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Today we have published Scotland’s first National Workforce Strategy for Health and Social Care: https://www.gov.scot/isbn/9781804350058

We have worked, in partnership with our co-producers COSLA and extensively engaged with Stakeholders from across Health and Social Care to develop the Strategy.

The Strategy outlines our shared vision for the workforce, a sustainable, skilled workforce with attractive career choices where all are respected and valued for the work they do.

This vision supports our tri-partite ambition of Recovery, Growth and Transformation of our Workforce. In the strategy we look at the whole workforce journey and how we can plan for, attract, train, employ and nurture our Health and Social Care Workforce. This is the first time we have articulated a workforce strategy for our Health and Social Care workforce in this way.

We acknowledge the challenges the pandemic has brought not only for our services but also for our workforce and that is why that is why through this strategy we seek to embed a new long-term approach. The strategy expressly commits to increasing our understanding of demographic change in demand for services and details actions we will take to further understand how we can use this information to achieve a more sustainable, skilled workforce and how we can make careers, at all levels, in health and social care more attractive.

The Strategy recognises that although we have seen continued growth in our workforce for the last 10 consecutive years, we know that growth in the workforce alone will not deliver the services the people of Scotland need now and will need into the future. Our tripartite aim supports our NHS Recovery Plan and recovery of our Social Care services and workforce.

The Strategy sets out the actions we will take in partnership with the workforce to achieve our vision.

One such action is to publish our indicative projections for the Health and Social Care Workforce growth later this year. This will allow us to expressly incorporate evidence from 3 year Workforce Plans (which will also be published in due course by Health Boards and Health and Social Care Partnerships) and the forthcoming revised Medium-Term Financial Framework. We will review these projections annually and as more evidence becomes available.

We will review the strategy and progress on the actions therein, annually and in line with any further considerations and evidence which emerges.

I am delighted to advise Parliament that Dr Jacqueline Taylor, past President of the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Glasgow, will be the Independent Chair of the National Audiology Review Group. Dr Taylor brings a wealth of Scotland wide clinical and training experience to the role. She will provide strong leadership in the delivery of an independent and evidence led review.

While it will be for the Chair to determine how the review is best taken forward, I know we share the determination that the outcome of the review leads us to ensuring our hearing services are fit for purpose across Scotland. The National Audiology Review Group will be tasked with providing recommendations for a national plan for improvement. To achieve this we will also work closely with our partners and wider stakeholders.

A further update will be provided to Parliament detailing the remit of the review, its membership and timetable for reporting once it has been agreed with the Chair.

The Scottish Government is taking a range of immediate steps to help Ukrainian families fleeing conflict, through financial humanitarian aid and medical equipment. We have committed £4 million in humanitarian aid through aid agencies to help provide basic humanitarian assistance, including in health, water and sanitation, and shelter for those fleeing Ukraine; this includes £2 million to the DEC Appeal for Ukraine. We are also working with the Ukrainian Government to provide medical supplies from stocks we hold, worth around £2.9 million, and are coordinating with other UK nations to ensure that these supplies get to where they are needed as quickly as possible; a total of three donations of medical equipment, valued at approximately £1.6 million has shipped to date.

The UK Government’s current proposals are insufficient, and the Scottish Government continues to call on the UK Government to develop a comprehensive resettlement programme and to fully waive visa requirements for Ukrainian nationals so those who have been displaced can be offered immediate refuge.

Scotland has a proud history of welcoming refugees and people seeking asylum. The Scottish Government and Scotland’s local authorities stand ready to welcome and support people with the safety and security they need to rebuild their lives.

The UK Government has not confirmed what the design of the ECO4 scheme will be. Scottish Ministers anticipate that they will be consulted about the new regulations as part of Ministerial write round. The Scottish Government will then assess how effectively the new scheme tackles fuel poverty and supports delivery of our net zero ambitions in Scotland. This will inform our response to the UK Government and any changes that we may propose.

We will also consider the UK Government’s response to any issues raised by Scottish stakeholders about ECO4. For example, we have previously raised our concerns with the UK Government about their failure to respond to stakeholder feedback from remote rural and island communities in Scotland.

Fuel poverty is a devolved matter but relevant powers for these schemes are reserved to the Secretary of State. Nevertheless we remain keen to work in partnership with the UK Government to ensure that changes to the ECO scheme do not cause detriment to Scotland or the rest of the UK.

The capacity of any substation within Scotland’s Network distribution licence areas is directly available to the public for the higher voltages sections of the network and by enquiry for the low voltage domestic end.

Information on this can be found at – Long Term Development Statement - SP Energy Networks and Detailed Long term development statements - SSEN.

Further information on the capacity for primary substations is published in a distribution heat map at Distributed Generation Heat Maps for SP Energy Networks and at Network Maps for SSEN. Along with connection quotations that are available to all stakeholders.

All enquiries can be made at Getting Connected - SP Energy Networks and Our Services - SSEN .

In response to the question regarding the locations of recruitment campaigns for Social Security Scotland at advertisement and interview stage as of 18 February 2022, please find below a breakdown of current campaigns and roles by location. For the purposes of this response, we have interpreted the term roles to mean the number of full time equivalent posts we intend to fill through recruitment.

I refer the member to the answer to question S6W-05383 on 21 January 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

VoiceAbility has signed an agreement for premises on Bath St in Glasgow to house their Scottish HQ and bespoke training centre. This has been open and available since 1 March 2022. The premises will not be permanently staffed and will be used when required for training events and face-to-face meetings with clients.

This approach is consistent with VoiceAbility’s delivery model which is built around home-based staff and an existing network of accessible co-location venues in local communities, which allows them to reduce the cost of their service whilst being flexible and responsive to fluctuating demand.

Motability is currently the only provider accredited under the Accessible Vehicle and Equipment Scheme. The Scottish Government plans to begin work to re-open the Scheme to additional applicants later this year.

We will announce a timetable for this in due course. We will work with any new accredited providers to integrate and test their service, to ensure disabled people benefit from high standards of service.

The new vehicle entry system was one of several security enhancements to upgrade the security of the Service Yard.  These enhancements were identified in the Police Scotland review commissioned by the SPCB in 2017, following the tragic attacks on Westminster Bridge in London.

The main aim of the Service Yard project was to improve the security of the area by addressing vulnerabilities with the layout and replace ageing technology with a state-of-the-art hostile vehicle mitigation system.

There have been several assessments throughout the Service Yard project in relation to users’ safety.  These have included a review of the flow of vehicle traffic, the safety of the gates and barriers and an overall health and safety review of the arrangements in the Service Yard.

The results of these assessments are that the project to improve the Service Yard has delivered the desired outcomes of significantly improving safety and security at the vehicle entrance area.