Chamber and committees

NHS Scotland provides expectant mothers with all clinically recommended scans during the course of their pregnancy.

Anyone choosing to have scans elsewhere, for any purpose, should choose a provider regulated by Healthcare Improvement Scotland and satisfy themselves that the sonographer is a suitably qualified and registered healthcare practitioner.

Our justice recovery fund of £53.2 million in 2022-23 supports continued recovery, renewal and transformation activity across the justice system. This includes funding increased court and staffing capacity for the Scottish Courts and Tribunals Service, which has contributed to a fall of 12,000 in the number of scheduled trials between January and the end of October 2022.

Justice agencies have been clear that recovery from the impacts of the pandemic will take several years, and initiatives are underway to address backlogs and streamline processes in different ways. For example, a pilot of a new approach to managing summary cases began in Dundee, Hamilton and Paisley Sheriff courts in September. It is designed to make long term improvements to how the system works for its users, facilitating early disclosure of evidence and early judicial case management, reducing the number of unnecessary summary hearings, and ultimately reducing the time it takes cases to reach conclusion.

The Scottish Government has taken forward a range of measures to support the efficient delivery of Scotland’s Redress Scheme. The delivery of the scheme, in partnership with the independent decision making body Redress Scotland, is survivor led with feedback encouraged and acted upon.

Total numbers of applications to the Scottish Government are in line with modelling done prior to scheme launch. The comparatively higher level of applications submitted in the first few months reflects the large number of survivors who worked tirelessly to see the scheme open.

The scheme is open for five years and recognises the need for applicants to carefully consider their options, at their own pace. The scheme aims to empower applicants by providing information and support in order that they can decide if the scheme is right for them.

As of 31st October 2022, 1756 applications for redress have been received and 277 applications have been passed to Redress Scotland for consideration.

Of the 202 payment offers made, 178 applicants have accepted and payments totalling £8,570,168 have been made to survivors or their next of kin.

The Scottish Government has taken forward a range of measures to support the efficient delivery of Scotland’s Redress Scheme, which is survivor led with feedback encouraged and acted upon.

The scheme was established to provide acknowledgement and tangible recognition of the harm that has been caused to those who experienced abuse in care, with the commitment that it would be less adversarial and swifter than civil court action. The redress payment reflects part of that tangible recognition and is not considered compensation in the same way as a sum awarded by a court.

In direct response to feedback about timescales the number of case workers has increased from 12 in December 2021 to 23 in November 2022, and as a result we will see swifter allocation of completed applications to case workers from January.

The operating model was changed in April 2022 to ensure all applications received are initially triaged by the case work team and applicants are then advised what further information is required to progress their application. With applicants consent, case workers make referrals to the Redress Support Service to progress applications where additional information is required. This can include support from organisations specialised in record searches. To date, 834 referrals have been made to this service.

A group has been established which is considering ways in which we might be able to improve the process of applicants accessing care records as it is recognised that some applicants are having challenges in this area.

The Survivor Forum, which was established in March, has reported on its first survey and feedback on the scheme has been provided to both the Scottish Government and Redress Scotland, the independent decision making body. The forum will also increase its activity and engagement with applicants in early 2023, providing further opportunities to provide feedback on what is working well and what could be done better or differently.

We made an additional £40 million available to improve Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services (CAMHS) last year, with £4.25 million of that specifically dedicated to clearing waiting list backlogs by March 2023.

We are also targeting tailored support towards those Boards with the longest waits, providing access to professional advice, to ensure that they have robust improvement plans in place and are monitoring progress closely.

We have taken positive steps to increase and maximise the available Mental Health Workforce, at all levels across Scotland. We will continue to work with the Royal College of Psychiatrists to explore further potential recruitment and retention opportunities.

The Scottish Government is currently developing the Mental Health and Wellbeing Strategy and the Mental Health and Wellbeing Workforce Plan which we will publish in 2023.

My response to the UK Government consultation in March made clear that any credible and effective package of conditionality tests must include both domestic and international dimensions - extending to at least all of the six tests outlined in the consultation document.

The First Minister also called on the UK Government for a four nations’ discussions to agree on a final Climate Compatibility Checkpoint process which was ignored. The UKCCC said that any effective and credible climate compatibility checkpoint for offshore oil and gas licensing must extend beyond new licensing rounds to also cover fields that are already consented but not yet in production.

