- Asked by: Irene Oldfather, MSP for Cunninghame South, Scottish Labour
-
Date lodged: Tuesday, 08 June 2004
-
Current Status:
Answered by Tom McCabe on 18 June 2004
To ask the Scottish Executive what criteria must be met by a private care company before a local authority can employ its services and whether present monitoring of these criteria is effective.
Answer
Under the Regulation of Care (Scotland) Act 2001 local authorities must ensure that when they make arrangements for the provision of a care service the provider of that service is registered with the Care Commission. The Care Commission inspects care service providers against the relevant National Care Standards and regulations. It is up to local authorities whether they set any other criteria in addition to those required by the act, and how they monitor any which they may set. One of the purposes of the Regulation of Care (Scotland) Act 2001 was,however, to establish a consistent system of regulation of care agencies in allparts of Scotland. That would be undermined if individual authorities sought in effect to duplicate or enlarge upon the particular conditions of registration with the Care Commission.
- Asked by: Irene Oldfather, MSP for Cunninghame South, Scottish Labour
-
Date lodged: Tuesday, 08 June 2004
-
Current Status:
Answered by Tom McCabe on 18 June 2004
To ask the Scottish Executive what discussions it has had with the Care Commission regarding alleged incidents of abuse, theft and bullying suffered by residents of care homes.
Answer
I met the Care Commission on 12 May to discuss its investigation of recent media reports about a care home, and have asked it to keep me informed about action it is taking as a result. The Care Commission has acted swiftly and has served an Improvement Notice (under the Regulation of Care (Scotland) Act 2001) on one provider, requiring certain action to be taken within specific dates otherwise it will move to cancel the registration. Meantime, the Care Commission is visiting the service weekly. It is also investigating other agencies named in the media reports.
- Asked by: Irene Oldfather, MSP for Cunninghame South, Scottish Labour
-
Date lodged: Thursday, 17 June 2004
-
Current Status:
Answered by Lewis Macdonald on 17 June 2004
To ask the Scottish Executive when a response will be made to the European Commission's proposals for the new regional aid guidelines post 2006.
Answer
The European Commission’s current regional aid guidelines, which determine where, how and in what circumstances regional aid can be granted, expire on 31 December 2006. The Commission have issued proposals for new guidelines to apply from 1 January 2007 to 31 December 2013. These would significantly reduce the areas where regional aid could be used in Scotland.
State aid is reserved to Westminster under the Scotland Act. A UK-wide consultation on the Commission’s proposals starts this week. Comments are requested by 28 June to help inform the initial UK response to the Commission. The full consultation period will run up to 6 September and responses will be taken into account in the continuing UK discussions with the Commission. A copy of the consultation document has been placed in the Scottish Parliament’s Reference Centre (Bib. number 33021).
We are in discussion with the UK government and with EU contacts, to represent Scottish interests; and we are writing to Scottish stakeholders to encourage them to participate in the consultation.
- Asked by: Irene Oldfather, MSP for Cunninghame South, Scottish Labour
-
Date lodged: Friday, 04 June 2004
-
Current Status:
Answered by Frank McAveety on 7 June 2004
To ask the Scottish Executive what progress has been made in achieving the targets set out in Tourism Framework for Action, published in 2002.
Answer
I am pleased to announce thatreal progress has been achieved since the publication of the Tourism Frameworkfor Action in 2002. A Progress Report for 2003-04 will be published today thatreflects a number of initiatives that have been taken forward by public and privatesector partners working together to contribute towards the growth of tourism inScotland. Copies of the report have been placed in the Scottish Parliament InformationCentre under (Bib. number 32869).
- Asked by: Irene Oldfather, MSP for Cunninghame South, Scottish Labour
-
Date lodged: Wednesday, 21 April 2004
-
Current Status:
Answered by Tavish Scott on 29 April 2004
To ask the Scottish Executive what progress is being made with regard to the relocation of civil service jobs.
Answer
We have made good progress. Since1999, we have relocated or announced plans to relocate around 1,300 posts aroundScotland. There are around a further 1,800 posts being considered under reviews announcedto date.
