Chamber and committees

No such guidance has been issued to local authorities or amateur groups.

The Scottish Government made a commitment in 2007 to recognise kinship carers for the first time. This was recognised through subsequent legislation and specific additional funding to local authorities, set out in previous Budget agreements. Funding for kinship care allowances is now rolled-up in the general local government grant. It is therefore a matter for local authorities to allocate their total resources available having first fulfilled their statutory obligations and the jointly agreed set of national and local priorities including the Scottish Government’s key strategic objectives.

The Scottish Government intends to engage with local authorities and other relevant organisations in order to explore what action might be necessary to refine the suite of safeguards currently in place for children participating in performances. Recent developments elsewhere in the UK, including the publication of guidance regarding the use of “body of persons” approvals, will be considered as part of this activity.

The Scottish Government is in regular contact with the UK Government on a wide range of issues, including the UK Government’s recent guidance on the use of “body of persons” approvals.

The Healthcare Planning and Strategy division in the Health and Healthcare Improvement Directorate has responsibility for taking forward the policy on hearing loss rehabilitation.

The Scottish Government provided very significant resources in 2011 to health boards and local authorities to enable them to meet the needs of their populations. In addition to this, specific grants for the purpose of training lipreading tutors were not provided in 2011.

Lipreading classes in Scotland are funded in a variety of ways: sources include health boards, local authorities and the lottery. The Scottish Government provided very significant resources to health boards and local authorities in these years to meet the needs of their population. In addition the Scottish Government provided grant totalling £50,255 to the Scottish Course to Train Tutors of Lipreading over the three calendar years 2006, 2007 and 2008.

The Scottish Government provided funding to the Scottish Course to Train Tutors of Lipreading totalling £28,975 in the calendar year 2006, £13,360 in 2007, £7,920 in 2008: no funding was provided in 2009 or 2010.

The Adult Care and Support Division, which sits within the Health and Social Integration Directorate, are responsible for policy in relation to lipreading. The lead official responsible is Peter Kelly.

The provision of school transport in Scotland is a local authority responsibility. Section 51 of the Education (Scotland) Act 1980 sets out that authorities have a duty to make such arrangements as they consider necessary for the provision of school transport and, in so considering, having regard to the safety of pupils.