It is extremely disappointing that the Climate Compatibility Test proposed by the UK Government is limited to new exploration, and that the bar has been set so low in terms of the Test itself. It is particularly unfortunate that the Climate Compatibility Checkpoint fails to consider the impact of emissions associated with the use as well as the production of fossil fuels on the world’s climate commitments made in Paris and reaffirmed in the Glasgow Climate Pact.

It is a lightweight version of the Test consulted upon earlier this year.

The Scottish Government is taking a range of measures to ensure that young people understand all the available options to them. Skills Development Scotland (SDS) delivers career information, advice and guidance services in all state secondary schools throughout Scotland. The in-school services are delivered face-to-face with at least one dedicated career adviser.

SDS along with the Developing Young Workforce have been working in partnership to facilitate employer engagement within schools especially to senior phase pupils. Both parties work collaboratively to identify and support a young person’s aspirations and create work based learning opportunities to help them prepare for the next step in their journey – whether into employment, training, education or apprenticeships.

Oil and gas exploration and production, including licensing, remains reserved to UK Government. Our position on oil & gas licensing is clear , unlimited extraction of fossil fuels is not consistent with our climate obligations and meeting the Paris Agreement target of 1.5 degrees. Nor is it the right solution to the real cost of living crisis families are facing, when to reduce energy costs we need to reduce our dependency on fossil fuels. This means investing more in renewable energy and energy efficiency.

In Scotland, we are encouraging the expansion of renewable energy, as reflected in the lease options awarded to ScotWind sites earlier this year. The 20 ScotWind projects which have secured lease options now total up to 27.6 GW with initial supply chain commitments indicating an average of £1.4bn investment pledged in Scotland per project. This equates to £28 billion of potential investment across the 20 projects. In addition, ScotWind will deliver over £750m in revenues to the public purse for these initial awards alone and several billion pounds more in rental revenues when projects become operational, which will be invested for the benefit of the people of Scotland.

We are also supporting a just transition for our energy sector, Scottish households, and businesses. Instead of licensing more fossil fuel extraction, the UK Government should follow our approach and encourage investment in renewables. This further illustrates the case for Scottish independence to manage offshore energy within Scotland’s waters.

The establishment of a National Care Service (NCS) is the most ambitious reform of public services since the creation of the National Health Service (NHS). It is necessary to deliver the consistency and quality of care and support across Scotland that people deserve, and reinforce our commitment to Scotland’s people to take long term action to change our society and make it a fairer place to live.

The Financial Memorandum set out the range of possible costs for the NCS. Estimates are being constantly monitored and reviewed as new information becomes available.

We recognise that there is an urgent need to make improvements to social care now, and we are not waiting for the NCS to start that process.

We are taking the action we can now to address challenges in social care. We have committed to increase spend in social care by 25% by the end of parliament, helping to lay the groundwork for the NCS.

Our 2022-23 budget confirmed more than £1.6bn for social care and integration to lay the groundwork for the NCS. Any spending decisions made on the NCS service will be backed by rigorous, evidence based decisions.

In April this year the minimum hourly rate for those providing direct adult social care increased to £10.50 an hour.

The Scottish Government transferred £200 million to Local Government to support investment in social care, including to deliver this uplift.

This represents an increase of 4.8% from the £10.02 pay rate that was introduced in December 2021. This is also an increase of 10.5% for these workers in the course of a year – with pay rising from at least £9.50 per hour in April 2021 to at least £10.50 per hour in April 2022.

The SPCB is committed to supporting its staff with the cost of living and is putting in place a range of measures to support its staff.  The SPCB believes that this is the right thing to do at this very difficult time, recognising that this is an urgent priority for staff.

The SPCB has agreed to make a cost-of-living payment to support staff who are most in need during this time.  The payment to staff will be made in instalments between December and March with all staff earning £43,662 and below receiving a payment.  Staff earning £32,000 (the average UK full time equivalent salary) and less will receive a higher payment.  This is because research by the Office of National Statistics (ONS) demonstrates that staff earning at this level and below are most impacted by cost-of-living pressures.

This approach to making one-off, non-consolidated payments to staff is in common with other employers, including His Majesty the King.

The SPCB is putting in place other measures such as access to independent financial advice and financial wellbeing workshops.

The SPCB has discussed this with its recognised trade union partners and the information has been shared with Scottish Parliament staff.