- Asked by: Irene Oldfather, MSP for Cunninghame South, Scottish Labour
-
Date lodged: Monday, 05 April 2004
-
Current Status:
Answered by Cathy Jamieson on 5 April 2004
To ask the Scottish Executive when it will publish its consultation document on the reform of family law.
Answer
I have today published aconsultation document, Family Matters: Improving Family Law in Scotland.Copies of the consultation document are available in the Parliament’s ReferenceCentre. This consultation deals, among others, with issues of greatsignificance for children and those who care for them. We will be seeking viewsfrom a wide range of stakeholders, organisations and individuals on ourproposals.
- Asked by: Irene Oldfather, MSP for Cunninghame South, Scottish Labour
-
Date lodged: Monday, 09 February 2004
-
Current Status:
Answered by Margaret Curran on 26 March 2004
To ask the Scottish Executive what action it is taking to address the rising level of consumer debt as detailed in Citi'en Advice Scotland's report On the Cards: The debt crisis facing Scottish CAB clients.
Answer
We are tackling problem debtthrough our Partnership for a Better Scotland commitment to support the moneyadvice sector in Scotland. To this end an extra £4 million of new funding for2004-05 and 2005-06 was announced on 26 January 2004which will go towards developing new front-line money advice services for anumber of vulnerable groups, such as minority ethnic communities and lone parents.The funding will also be used to boost the £3 million annually already providedto local authorities by the Executive, which has resulted in 120 additional moneyadvisers.
- Asked by: Irene Oldfather, MSP for Cunninghame South, Scottish Labour
-
Date lodged: Friday, 05 March 2004
-
Current Status:
Answered by Tom McCabe on 19 March 2004
To ask the Scottish Executive what arrangements are in place to ensure a smooth transition of care packages when service users relocate to a new local authority area.
Answer
It is a matter for localauthorities to ensure a smooth transition of care packages (including thoseunder the Supporting People initiative) when service users relocate to a newlocal authority area.
Scottish Office Circular No.SWSG1/96 on Ordinary Residence, and Scottish Executive Guidance on SupportingPeople, both available through the Parliament’s Reference Centre (Bib. number 22749)include advice on which authority is responsible and which should support aperson when there is a disagreement between two authorities.
- Asked by: Irene Oldfather, MSP for Cunninghame South, Scottish Labour
-
Date lodged: Friday, 05 March 2004
-
Current Status:
Answered by Tom McCabe on 19 March 2004
To ask the Scottish Executive what arrangements are in place to ensure a smooth transition of care packages under the Supporting People initiative when service users relocate to a new local authority area.
Answer
I refer the member to the answer given to question S2W-6780 on 19 March 2004.All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament’s website, the search facility for which can be found at
http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/webapp/search_wa.
- Asked by: Irene Oldfather, MSP for Cunninghame South, Scottish Labour
-
Date lodged: Friday, 05 March 2004
-
Current Status:
Answered by Tom McCabe on 19 March 2004
To ask the Scottish Executive how it monitors standards of training in the delivery of care services.
Answer
As part of its regulatoryduties the Care Commission requires care service providers to comply with theRegulation of Care (Scotland) Act 2001 and the associated subordinatelegislation. Section 9 of the Regulation of Care (Requirements as to Care Services)(Scotland)Regulations 2002 addresses fitness of employees. It states that a person isunfit to work in a care service if they do not have the qualifications,skills and experience necessary for the work that they perform. Requirementsrelated to management and staffing are also reflected in the National CareStandards developed by Scottish Ministers and which the Commission must takeinto account in carrying out its business. The Care Commission will expectproviders to demonstrate how standards are being met.
The requirements imposed bythe legislation and the National Care Standards sit alongside the requirementsof the Scottish Social Services Council (SSSC). The council was established inOctober 2001, and is the regulatory body for the social care workforce. To beeligible for registration, a person must meet a number of conditions, one ofwhich is to meet the qualifications criteria set by the SSSC for their particularjob. To maintain registration a person must demonstrate continuous developmentof knowledge and skills. Registration of the social care workforce commenced inApril 2003 and will be phased in over a period of time.
