how to apply. It also has a Non-Domestic Rates Calculator which is a tool which can provide ratepayers with an estimate of their non-domestic rates bill for the year and indicates whether a property may be eligible for the Small Business Bonus Scheme relief.

In response to a recommendation in the Barclay Review, the Scottish Government issued templates to all local authorities to support standardized bills across Scotland. These templates have been widely adopted and bills issued include advice that a range of reliefs and reductions are available to support ratepayers and direct them to further information.