Chamber and committees

The Scottish Government remains committed to a mandatory supported first year in practice for newly qualified social workers (NQSWs). This is part of the ambition to create a strategic framework from qualifying education through to advanced practice for all social workers and social work employers in Scotland.

The Office of the Chief Social Work Advisor (OCSWA), the Scottish Social Services Council (SSSC) and Social Work Education Partnership (SWEP) are working together to develop the infrastructure required to support this ambition. The indicative timeline to begin national implementation of the NQSW Supported Year is September 2024 to align with required regulatory change, regional developments and the advanced practice workstreams.

The Scottish Government will invest in Changing Places Toilets over this parliamentary term, in order to increase the number of these facilities across the country and to support mobile Changing Places Toilets to allow people easier access to events and outdoor venues.

This investment will be delivered in phases over the course of this parliamentary term. The Scottish Government is progressing the first phase of work to design an investment programme that ensures that the Changing Places Toilets which are built are fit for purpose.

Further details will be available soon.

The breakdown of the 356.1 whole time equivalent posts recruited within GP practices by NHS Health Board is as follows;

The breakdown of the 958.9 whole time equivalent (WTE) posts by NHS Health Board is as follows;

The Scottish Government will invest in Changing Places Toilets over this parliamentary term, in order to increase the number of these facilities across the country and to support mobile Changing Places Toilets to allow people easier access to events and outdoor venues.

This investment will be delivered in phases over the course of this parliamentary term. The Scottish Government is progressing the first phase of work to design an investment programme that ensures that the Changing Places Toilets which are built are fit for purpose. We have recently published our Changing Places Toilets: Planning Guide and an accompanying easy read for people who are planning to develop Changing Places Toilets now.

Further details will be available soon.

The Scottish Government is committed to investing in Changing Places Toilets over this parliamentary term, in order to increase the number of these facilities across the country and to support mobile Changing Places Toilets to allow people easier access to events and outdoor venues.

Further details will be available soon.

The Scottish Government’s Changing Places Toilets investment will be delivered in phases over the course of this parliamentary term. The Scottish Government is progressing the first phase of work, in order to design an investment programme that ensures that the Changing Places Toilets which are built are fit for purpose and are installed in appropriate locations to meet the needs of those that will use them. We will work with stakeholders to develop eligibility criteria for the fund.

Further details will be available soon.

The local road network is the responsibility of local authorities and they will allocate resources on the basis of local priorities. The vast majority of funding to local authorities from the Scottish Government is provided via a block grant and we do not stipulate how local authorities should utilise their individual allocations. It is therefore the responsibility of each local authority to manage their own budget and to allocate the financial resources available to them on the basis of local needs and priorities, having first fulfilled their statutory obligations and the jointly agreed set of national and local priorities.

In the most challenging budget settlement since devolution, we are providing over £13.2 billion in the Local Government Settlement 2023-24.

The local authority may also wish to contact the Coal Authority to establish if there is any recourse to them regarding the historical mine works.

The current Health and Social Care Standards were implemented on 1 April 2018 and are published on the Scottish Government website.

The Care Inspectorate is the independent scrutiny body and regulator for care services in Scotland. Since April 2018, the Health and Social Care standards have underpinned inspections and quality assurance functions carried out by the Care Inspectorate, Healthcare Improvement Scotland and other scrutiny bodies.

Two new standards were published in March 2022 and have a strong emphasis on helping care home residents and their families stay connected. We have provided additional support and resource to the Care Inspectorate (£276,000 over the next two years) to enhance their role in supporting visiting rights through the ‘Anne's Law and Connection for People in Care Homes project’. This additional resource will enable the Care Inspectorate to proactively champion the implementation of the new standards and rigorously monitor its progress.

The Scottish Government has worked closely with the Care Inspectorate and other public bodies as they have raised awareness and understanding of the Standards. “Real stories” videos and animations raising the profile of the standards are available through the Care Inspectorate’s YouTube channel. A one-day Holyrood event took place to help organisations understand how they can be used in delivering quality care and the Standards were promoted at a number of conferences and events, including targeted events for NHS staff. A dedicated website and a Scottish Government Twitter page were created and used to promote the launch of the Standards, and a bespoke booklet for unpaid carers was launched in partnership with the Carers Trust.

Due to an absence of Scottish Government landholdings (i.e. presence of Scotland’s national forests and land) in East Lothian and/or Midlothian, Forestry and Land Scotland have not conducted any tree planting (either restocking or new planting) in the two local authority areas in the period of 2007 to 2022.