Chamber and committees

The share of local government funding to be allocated to young carers is not set centrally, and the Scottish Government does not hold this information.

The Scottish Government’s policy towards local authority spending is to allow each local authority the financial freedom to operate independently. As such, the vast majority of local authority funding is provided by means of a block grant. It is then the responsibility of individual local authorities to manage their own budgets and to allocate the total financial resources available to them, including support for young carers, on the basis of local needs and priorities, having first fulfilled their statutory obligations and the jointly agreed set of national and local priorities.

Since 2018-19, additional funding to support the implementation of the Carers (Scotland) Act 2016 has been included within the local government block grant, as set out in the following table:

Due to the scope and timeframe of the question, the information requested could only be obtained at disproportionate cost as this data is not available from a single source.

The Scottish Government is committed to improving fair work practices across the social care sector.

There are more than 1,200 social care providers across Scotland; and each of these providers will have their own internal pay scales.

Since 2016, the Scottish Government has delivered funding to ensure adult social care workers are paid at least the Real Living Wage (RLW). Our ambition is that all care workers, including those working in the children’s sector, are paid the Real Living Wage as a minimum. Work to better understand the current composition of the Children’s social care sector is taking place in collaboration with key stakeholders.

This information is not held centrally. Local authorities and integrated health and social care partnerships are responsible for commissioning services for people within their area.

Information on expenditure on the programme is published quarterly: https://www.gov.scot/publications/single-building-assessment-spending-information/

The recently published figures have additional information that show committed spend on remediation of £148,000.

I refer the member to the answer to question S6W-14122 on 9 February 2023. All answers to written Parliamentary Questions are available on the Parliament's website, the search facility for which can be found at https://www.parliament.scot/chamber-and-committees/written-questions-and-answers

Removal of cladding is not always necessary or appropriate. The Scottish Government fully funded Single Building Assessment is designed to identify any potential issues which have an adverse impact on the safety and security of residents. We expect the vast majority of buildings to be found to be safe, but we have to understand the extent of the problem to be able to fix it.

Public Library services in Scotland are devolved to local authorities which have a statutory duty to secure the provision of adequate library facilities for all persons resident in their area.

No Scottish Libraries have permanently closed in the last three reporting years. The following table from the Scottish Library and Information Council provides data, compiled by the Chartered Institute of Public Finance and Accountancy (CIPFA), capturing the number of service points and net increase / decrease per year between 2009-10 – 2021-22. Information for 2022-23 will be available at the end of the current financial year.

The Scottish Government is committed to delivering the grade separation of Sheriffhall Roundabout as part of its £300 million commitment to the Edinburgh and South-East Scotland City Region Deal.

Transport Scotland continues to progress the proposed scheme through the statutory process to deliver improvements at this key junction as soon as possible.

Following publication of draft Orders and Environmental Statement, Transport Scotland received a significant number of representations, including objections, to the proposed scheme. Given the number of objections, a Public Local Inquiry (PLI) is required, during which an independent reporter will consider all outstanding objections prior to making recommendations to the Scottish Ministers. The PLI is due to commence on Monday 30 January 2023. As with all trunk road projects this is the appropriate statutory forum for considering objections received and not withdrawn.

While I am keen to see the improvements delivered as soon as possible, the statutory right for individuals to have their say on proposals cannot be set aside. Delivery of the scheme itself can only commence if it is approved under the relevant statutory procedures, at which point a timetable for its progress can be set.

The focus of this report was providing a response on how to implement the recommendations of the Drug Deaths Taskforce Report, Changing Lives , published in July 2022.

However, people with problematic alcohol use and those who use alcohol alongside drugs will benefit from a number of the actions outlined in the plan such as the work to address stigma, the actions on early intervention and actions to support people with co-occurring mental health and substance use needs. In addition, the actions outlined in the plan to develop a trauma-informed workforce, to ensure that those with lived or living experience are involved in the development of work across both alcohol and drug policy and on residential rehabilitation services, will benefit people with problematic alcohol use as well as problematic drug use.

The Changing Lives report was the final report of the Drug Deaths Taskforce which has now concluded its work.