Chamber and committees

The Scottish Government’s HL2 Return gives snapshot information on the number of households in temporary accommodation at the end of each quarter.

Table 2 in the following file gives the number of households with children in bed and breakfast at the end of each quarter.

http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Topics/Statistics/Browse/Housing-Regeneration/RefTables/TempAccomJulySept2012

The Scottish Government supports a national infrastructure and related support for financial inclusion and financial awareness, including training for debt advisors and a Financial Learning Online Scotland website for financial capability practitioners. On 21 January 2013, the Deputy First Minister announced a £5.4 million funding package for advice services designed to help them manage the growing number of requests for help as a result of UK Government’s welfare reforms.

Work in communities across Scotland on financial inclusion and financial capability is taken forward by local authorities, who are well placed to assess local need for services and put in place appropriate provision.

Child protection statistics gathered for 2011-12 will include, for the first time, information on children affected by parental substance misuse. These figures will be published on the Scottish Government website in the spring.

Idiopathic Pulmonary Fibrosis is a rare lung condition, the cause of which is unknown. It can be difficult to diagnose as the main symptoms are similar to other lung conditions. Diagnosis will usually be made by a respiratory specialist and may involve a number of tests including chest x-ray, CT scan and in some cases lung biopsy.

Respiratory Managed Clinical Networks have been established in all NHS health boards across Scotland, supported by pump priming funding from the Scottish Government. Our National Advisory Group (NAG) for Respiratory Managed Clinical Networks is working to develop a co-ordinated approach to improving respiratory services across Scotland and provides the opportunity for Local Managed Clinical Networks, patient representatives and stakeholders to discuss issues, identify solutions and share best practice.

The Department for Work and Pensions publishes information on the number of housing benefit claimants on their website. This information is available at:

http://83.244.183.193/hb_la/#view=hblaview11&selectedWafers=0&selectedColumns=0

During November 2012, there were 481,830 housing benefit claimants in Scotland.

We do not hold information centrally on the number of housing benefit claimants who are also in receipt of disability living allowance. From responses to the Family Resources Survey 2010-11, we estimate that around 46% of housing benefit claimants are also in receipt of disability living allowance. This would suggest that around 222,000 claimants are in receipt of housing benefit and disability living allowance.

The key components of the Scottish Government’s alcohol strategy are the Licensing (Scotland) Act 2005, Changing Scotland’s Relationship with Alcohol: A Framework for Action, the Alcohol etc. (Scotland) Act 2010 and the Alcohol (Minimum Pricing) (Scotland) Act 2012. These are being monitored and evaluated through a programme of work, Monitoring and Evaluating Scotland’s Alcohol Strategy (MESAS), which is being led by NHS Health Scotland in collaboration with NHS National Services Scotland Information Services Division.

The programme is delivered through a portfolio of commissioned and in-house evaluation studies. The in-house project team responsible for delivery consists of public health research specialists with expertise in evaluation, epidemiology, health economics, statistical analysis and critical appraisal and synthesis of evidence. Additional expertise is utilised as required, including external advisers where appropriate.

NHS Health Scotland is committed to providing ministers and publishing annual reports that set out key findings from the MESAS programme, including monitoring trends in consumption and alcohol-related harm. More information on MESAS can be found in the published reports:

The baseline report (first report) was published in March 2011, Monitoring and Evaluating Scotland’s Alcohol Strategy. Setting the Scene: Theory of change and baseline picture, and can be found on the following link: http://www.healthscotland.com/documents/5072.aspx;

The second annual report, Monitoring and Evaluating Scotland’s Alcohol Strategy 2nd Annual Report, was published in December 2012. This presents the findings of the current studies to date and can be found on the following link: http://www.healthscotland.com/documents/6182.aspx.

Alcohol and Drug Partnerships (ADPs) are strategic partnerships, established in 2009 and are responsible for: developing local strategies for tackling problem alcohol and drug use and promoting recovery.

ADPs are responsible to undertake routine and on-going needs assessment of their local communities which should then inform decision-making for the provision of appropriate services for their area. This assessment of need should take into account the impact problem alcohol and drug use has on families and the need for related services to provide appropriate support.

There are a number of voluntary organisations and mutual aid groups such Alcoholics Anonymous (AA) across Scotland that support individuals in their recovery and also helps to catalyse the growth of recovery communities that support families and individuals to overcome the problems associated with problem alcohol use.

Alcohol Focus Scotland provides a search facility to identify support services throughout Scotland on their website. This is available at: http://www.alcohol-focus-scotland.org.uk/getting_help/

The Scottish Government has provided funding to the Partnership Drugs Initiative (PDI) since 2001.

The PDI funds voluntary organisations delivering different projects across all 30 Alcohol and Drug Partnership areas working with families, vulnerable children and young people affected by substance misuse.

Decisions on the assessment and appropriate treatment for individuals are taken by practitioners, who take account of the needs and circumstances of each client. Their aim is to ensure that the treatment package will provide the most effective support for that individual. A comprehensive assessment is a key part of this treatment package and should be undertaken with each client to determine their individual needs and goals.

A range of support services for people affected by problem alcohol use are available across Scotland. These services help individuals to recover from the harms caused by alcohol.

The provision of prevention activity, recovery focussed treatment and support services are for each local area to consider, taking account of local needs, circumstances and resources. Responsibility is devolved to Alcohol and Drug Partnerships (ADPs) to commission (informed by robust needs assessment) evidence-based, person-centred and recovery-focused prevention and treatment services to meet the needs of their resident populations.

Alcohol Focus Scotland provides a search facility to identify support services throughout Scotland on their website. This is available at: http://www.alcohol-focus-scotland.org.uk/getting_help/

There is not a Direct Enhanced Service (DES) for alcohol screening and brief interventions in Scotland. Alcohol Screening and Brief Interventions across Scotland are delivered across a range of settings.

I refer the member to the answer to question S4W-12803 on 4 March 2013, which contains details of all the Alcohol Brief Interventions carried out between 2010 and 2012 by NHS board.

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/parliamentarybusiness/28877.aspx.

From 2013 we will monitor the provision of structured education for people with type 1 and type 2 diabetes through the Scottish Diabetes Survey.

Our Diabetes Action Plan, published in 2012, fully recognises the important role that structured education can play in supporting people with diabetes to self-manage their condition.

In implementing the Action Plan we have supported the appointment of a National Diabetes Education Lead at NHS Education Scotland. This led to the development of a review process for structured education: “Assessment of Patient Education in Scotland” and “Tools for Assessment of Patient Education in Scotland”. These resources are helping to ensure that structured Education across Scotland is consistent and quality assured.

The Scottish Diabetes Group has also given funding to NHS boards, Managed Clinical Networks to support the roll out of structured education. In 2011-12 this amounted to £154,450.