Question reference: S6W-20495
- Asked by: Annie Wells, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
- Date lodged: 9 August 2023
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Current status: Answered by Maree Todd on 5 September 2023
Question
To ask the Scottish Government what action it is taking to protect care home residents in the Glasgow region from any risks associated with care home closures.
Answer
The statutory responsibility for the planning and delivery of social care, including that care home capacity meets the needs of the population, sits with the NHS and local Councils, and not the Scottish Government. Where there are care home closures in any local area including Glasgow, the Scottish Government expects professional leads from the local Health and Social Care Partnership to work together to implement the Convention of Scottish Local Authorities (COSLA) and Care Inspectorate national good practice guidance on managing the closure care homes (Good Practice Guidance on the Closure of a Care Home): https://www.careinspectorate.com/images/documents/1477/cosla_-_good_practice_guidance_on_closure_of_a_care_home.pdf .
This is to ensure any closures are managed smoothly and suitable alternative placements are found for care home residents based on their needs and preferences.
The Scottish Government is providing nearly £13.5 billion in the 2023-24 Local Government Settlement. Following the flat-cash position set out in the 2022 Resource Spending Review, the Scottish Government listened to councils and increased the resources available to Local Government this year by over £793 million.