Chamber and committees

Kinship carers of children who are looked after are entitled to financial support from the responsible local authority. A number of local authorities also offer allowances to kinship carers of non-looked after children and those on a section 11 order of the Children (Scotland) Act 1995 (e.g Residence Order).

The level of kinship care payments are the responsibility of local authorities. The Scottish Government is committed to working with local authorities to ensure that kinship carers receive the support they need.

The Scottish Government is currently reviewing financial support to kinship carers with a view to tailoring support and tackling inconsistencies across Scotland.

There is an agreed protocol between Audit Scotland and the Scottish Government covering the arrangements for carrying out and clearing performance audit reports undertaken on behalf of the Auditor General for Scotland (AGS) which are published as part of the Scottish Public Finance Manual. The purpose of the protocol is to ensure that all relevant parties in the Scottish Government and Audit Scotland are aware of the arrangements for carrying out performance audits undertaken on behalf of the AGS and clearing draft reports.

The protocol states that in relation to the draft report/key messages:

“The project manager sends a copy of the key messages document and draft report to all project advisory group members, including the SG representative, for comment.”

For formal clearance of the report, the protocol says:

“The AGS sends a formal letter and a copy of the report to the relevant Accountable Officer. The AGS’s letter specifies the date when comments are due back (this is three weeks from the date of the letter) and asks for confirmation of the factual accuracy of the report and any other comments on the presentation and conclusions.”

While the Scottish Government can provide comment on the draft report, the final decision on what to include in the report is solely the responsibility of Audit Scotland. The comments provided were in line with standard procedures where Audit Scotland asked for comments on the draft report. In the interest of accuracy, Audit Scotland accepted a number of points raised and amended the final report accordingly, in exactly the same way as has been done on many other occasions.

There is an agreed protocol between Audit Scotland and the Scottish Government covering the arrangements for carrying out and clearing performance audit reports undertaken on behalf of the Auditor General for Scotland (AGS) which are published as part of the Scottish Public Finance Manual. The purpose of the protocol is to ensure that all relevant parties in the Scottish Government and Audit Scotland are aware of the arrangements for carrying out performance audits undertaken on behalf of the AGS and clearing draft reports.

The protocol states that in relation to the draft report/key messages:

“The project manager sends a copy of the key messages document and draft report to all project advisory group members, including the SG representative, for comment.”

For formal clearance of the report, the protocol says:

“The AGS sends a formal letter and a copy of the report to the relevant Accountable Officer. The AGS’s letter specifies the date when comments are due back (this is three weeks from the date of the letter) and asks for confirmation of the factual accuracy of the report and any other comments on the presentation and conclusions.”

While the Scottish Government can provide comment on the draft report, the final decision on what to include in the report is solely the responsibility of Audit Scotland. The comments provided were in line with standard procedures where Audit Scotland asked for comments on the draft report. In the interest of accuracy, Audit Scotland accepted a number of points raised and amended the final report accordingly, in exactly the same way as has been done on many other occasions.

Neither the Scottish Government nor the Care Inspectorate collect information on numbers of foster carers broken down by local authority area.

The Scottish Government understands that the State Hospital have undertaken an internal investigation into anonymous allegations made to NHS Counter Fraud Services. The outcome of the investigation will be reported to the State Hospital Audit Committee.

The Scottish Government understands that the State Hospital have asked their internal auditors to report on three anonymous allegations made to NHS Counter Fraud Services.

The Scottish Government understands that in June 2012 members of the State Hospital senior management team received a recruitment and retention premium as part of their remuneration package.

Due to an oversight, payment of the premium was not made at the time it was due. Therefore, this resulted in a back payment being made.

National Care Standard 6 against which foster care agencies are inspected, states that applicants should be made aware that the assessment will be completed within 6 months from the date of receipt of their application unless unforeseen circumstances prevent this.

It further states that prospective foster carers will receive regular feedback on the progress of their application (at least once a month) and that there are clear indications given of any work that is needed to further the process.

This information is not held centrally by the Scottish Government or Care Inspectorate. However as part of the inspection process the Care Inspectorate seeks feedback from foster carers on their experience of the service and the support they receive from the agency, whether local authority based or independent.

Local authorities are responsible for having foster carer procedures in place which will be inspected against National Care Standards by the Care Inspectorate. The Care Inspectorate is responsible for the registration and inspection of foster care services.

Standard 5 states that “you know you will be fully assessed by the agency before being accepted as a foster carer” and Standard 6 states that “you can be confident that the agency treats applications to become a foster carer fairly and without unnecessary delay.”