Chamber and committees

Community youth work remains an important pillar of local authority provision, including in schools. The Scottish Government utilises a Block Grant system, affording local authorities significant autonomy in allocating financial resources, including those designated for youth work in schools. This approach empowers councils to prioritise local needs and tailor services accordingly, while fulfilling mandatory obligations and adhering to nationally-agreed priorities. Transparency is ensured through annually-published breakdowns of spending on the Scottish Government website, though there is no statutory obligation for youth work activity to be recorded or monitored by local authorities, third sector organisations or voluntary organisations.

An independent review of Community Learning and Development (CLD), encompassing youth work, was launched in December 2023 and is expected to conclude in June 2024. This review aims to assess the impact of CLD on learners across Scotland, providing valuable insights for the future.

Community youth work remains an important pillar of local authority provision. The Scottish Government utilises a Block Grant system, affording local authorities significant autonomy in allocating financial resources, including those designated for youth work. This approach empowers councils to prioritise local needs and tailor services accordingly, while fulfilling mandatory obligations and adhering to nationally-agreed priorities. Transparency is ensured through annually-published breakdowns of spending on the Scottish Government website.

Furthermore, an independent review of Community Learning and Development (CLD), encompassing youth work, was launched in December 2023 and is expected to conclude in June 2024. This review aims to assess the impact of CLD on learners across Scotland, providing valuable insights for the future.

TrakCare is used as the main patient management system by 13 Health Boards:

• NHS Ayrshire and Arran;
• NHS Borders;
• NHS Fife;
• NHS Forth Valley;
• NHS Great Glasgow and Clyde;
• NHS Grampian;
• Golden Jubilee National Hospital;
• NHS Highland;
• NHS Lanarkshire;
• NHS Lothian;
• NHS Orkney;
• NHS Shetland; and
• NHS Tayside.

All 13 Health Boards use TrakCare for waiting lists, Outpatients and inpatients, clinical coding, national Scottish Morbidity Records and new ways returns. Various Boards also use TrakCare for Emergency Departments, maternity services, mental health, community services, radiology, and theatres.

In addition, the system supports order request functionality for the service departments to manage the provision of laboratory, X-ray and diagnostic services; and Allied Health Professionals, observations, and clinical data recoding in clinical forms to varying degrees.

The Scottish Government does not collate or hold information on how many staff the Health Boards employ to maintain TrakCare.

The UK Government did not inflation-proof its capital budget which has resulted in nearly a 10% real-terms cut in the Scottish Government’s capital funding over the medium-term between 2023-24 and 2027-28. The result of this cut is that new health capital projects have currently been paused.

Work is underway to update the pipeline of projects and programmes relating to the 2021 Infrastructure Investment Plan to ensure it is affordable and deliverable and provides best value for money. Our emphasis for the immediate future will be on addressing backlog maintenance and essential equipment replacement.

The Scottish Government continues to protect investment in digital within health services, as shown in the published budget. Planning remains underway to fully assess the impact on planned activity for 2024-25 that takes into account the considerable financial challenges facing the Scottish Government in the forthcoming financial year, and we will publish our Delivery Plan for Digital Health & Care in April 2024. This will confirm delivery priorities for the year ahead using the investment available.

The information that has been requested is not held centrally by the Scottish Government.

The information that has been requested is not held centrally by the Scottish Government.

The Scottish Government recognises that Transport plays an important role in supporting patients’ health journeys and the Scottish Government has recently prepared a draft Transport to Health delivery plan which has commitments against transport and healthcare across the work of Health Boards, Regional Transport Partnerships, Health and Social Care and Transport Scotland.

All Health Boards should consider patient transport needs when they plan and deliver services and must ensure Patients have access to all information on any relevant patient transport (including community transport) and travel reimbursement entitlement.

The Scottish Government greatly values the Community Transport sector’s work helping older and disabled people to access GP or hospital appointments and live happier, healthier and more independent lives for longer in their own homes and communities.

The Scottish Government is absolutely committed to keeping our NHS true to its founding principles – publicly-owned, publicly-operated, and free at the point of need. Health Boards might arrange treatment for some patients outwith NHS Scotland, including the private sector in exceptional circumstances. It is for local NHS Health Boards to determine how they use the private sector and to agree any contractual arrangements.

Following the completion of the Allied Health Professions (AHP) Education and Workforce Policy Review, an advisory group has been established to oversee the effective implementation of the recommendations. The group held its second meeting on 4 March 2024 where the group considered the delivery plan.

The delivery plan takes an outcome based approach and the group recognises the complexity and interdependency of how the suite of recommendations contributes to achieving the overarching positive change required.

The group will consider the timescales required to meet the overarching aims at its future meetings, scheduled in June and October 2024.