Chamber and committees

We have published a housing guide which provides information about housing in Scotland and contacts of organisations who may be able to help Armed Forces and ex-service personnel obtain housing suitable for their needs. The guide also directs veterans to the Veterans Gateway which provides information on support to veterans and their families including housing and independent living.

Transition is reserved to the UK Government, and there is no funding provided to the Scottish Government to undertake transition related activities. However the Scottish Government has designed the application guidance for devolved benefits to provide comprehensive information on entitlement. Similarly, signposting is included to refer clients to the relevant agencies for reserved benefits where appropriate. Adult Disability Payment launched in August last year. The application form asks clients about their possible entitlement to Armed Forces Independence Payment, War Pensioners’ Mobility Supplement and War Pension Constant Attendance Allowance. Where appropriate, clients are then directed to Veterans UK for further advice. We have also worked with Veterans UK to develop an information sharing process between the organisation and Social Security Scotland. This is intended to ensure that veterans can efficiently access the support to which they are entitled.

Furthermore, as part of our Social Security Scotland stakeholder communications plan, we ensure that third party organisations, including those that support veterans, understand the overlaps and are in a position to adequately advise and assist veterans during their interactions with Social Security Scotland or the UK Government agencies administering reserved benefits. We hold regular discussions with Veterans UK and the Ministry of Defence to ensure there is consistency in the messaging provided to veterans and people leaving the Armed Forces.

The Scottish Government is committed to ensuring that all armed forces personnel serving and veterans living in Scotland are able to access the best possible care and support, including safe, effective and person-centred healthcare. Our policy states that all veterans should not face disadvantage for treatment for health problems as a result of service to their country. We regularly communicate this policy to all NHS Boards via Champions for Armed Forces and Veterans who are responsible for ensuring the implementation of this policy in every NHS Board.

It is the Scottish Government’s continuing aim to ensure that the long-term clinical needs of serving personnel and veterans are better understood and supported within the NHS. We work with key partners including the Ministry of Defence and other UK Governments to assist us with this.

The Armed Forces Personnel & Veterans Health Joint Group (“the Joint Group”), brings together NHS Champions, representatives of the serving community, veterans' organizations, Scottish Government officials and other stakeholders harnessing a range of expertise. The Joint Group works together on priority areas to drive progress in meeting the health needs of Armed Forces personnel and veterans.

Scottish Government works with the Scottish Veterans Commissioner. This work helps us to deliver what is important to individuals and their families, and to foster continuous improvement. Annual progress against the Commissioner recommendations can be found here SVC Annual Progress Report: Findings | (scottishveteranscommissioner.org)

The Scottish Government’s continued support for the Armed Forces and Veterans Community in Scotland is set out in The Strategy for Our Veterans - taking the strategy forward in Scotland: refreshed action plan - gov.scot (www.gov.scot) .

The Scottish Government does not hold official data on the unregistered workforce. However we do know that there were at least 4,869 Personal Assistants (PA’s) providing social care support to adults who were in receipt of either Self-directed support option 1 or from Independent Living Fund Scotland in 2021.

This data was captured from those Personal Assistants who applied for the Scottish Government Covid-19 thankyou payment which can be found here PA Programme Board Resources - Self Directed Support Scotland | Self Directed Support Scotland (sdsscotland.org.uk) .

A PA Programme Board was established in 2021 with a membership from the public, third sector and organisation’s representing disabilities. A co-produced Work Plan was developed which includes objectives to understand, grow and support the PA workforce including developing better research of this little known workforce.

The Personal Assistant workforce are employed by the person with social care needs or their family. The employer may also use funding from a variety of public sources as well as self-funding, as such there is no locus for SG to mandate the collection of this data. However, there will be an option to count all those non family member PAs from 2024 onwards as this workforce must be PVG checked from that date.

There has been a successful application for a PHD funded by the Scottish Graduate School of Social Science. This position will start in October and will research PA assistance for disabled people, changing labour markets and social care reform. The PA Programme Board will be a collaborative partner with Glasgow University.

Veterans’ specific welfare support is a matter centrally supported by UK Government policy and delivered by Veterans UK and the Veterans Welfare Service (VWS) , part of Ministry of Defence (MOD). The UK-wide service works with local authorities, voluntary organisations, service charities and the Veterans Advisory and Pensions Committees .

The Scottish Government’s Benefit Take-up Stakeholder Reference Group works with a range of specific seldom-heard groups, including veterans’ groups, to better understand and address non-take-up among particular populations and to maximise incomes. In the current year (2022-23) we have allocated over £12.5 million to support the provision of free income maximisation, welfare and debt advice.

The Scottish Government has designed the application guidance for Scottish Government benefits to provide comprehensive information on entitlement. Similarly, signposting is included to refer clients to the relevant agencies for reserved benefits where appropriate. Adult Disability Payment launched in August last year. The application form asks clients about their possible entitlement to Armed Forces Independence Payment, War Pensioners’ Mobility Supplement and War Pension Constant Attendance Allowance. Where appropriate, clients are then directed to Veterans UK for further advice. We have also worked with Veterans UK to develop an information sharing process between the organisation and Social Security Scotland. This is intended to ensure that veterans can efficiently access the support to which they are entitled.

Scotland has some of the strongest homelessness legislation in the world and all local authorities have a legal duty to provide support to anyone at risk of homelessness, including veterans.

Preventing homelessness from happening in the first place is the best and most effective way to end homelessness. That is why, we commissioned the Veterans Scotland Housing Group to develop specific strategies to prevent homelessness for veterans. Their report was published in January 2022. We have accepted the 24 recommendations in principle and are engaging with partners on next steps.

Additionally, we continue to support the charity Housing Options Scotland to provide its Military Matters project, helping veterans and serving members of the Armed Forces to find the right home in the right place. The Scottish Government website also hosts a guide containing housing in Scotland information and contacts of organisations who may be able to help veterans obtain housing suitable for their needs.

The Workforce Development Group is newly established and had its first meeting on 29 November 2022. The group will meet bi-monthly with the next meeting scheduled for 30 January 2023.

The National Induction Framework was created as a resource for providers and staff as a good practice example. It was developed in conjunction with the sector, to enhance and support an employer’s own induction processes. It should complement existing induction processes but it is not mandatory. The framework has been widely promoted to the sector by stakeholders to encourage its use.

Scottish Water does not maintain information by parliamentary region or by local authority, however was able to extract leakage data for the equivalent area which is a close match to the South Scotland parliamentary region. A copy of the table which provides total leakage volumes in Mega litres per day for each of the months since April 2016 is available from the Scottish Parliament Information Centre (Bib Number 63968).

The Fair Work in Social Care Group organised itself into four workstreams on Pay; Terms and Conditions; Effective Voice; and Sectoral Bargaining. The workstreams meet 1-2 times per month, most recently on 17 January 2023.

The Fair Work in Social Care Group is now overseen by a Joint Ministerial Group, co-chaired by myself and COSLA Health and Social Care Spokesperson. The Joint Ministerial Group met on 3 November 2022 and is scheduled to meet again in February 2023.