Chamber and committees

The Scottish Government/COSLA See Hear strategy expresses the Scottish Government’s commitment to supporting children and adults who have sight loss/visual impairment, deafness and dual sensory loss to access the services and social care they need. The strategy presents a framework for actions which includes emphasis on children and young people with a sensory loss receiving appropriate and timely intervention in the early years and for as long as is required.

The Visual Impairment Network for Children and Young People (VINCYP) aims to improve the care for children and young people with a visual impairment. VINCYP involves professionals working in local authorities (education and social work), health, parents/carers of children and young people with a visual impairment and voluntary sector organisations, and has local implementation groups in addition to the national network.

VINCYP has developed a Pathway of Care and related standards, self-assessment frameworks and good practice guidelines to ensure that children and young people with a visual impairment are provided with effective support as early as possible.

VINCYP does not provide Visual Impairment (VI) services in Scotland and has no role in the outsourcing of services. The VINCYP pathway and standards highlight the services which are required for children and young people with VI and their families in each local authority area. VINCYP could offer specialist advice for local authority commissioners on service specifications for outsourcing services, but cannot offer advice on particular providers.

The Education (Additional Support for Learning) (Scotland) 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, health and social work services can be asked to help identify needs and provide support under the Act. The statutory code of practice sets out guidance for authorities and partners on the requirements of the Act.

The Scottish Government also 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.

Information on the qualifications of teachers is not collected centrally by the Scottish Government. A report commissioned by the Scottish Government and carried out by the Scottish Sensory Centre in 2016 showed that there were 65 teachers working with visually impaired pupils reported as being qualified, with an additional 15 teachers working towards qualification.

The Scottish Government is committed to increase the capacity and expertise of school staff to support pupils with visual impairments. We fund the Scottish Sensory Centre to provide specialist training to school staff to support pupils with a sensory impairment.

Under the Requirements for Teachers (Scotland) Regulations 2005, education authorities are responsible for ensuring that teachers employed to teach pupils who are visually impaired hold an appropriate qualification. We are also working with partners to update the existing qualifications guidance for teachers of deaf and visually impaired children and young persons to ensure staff have the latest advice on routes to professional qualification.

We are committed to supporting patients to deal with the emotional and physical effects of cancer. We are currently working in partnership with Macmillan to improve the service we offer cancer patients through the Transforming Cancer Care Programme (TCC). This joint partnership with Macmillan is worth £18 million, and is the first of its kind in the UK. The programme looks to ensure that every cancer patient in Scotland has access to specialist key support worker, who can provide emotional, financial and practical support to those who need it most. This partnership is the first of its kind in the UK.

To ensure vital services of support for patients continued throughout the pandemic we established the third sector resilience fund and the wellbeing fund as part of a £350 million support fund announced on 18 March 2020. The £15 million Adult Communities Mental Health and Wellbeing Fund was announced on 15 October 2021. This is the first year of a two year Fund to support mental health and wellbeing in communities across Scotland.

As part of our Cancer Recovery Plan, a new National Framework has been developed to support people affected by cancer. Launching in Spring 2022, the Framework not only sets out general principles for high quality holistic care, but also incorporates a number of tools that will aid implementation across Scotland. The Framework highlights the four levels of psychological care and support which are supported through expert evidence, and presents two models for implementation that are applicable across sectors, including health, care and the third-sector.

Cancer prehabilitation can support patients with the mental and physical challenges of living with cancer. A Cancer Prehabilitation Implementation Steering Group was convened in April 2021 to support and oversee the implementation and evaluation of comprehensive prehabilitation and evaluation whilst three subgroups look to: develop a digital resource that will improve access to education and training, improve access to psychological care and support and develop and implement a nutrition framework for prehabilitation.

The Scottish Government remains fully committed to enhancing community audiology services. We are continuing to work closely with NHS Boards, Social Care and the Third Sector to develop fully integrated and sustainable audiology services located closer to local communities being served. Our approach will be informed by outcomes from the recently established National Audiology Review.

The National Audiology Review Group’s Membership reflects key stakeholders across the clinical pathway and the healthcare system. This is alongside interested third sector organisations who have stakeholder engagement experience with those with lived experience.

The Review Group convened for the first time on 3 May 2022 and members discussed the draft Terms of Reference. Review Group members were invited to share their key priorities for development of the Terms of Reference to help shape the future of Audiology Services in Scotland. The finalised Terms of Reference and relevant information about the National Audiology Review Group including a membership list will be published on the Scottish Government website.

The Super Sponsor scheme was set up to provide a quick and safe route for displaced people from Ukraine. It is a national response that has rapidly established a round-the-clock operation, supported by multi-agency teams, local authorities, CoSLA and the third sector to support displaced Ukrainians and mare sure they are treated with compassion and care and their complex needs met.

We are working closely and collaboratively with our partners to ensure we rapidly respond to opportunities and resolve challenges and issues as they emerge, and ensuring that stakeholders and the direct experiences of those arriving in Scotland feeds directly into continuing to improve our programme.

The questionnaire on the website closed on 20 April. The responses to the engagement activity are currently being analysed and considered carefully. This will help to determine the next steps and will also provide more understanding of what support is needed to help the people affected by historical adoption practices.

E-scooters are currently illegal to use in any public spaces in Scotland but they are legal to sell and own, resulting in an increasing number in illegal use in Scotland.

E-scooters are covered by the same laws and regulations that apply to all motor vehicles. This means e-scooters need to meet the various requirements of the Road Traffic Act 1988 to use public roads lawfully (e.g. road tax, technical safety standards).

Whilst the use of powered transporters and decisions around their introduction and associated legislative changes are primarily a matter for the UK Government, additional legislation and associated guidance would be required for Scotland.

The Secretary of State for Transport wrote to me in April 2022 about his proposals for a new framework for micro-mobility in UKG’s forthcoming Transport Bill. We will fully participate in that and I expect UKG to seek the Scottish Parliament’s legislative consent in a timely manner, and respect the outcome of the Scottish Parliament’s decision on consent.

I am aware that DfT carried out trails in England to develop e-scooter regulatory framework.

The DfT had not factored into its trial programme the legislative changes that would be required in Scotland to allow trials to take place here. Consequently, the trials which took place in England could not be hosted by Scottish local authorities.

Currently, we have received no data from the trials in England. My officials will continue to push for sight of the data to gain a better understanding of the advantages and disadvantages of legalising e-scooters.

Transport officials have had one specific meeting on micro-mobility including e-Scooters at which the possibility of legislation and regulation was discussed. This was an information provision session and not a discussion.

The Secretary of State for Transport wrote to me in April 2022 about his proposals for a new framework for micro-mobility in UKG’s forthcoming Transport Bill. In my response I stated that where proposals may encroach on devolved interests, it is expected that UKG should seek the Scottish Parliament’s legislative consent in a timely manner, and respect the outcome of the Scottish Parliament’s decision on consent.