Chamber and committees

Individual health boards are responsible for allocating staff, in recognition that they best understand local priorities and needs. The Scottish Government understands that many NHS staff have been unavoidably redeployed since 2020 to support the response to the Covid-19 pandemic, but that as the pandemic subsides, staff will begin to revert to their pre-Covid duties.

The Scottish Government welcomes this, but remains committed to working closely with Health boards to support recovery of sexual health and blood borne virus services, including those focused on Hepatitis C, through on-going engagement with the Scottish Health Protection Network and development of the next iteration of the sexual health and Blood Borne Viruses Framework.

The Scottish Government does not have the information which has been requested.

Patient safety is a key priority for the Scottish Government. We are taking forward a programme of work aimed at preventing harm as a result of sodium valproate, and also ensuring that those who have been impacted receive the care they need.

The Scottish Government appreciates the wide interest shown from across society in Draft National Planning Framework 4. The detailed responses received through the Parliamentary scrutiny process and the public consultation are currently being considered. Once the analysis of responses is complete, we will be able to assess the scale of change required to produce a final NPF4. At that point, an update on the forward timetable will be provided.

The Scottish Government do not have information on the total number of single parents that have accessed further education courses at Scottish colleges.

In 2020-21, we provided £25 million of funding to councils across Scotland to tackle digital exclusion, resulting in over 72,000 pupils receiving a device to support their learning.

The following table shows the number of devices distributed via that funding, as reported by individual local authorities.

Funding for devices was provided to local authorities by the Scottish Government. As such, local authorities undertook their own procurement exercises and devices purchased became assets of, and are managed by, individual local authorities. Decisions on their use are taken locally. We do not hold information on how devices are used and monitored.

Funding for devices was provided to local authorities by the Scottish Government. As such, local authorities undertook their own procurement exercises and devices purchased became assets of, and are managed by, individual local authorities. Decisions on their use are taken locally. We do not hold information on how devices are used and monitored.

The funding of around £145,000 was announced to establish specialist support, counselling and the introduction of peer support groups.

We have introduced a working group to assist with the implementation of peer support groups. The group includes people with lived experience, and representatives from Health in Mind and the Scottish Recovery Network. Both organisations have extensive knowledge and experience in setting up and maintaining peer-support in many different areas across the country.

The High Level Group on Planning Performance aims to improve the performance of the planning system for all types of development. The resourcing and performance of the planning system remain key priorities, and new planning application fee levels came into effect on 1 April 2022 which will increase the financial resources available to planning authorities.

Performance is not the sole responsibility of planning authorities: all parties, including applicants, have a role to play in ensuring that applications are determined efficiently and effectively. Accordingly, extending the membership of the High Level Group to include applicants has been considered on a number of occasions. It is important to recognise that the planning system is used by a wide range of applicants across a variety of sectors, so to include all industry and business representative bodies would be unmanageable. However, given the importance of performance, active consideration is being given to how the views and concerns of applicants can be more directly fed into the High Level Group. This will be investigated during the summer and we will be making contact with industry representatives shortly to discuss possible options.

The Scottish Government collects data relating to individual temporary accommodation placements (associated with homelessness applications) through the HL3 data collection. This includes information on whether or not placements have been in breach of the Unsuitable Accommodation Order (UAO).

Comprehensive HL3 data is available for all local authorities from 1 April 2017. The most recent data available is up to 30 September 2021.

Prior to 5 May 2020, a breach occurred when a household with a pregnant women and/or child was in unsuitable temporary accommodation for more than 7 days. From 5 May 2020, this was extended to all homeless households. Therefore, breaches data pre and post 5 May 2020 are not directly comparable.

Various temporary exceptions were introduced from May to September 2020 to allow local authorities to provide households with accommodation in response to COVID-19. These exceptions were still in place by September 2021. Where an exception applied, a breach did not have to be recorded.

As a result of uncertainty caused by the extension of the legislation falling at the same time as the introduction of the exceptions, there was increased scrutiny of the data. This uncovered inconsistency in the practice of reporting and recording breaches across local authorities, including prior to May 2020. Therefore, data on the number of breaches should be treated with caution.

Following identification of this inconsistent recording practice, the Scottish Government issued clarification to local authorities in January 2022. Clearer, more explicit HL3 guidance with worked examples is also being prepared to minimise different interpretations of the legislation and ensure consistent reporting.

The tables below provide the number of UAO breaches recorded in the HL3 return by local authority and by month from 1 April 2017, when comprehensive coverage began, to 30 September 2021.

Figures have been rounded to the nearest five for disclosure control purposes, with the except i on of zeroes – which are denoted by ‘.’ – and values of 1, 2 and 3 - which are denoted by ‘<4’.

The sum of the monthly totals may not match published quarterly figures due to rounding.

Only local authorities with at least one breach from April 2017 to September 2021 are included in the tables. If a local authority is not included, this is because they have no reported breaches over this period.

Number of temporary accommodation placements that have been in breach of the Unsuitable Accommodation Order, by local authority