Chamber and committees

Community First Responders generally respond to calls within a designated geographical area known as a polygon. The polygon is agreed between the Community First Responder scheme and the Scottish Ambulance Service. The size of the polygon may vary from scheme to scheme and will be dependent on factors such as geography, base location of volunteers, and predicted travel times.

The information requested is available online and can be found in the Transport Scotland’s annual accounts via the ‘Publications’ section of the Transport Scotland website, Publications | Transport Scotland .

£25,000 per annum.

The 2019 recruitment and retention Action plan for Disabled People has been superseded by the Diversity and Inclusion Employer Strategy for Scottish Government published April 2024. Having a workforce more representative of the people of Scotland it serves, remains one of our Employer Equality Outcomes. The Scottish Government has made excellent progress towards meeting the target of 25% of external recruits declaring a disability. Latest figures show 35% of successful applicants declared a disability, exceeding the 25% target.

The Scottish Ambulance Service currently has around 900 Community First Responders. The number of Community First Responders trained by the Scottish Ambulance Service by SAS Operational Areas between April 2021 - March 2024:

I have asked Teresa Medhurst, Chief Executive of the Scottish Prison Service (SPS), to respond. Her response is as follows:

SPS recognise the importance of those in our care maintaining contact with family and friends coupled with their ability to access support services such as the Samaritans.

Last summer SPS rolled out in cell telephony throughout our estate, which continues to support the positive mental health and wellbeing for those we care for and enables access to the Samaritans free of charge, 24 hours per day.

Any envelopes not marked with the “Freepost Samaritans Letters" address are being removed from use in establishments.

The Scottish Government hasn’t undertaken any analysis of the number of students articulating from college to university in the last financial year.

Latest data covering articulation from college to university is published in the annual Scottish Funding Council (SFC) publication ‘Report on Widening Access’, which relates to those starting university in the 2021-22 academic year.

Report on Widening Access 2021-22 - Scottish Funding Council (sfc.ac.uk)

Data covering the 2022-23 academic year will be published later this year, with 2023-24 data in 2025 and the current academic year (2024-25) being published in 2026.

The Scottish Government prepared its draft Transport to Health Plan in 2023, we are currently engaging with the relevant partners on the commitments contained within the plan. It is expected that the plan will be finalised by the end of September 2024. We do not intend to publish the draft plan while it is still being developed.

Migrant workers are essential contributors to our communities, public services, and vitally help address skills shortages.

Scotland’s Fair Work Action Plan sets out actions to become a leading Fair Work Nation by 2025.

The Scottish Government have funded the Worker Support Centre since 2022 to provide free and confidential support to seasonal migrant workers so that more of them understand their workplace rights and how to exercise them. RSABI (founded as the Royal Scottish Agricultural Benevolent Institution) provides practical, emotional, and financial support to all people involved in the Scottish agricultural industry.

Control over employment and industrial relations legislation is currently reserved to the UK Parliament; while this remains the case, we will continue to use our Fair Work policy to drive up labour market standards for workers across the Scottish labour market.

Co-ordination of Community First Responders (CFRs) and Wildcat Cardiac Responders sits within the Scottish Ambulance Service National Risk and Resilience Department (NRRD). The Community Resilience team within NRRD provide governance, recruitment, training, and support to CFR schemes and ensure the consistency of operating practice across Scotland.

CFRs subscribe to an agreed governance framework and clinically approved Scope of Practice. The primary focus of the role is responding to cardiac arrests, heart problems, chest pains, breathing difficulties, stroke and choking. Volunteering is flexible and there is no minimum requirement.

CFRs are dispatched, predominantly via Airwave radio, by the Alternative Resource Desk (ARD) within the Ambulance Control Centre. CFRs may also use the GoodSam app to ensure an expedited response to known and suspected cardiac arrests.