Chamber and committees

The following table details SDS’ budget for Employability Fund for each year of the programme since its inception in 2013-14:

There are currently no plans to undertake a public awareness campaign regarding migraine.

I held a positive meeting with the Migraine Trust in November 2021 to discuss current priorities regarding migraine care in Scotland and potential areas for future collaboration.

The Centre for Sustainable Delivery (CfSD) has a speciality group for neurology which includes representation from key professional groups for each NHS Board. I understand that the group is undertaking work on clinical pathways for migraine in Scotland and is linking with both the Scottish Intercollegiate Guidelines Network (SIGN) and the Migraine Trust regarding this. As part of this work the CfSD are also collaborating with Health Boards to develop GP facts sheets on managing migraine.

I am delighted that we have recently awarded £78,535 to the Migraine Trust, in partnership with NHS Grampian and Pharmacy Medicines Directorate, towards an innovative project working with community, primary and secondary care pharmacists to help people with migraine manage their symptoms and treatments more effectively.

We will support the Migraine Trust and partners to develop plans of how they intend to widely share the project’s outcomes across health and social care.

Local authorities are independent corporate bodies with their own powers and responsibilities and are entirely separate from the Scottish Government. Ultimately, it is for locally elected representatives to make local decisions on how best to deliver services to their local communities. It is also the responsibility of individual local authorities to manage their own budgets and to allocate the total financial resources available to them, including on Community Facilities, on the basis of local needs and priorities, having first fulfilled their statutory obligations and the jointly agreed set of national and local priorities.

The Scottish Government has increased local government funding by over £1 billion in 2022-23, a real terms increase of 6.3 per cent, despite a 5.2 per cent real terms reduction in the overall Scottish Budget.

In 2022-23, City of Edinburgh Council will receive £915.4 million to fund local services, which equates to an extra £86.7 million to support vital day-to-day services or an additional 10.5 per cent compared to 2021-22.

As of close of business on 20 June 2022 a total of 410,721 cards had been issued under the Young Persons Scheme (YPS) through the National Entitlement Card scheme and Transport Scot Pass Collect mobile application.

The Improvement Service is responsible for the application process and issue of the National Entitlement Cards. They are being supported by Scottish Government to work with local authorities to identify and support improvements to both online and offline processes to maximise the uptake of scheme and increase accessibility for children and young people. I met with the Improvement Service in late April to make clear our expectations for delivery of the scheme and to ensure they continue to streamline the online process. I will shortly be writing to local authorities seeking assurance on their processes for handling offline applications and providing support if needed.

Transport Scotland also launched the Transport Scot Collect App on 28 February which allows existing Young Scot cardholders aged 16 and over to add the free travel product onto their existing card.

The SPCB provides support to staff who suffer from recurrent illnesses, including migraine.  The SPCB recognises that most people with migraine can manage their condition and work effectively, with the right information and support in place.  Managers and MSPs, in their capacity as employers, are encouraged to create a positive workplace culture, including holding regular conversations with team members about wellbeing so that additional support needs can be identified.  

Members, their staff, and SPS staff also have access to a range of health and wellbeing related policies, advice and services including the Parliament’s Occupational Health Service, which can provide workplace assessments or referral to medical specialists.  The SPCB is also committed to providing a Safe place of work and fully complies with workplace health, safety and welfare requirements including ensuring the availability of water, good lighting, good ventilation and a reasonable working temperature. 

The SPCB also provides support to individuals including:

• Reasonable adjustments including the provision of assistive equipment;
• Localised adjustments to reduce brightness in individual work areas;
• Health and wellbeing training, including stress awareness and managing your physical working from home arrangements;
• Free eye tests;
• Adjustable DSE workstation equipment;
• stress risk assessments, as required;
• Quiet working space in the Holyrood building;
• A good mix of natural and electric lighting and an environment which is free of excessive noise and odours.
  

Staff can also access flexible working arrangements, including flexible working hours and time off for medical appointments. 

When compared to the Migraine Trust’s definition of a migraine-friendly employer the Parliament is well placed.  However, the SPCB continues to review the support it provides to staff.

Delivery under No One Left Behind commenced in April 2019. The annual allocations from this point are set out in the following table.

A breakdown of Pupil Equity Funding allocations to each local authority is publicly available on the Scottish Government website - Pupil attainment: closing the gap - Schools - gov.scot (www.gov.scot) .

The Scottish Government has spent £764,909,056 on Pupil Equity Funding since 2017-18 to 2022-23. This funding is allocated to all 32 local authorities, as well as Grant Maintained schools. The breakdown of funding by year is publicly available on the Scottish Government website - Pupil attainment: closing the gap - Schools - gov.scot (www.gov.scot) .

The Scottish Government is committed to ensuring that all people living in Scotland with chronic lymphocytic leukaemia are able access the best possible care and support, and benefit from healthcare services that are safe, effective and put people at the centre of their care.

The Transforming Cancer Care Programme (TCC), where the Scottish Government is working in partnership with Macmillan, aims to ensure that every cancer patient in Scotland has access to a specialist key support worker, who can provide emotional, financial and practical support to those who need it most.

This service will also benefit clinicians, by freeing up time that may have been spent providing this support, and means they will have more time to offer direct medical and clinical support to patients.

Through the See Hear strategy, the Scottish Government and COSLA are committed to supporting children and young people who are affected by sight loss or blindness to access the services and social care they need. The strategy supports them to get direct assistance when they need it.

In addition, the Additional Support for Learning Act (2004) requires education authorities to identify, provide for, and review the additional support needs of their pupils. This includes support for children and young people with visual impairments. Other agencies, such as NHS Health Boards and social work services can be asked to help identify needs and provide support under the Act.

Following an assessment of children and young people’s needs, local authorities are responsible for putting in place appropriate support and interventions to support children and young people, including the provision of appropriate equipment.

The Scottish Government funds the Scottish Sensory Centre and CALL Scotland to provide advice and training to school staff on support, including the use of assistive technology, for children and young people with specific communication and sensory needs.