Chamber and committees

This is a matter for the Scottish Fire and Rescue Service (SFRS), however information on the availability of Retained Duty System crews can be found on the draft Quarterly Performance Report published by SFRS among the papers for the September board meeting at this link:

http://www.firescotland.gov.uk/media/669939/140925_item_8.4b_quarter1_performance_report_draft_new_format_appendix_1.pdf

As outlined in the Scottish Fire and Rescue Service (SFRS) Governance and Accountability Framework, the Scottish Government assesses the performance of the SFRS on a continuous basis and undertakes a formal review at least twice a year.

The criteria for appraisal of the SFRS is laid out in the letter to the Chair of the SFRS, Pat Watters, which has been published on the Scottish Government website at: http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Resource/0046/00460007.pdf

In addition, Her Majesty’s Fire Inspectorate Service exists to provide independent, risk based and proportionate professional inspection of the SFRS. Since the establishment of the SFRS it has published two relevant reports, An Overview of the Scottish Fire and Rescue Service and Equal Access to National Capacity. Reports are available at:

http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Resource/0043/00437774.pdf

http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Resource/0045/00451034.pdf

NHS boards are responsible for filling vacant consultant posts, and the Scottish Government expects boards to actively utilise national, European and international recruitment options in filling their vacancies. Action being taken by boards to recruit in the last quarter has reduced vacancies by 5.6 whole time equivalent.

Funding is provided for NHS boards to increase the Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services (CAMHS) clinical workforce. Significant investment (£13.5 million from 2009-2014) was provided to deliver faster access to specialist child and adolescent mental health services in the community; and in the CAMHS workforce which has seen the overall clinical workforce increase by 43% since 2008.

Information Services Division (ISD) publish data on a quarterly basis detailing the size of the CAMHS workforce across NHS boards. As at 30 June 2014, the total number of clinical staff in post in NHS Scotland CAMHS was 1080 (headcount) with a whole time equivalent (WTE) of 925.4.Previous figures in 2014 are as follows:

As at 31 March 2014, the total number of clinical staff in post in NHS Scotland CAMHS was 1075 (headcount) with a WTE of 917.5.

As at 31 December 2013, the total number of clinical staff in post in NHS Scotland CAMHS was 1065 (headcount) with a whole time equivalent of 909.9

NHS boards have delivered the CAMHS HEAT target commitment that by March 2013 no one will wait longer than 26 weeks from referral to treatment for specialist CAMHS.

NHS boards are now working towards the target of 18 weeks by December 2014. We continue to monitor their progress through monthly management information data and through the quarterly published ISD data. The latest published data indicates that nationally the 18 week target is being met within the 10% tolerance and the average wait is 7 weeks.

ISD publish quarterly data on the psychology workforce in NHS Scotland. The total number of clinical staff employed in NHS Scotland Psychology Services continues to rise, with 1184 staff (1001.2 WTE) including 861 (724.2 WTE) clinical and other applied psychologists in post at 30 June 2014. There has been a significant increase over time in the number of clinical and other applied psychologists employed in NHSScotland from 426 (371.0 WTE) in 2003 to the current level of 861 (724.2 WTE).

The data from this publication is used by NHS Education for Scotland (NES), the Scottish Government and NHS boards to support local, regional and national workforce planning, and to support educational training and planning.

As staff required to deliver the psychological therapies access target will be wider than those working in psychology services alone, we are, through NES, working to assess and develop workforce capacity to ensure that a range of staff are equipped to deliver therapies. Staffing levels are however, a matter for each individual board to determine, according to local need.

The range of actions (under initiatives such as the Pearls in Peril EC LIFE Project, Scottish Environmental Protection Agency’s Water Environment Fund and Scottish Natural Heritage’s (SNH) Species Action Framework) at selected locations include the removal of barriers to fish migration, removal of bank protection and other features to restore mussel and fish habitat, installation of buffer strips to reduce diffuse pollution, planting riparian woodlands to improve habitat and artificial assistance for the colonisation of host fish by pearl mussel larvae.

Research has also been conducted, notably by the Integrated Aquatic Resources Management between Ireland, Northern Ireland and Scotland (IBIS) project and under contract for SNH, to identify the specific host species of freshwater pearl mussel in particular rivers. Once this information is available it will further inform and guide future restoration actions.

The information requested on how many educational psychologists there have been in the NHS in each year for the last ten years is not centrally held.

The Scottish Government recognises and values the role that educational psychologists play in supporting learners. We are working in partnership with the National Scottish Steering Group for Educational Psychologists to ensure a sustainable supply of educational psychologists to meet potential future needs. This includes work to improve the data available to inform future workforce planning decisions, including decisions around numbers of educational psychologists to train.

24 students have started the first year of the Master of Science degree in educational psychology at Dundee University this month, and 19 students have started the second year of the course at Strathclyde University. 21 students completed the course in September 2014.

There has been a significant increase in the number of pupils recorded in national statistics as having additional support needs since 2010. This is a direct consequence of an extension in the way in which we collect information. Prior to 2010, only pupils with co-ordinated support plans, individualised educational programmes or who were attending a special school were recorded as having additional support needs. However, in 2010 this was extended to include anyone receiving additional support, including all the pupils identified and receiving support in mainstream schools. This has led to a large increase in the number of pupils recorded with additional support needs since 2010.

The decision to change the funding arrangements for the training of educational psychologists was taken in the light of challenging financial circumstances as part of the Spending Review 2011. This aligned financial support for postgraduate training for educational psychologists with financial support for many other postgraduate training schemes.

The Scottish Government recognises and values the role that educational psychologists play in additional support for learning. We are working in partnership with the National Scottish Steering Group for Educational Psychologists around workforce planning at a national level to ensure a sustainable supply of educational psychologists to meet potential future needs.

It may be helpful to note that the vacancy rate for consultant psychiatrists quoted in the question “from 218 to 324 between December 2013 and March 2014” is, in fact, an approximation of vacancy data for all consultant posts in all specialties for that period. The correct information is supplied in the following table:

Source: ISD

The total funded establishment for consultants, which includes consultant psychiatrists, has increased during this period and it would be expected for vacancies to rise while health boards recruit to these posts. It should be noted that vacancy numbers for this specialism have reduced by 5.6 wte during the last quarter and stand at 50.2 wte as at June 2014.

We expect NHS boards to plan their facilities and workforce to deliver this service and to have robust processes in place to ensure the provision of safe, effective and high quality patient care. The Scottish Government is working with NHS Education for Scotland and the Royal College of Psychiatrists to ensure this patient care is delivered by the right professional at the right time.