Chamber and committees

Scottish Government funding for active travel in Edinburgh and other local authority areas is channelled through a number of programmes overseen by Transport Scotland. The single biggest programme is the Places for Everyone (PfE) programme, run by Sustrans with grant funding from Transport Scotland. From PfE, City of Edinburgh Council (CEC) has an indicative amount of £52,129,410 allocated to active travel projects over the next four years.

In addition, CEC receives £3,378,467 of Cycling Walking and Safer routes funding directly from Transport Scotland from a £35 million annual pot distributed pro rata to all 32 local authorities in Scotland. There are also various other partner delivered programmes which CEC can bid into for active travel projects, including the Smarter Choices Smarter Places fund for behaviour change projects, run by Paths for All.

The Charter for Grandchildren aims to highlight the role of the wider family. The Charter is available at the link below:

https://www.gov.scot/publications/parenting-plan-charter-grandchildren/ .

In the Family Justice Modernisation Strategy (FJMS) the Scottish Government committed to promote the Charter for Grandchildren. The FJMS is available at the link below:

https://www.gov.scot/publications/family-justice-modernisation-strategy/pages/1/ .

The Scottish Government is reviewing the actions in the FJMS and will consider prioritising work to promote the Charter for Grandchildren following delays during the Covid-19 pandemic.

The steps the Scottish Government intends to take to promote the Charter include engaging with key bodies to raise awareness and ensuring information on the Charter is more widely available.

The minutes of the meetings of the Industry Advisory Group for rUK Talent Attraction are not currently published but information on previous meetings can be made available on request.

The Scottish Government launched the Social Care Staff Support Fund on 25 June 2020 to ensure that social care workers receive their expected income should they be off ill or self-isolating due to coronavirus.

Staffing costs claimed through sustainability payments encompass the Social Care Staff Support Fund, the staff movement policy and other additional staffing arrangements therefore, we do not have data broken down to the level that you have requested. The guidance for the financial support for social care providers recommends a light touch approach to gathering evidence, recognising the administrative burden of claiming additional costs on both commissioners and providers alike, whilst they respond to the pandemic.

Feedback from stakeholders confirms that the Social Care Staff Support Fund has been utilised to prevent financial hardship for eligible social care workers.

I refer the member to the answer to question S6W-06456 on 4 March 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 .

In financial year 2021-22, £12m was allocated to support the wellbeing of people working in health and social care of which £11,515,152 was spent.

The assessments undertaken to inform ferries investments focus on direct infrastructure impacts such as route capacity and connectivity. The benefit realisation process for each project will seek to identify and maximise the positive impact of our investments. As an example of this, the recent introduction of the MV Loch Frisa was enabled by modifications works, instructed by Caledonian Maritime Assets Ltd (CMAL), undertaken at the Dales facility in Leith, and CalMac Ferries Ltd have now completed the recruitment of 38 crew for the vessel to provide the year round commutable service for Mull.

As the Census Coverage Survey (CCS) is ongoing, the predicted costs are based on the budget assigned to the CCS. Across the lifecycle of the Census Programme it was estimated that a budget of £3.1m would be required to deliver the CCS.

The CCS, alongside high quality administrative data and innovative statistical methods, will build on the census returns to deliver high quality Census Outputs. National Records of Scotland is continuing to take the action necessary to deliver the CCS phase of Scotland's Census Programme.

We know the pandemic has exacerbated pre-existing structural inequality in society, putting minority ethnic and migrant communities disproportionately at risk and having more adverse impacts on their mental health. That is why we are undertaking a range of activity to specifically support their mental health and wellbeing. The Scottish Government’s Race Equality: Immediate Priorities Plan sets out our immediate priorities to implement the recommendations of the Expert Reference Group for Covid-19. In 2021-22 that included investing £21m into the Communities Mental Health and Wellbeing Fund for adults to help tackle the impact of social isolation, loneliness and mental health inequalities faced by a range of ‘at risk’ groups including minority ethnic people. We also provided £150k to MECOPP and £20k to Progress in Dialogue to work in and with Gypsy/Traveller communities to improve mental health and wellbeing outcomes for children and young people.

More generally, we are working to ensure everyone can access appropriate mental health care and continue to increase our investment in crucial services and infrastructure. Our Transition & Recovery Plan, backed by £120m of recurring funding is transforming services, with a renewed focus on prevention and early intervention. We established an Equality and Human Rights Forum to provide advice on the implementation of the Transition and Recovery Plan and wider work within mental health policy, including the development of our new Mental Health Strategy. This Forum includes representation from minority ethnic groups.

NHS 24 conducted a comprehensive analysis of the Musculoskeletal (MSK) Helpline data on the use of the service as well as examining the service model. This will inform the development of a new pathway, with particular consideration being given to digital options and a more preventative approach.

I refer the member to the answer to question S6W-09575 on 25 July 2022 for the next steps. 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 .