Chamber and committees

Scottish Government officials worked closely with the Free Personal Care Implementation Advisory Group to develop a detailed monitoring template that has been distributed to all local authorities. This format asks for information on costs, level, and nature of demand for Free Personal Care since the extension to those under the age of 65. This will allow for a more accurate estimate of the cost of the policy in coming years and allocations to local authorities. We are committed to review on this basis.

We intend to provide regular reports of the impact of the extension of Free Personal Care from early next year. This will enable both central and local governments to closely monitor the impact of the extension over the first three years.

Scottish Government officials last met with the Ministry of Defence on Monday, 29 th July as part of the Covenant Reference Group and discussed a wide range of matters relating to supporting the Armed Forces and Veterans Community. Specifically on education matters, officials from the Scottish Government and MOD’s Directorate of Children and Young People met on 23 July 2019 and at the most recent Scottish Service Children Strategy Group on 4 June 2019.

Officials will continue to meet with their counterparts at the MOD on a regular basis as part of the Scottish Government’s commitment to engage with the MOD on issues that are of interest to the Armed Forces and Veterans Community in Scotland.

Scottish Government officials from the European Structural Funds and State Aid Division maintain regular dialogue by email, phone and in person with the European Commission regarding the European Social Fund.

Officials from the Scottish Government met officials from the European Commission in Brussels on 14 June 2019 to discuss the European Social Fund.

All public bodies in Scotland produce and publish individual audited annual accounts. The Scottish Government produces all the accounts that are required. In a letter of 2 November 2016, the Permanent Secretary wrote to the Public Audit and Post-Legislative Scrutiny Committee, in advance of her attendance at the Committee on 10 November: http://www.parliament.scot/S5_Finance/PAPLS_Papers_10_November.pdf

Work has continued to develop this new output but it has been challenging to accommodate this additional project with existing and new priorities, alongside overcoming the many technical challenges associated with consolidating data from a significantly expanded number of organisations, some operating to different accounting standards. However, the work is now drawing to a conclusion. Draft material has been shared for internal consultation within the Scottish Government and is with Audit Scotland for review .

The Scottish Government complies with all financial reporting and auditing requirements and is developing its financial reporting to support transparency and the understanding of the increasingly complex financial picture. There have been improvements each year to the timing and presentation of the sets of accounts which make up the full reporting on the Scottish Budget. The Foreword to the Scottish Government Consolidated Accounts explained the 2018 developments: https://beta.gov.scot/publications/scottish-government-consolidated-accounts-year-ended-31-march-2018/pages/1/ Although the target date for publishing this account by March 2019 was not achieved, considerable progress has been made and we are progressing a plan to achieve audit and publication of a 2017-18 product.

On 23 November 2018, Leslie Evans, Permanent Secretary, wrote to Jenny Marra, Convenor of PAPLS, laying out progress https://www.parliament.scot/S5_Public_Audit/Meeting%20Papers/PAPLS_Meeting_papers_PUBLIC_29_Nov_2018.pdf

In this letter, target dates were set out for sharing information for internal consultation by the end of December 2018, and for audit and publication by end March 2019. Information has been shared for internal consultation, and audit colleagues have been invited to engage. Final format, plans and dates for publication have not yet been agreed.

As referenced in the response to PQ S5W-24505 on 16 August 2019, the Scottish Government is developing a draft account which consolidates the wider public sector in Scotland. The Public Finance and Accountability Act 2000 requires consolidated public accounts to be audited before they can be laid and published Draft material has been shared for internal consultation within the Scottish Government and is with Audit Scotland for review. Further consultation and audit arrangements will be agreed, and the draft will be audited, finalised and published in due course.

All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament's website, the search facility for which can be found at: http://www.parliament.scot/parliamentarybusiness/28877.aspx

An analysis of the responses to the consultation on wildlife crime penalties will be published on the Scottish Government website as soon as practicable after the consultation closes on 16 August 2019.

We will set out our future legislative plans in due course.

The funding for the extension of Free Personal Care was part of an additional £160 million health portfolio funding that was made available via Local Authorities to support social care and integration as part of the 2019-20 Budget. It is for statutory partners to manage their budgets and allocate the total financial resources available to them, having first fulfilled their statutory obligations and the jointly agreed set of national and local priorities.

The funding for the extension of Free Personal Care was linked to the stipulation that local authority social care budgets for allocation to Integration Authorities and funding for school counselling services this year must be at least £160 million more than in 2018-19. This ensures that even where areas have received funding for Free Personal Care that is beyond their currently projected levels of demand in this first year, funding for social care overall must increase.

This settlement means that personal care is now free for anyone in Scotland who is assessed as eligible. Local authorities have a statutory responsibility to ensure that personal care is no longer charged to the individual.

The following table provides the allocation by Local Authority for the extension of Free Personal Care to under 65s