Chamber and committees

The draft Budget for 2022-23 provides £40 million in support for bus services as patronage recovers from the COVID-19 pandemic. This is in addition to the continuation of pre COVID bus service support funding of £53.5 million. Where coach operators run registered local bus services they may also be eligible for this support.

The amount spent on executive search, advertising and assessment centre costs for the Director General Net Zero role is £26,837. Three candidates were shortlisted and assessed. Two candidates were interviewed by the final panel.

NHS Scotland’s staffing levels are at a record high, following nine years of consecutive growth. This includes record numbers of staff within the nursing and midwifery job family.

Creating new vacancies is an essential part of workforce expansion and are to be expected as we work to rapidly grow our nursing and midwifery workforce. The nursing and midwifery establishment has increased by 7.6% in the last year, or by 4,924.6 whole time equivalent posts. 77% of the nursing and midwifery vacancies reported at September 2021 have been recorded in the last three months, reflecting the extensive range of new posts being created.

We have announced a record £300 million of investment to support Health Boards and their staff over the coming months, as well as over £1 billion of funding through the NHS Recovery Plan. Through these investments, £4.5m of funding is being made available to Health Boards to attract registered nurses from outside Scotland. This is supplemented by an additional £1m to enhance Boards’ capacity for international recruitment, and £1m of recurring funding to fund International Recruitment Lead posts in Boards. We are also investing £11 million over the next 5 years in new recruitment activity and through the recent launch of the National Centre for Workforce Supply, which will coordinate national and international recruitment campaigns and support Health Board recruitment teams.

We have also worked with Boards to take forward a nationally coordinated recruitment campaign for midwives, and will undertake a focused national marketing campaign for the recruitment of Band 5 Nurses early in the new year.

We continue to invest in the domestic supply of nurses and midwives through the long-term growth of funded education programmes. Student nurses and midwives entering funded degree programmes will increase in 2022-23 to a total recommended intake of 4,837. This will be the 10th successive intake, doubling the number of students in the last decade.

For information on Scottish Government action to address nursing vacancies I refer the member to the answer to question S6W-05019 on 5 January 2022.

NHS Lanarkshire is receiving a proportional share of funding allocations for the recruitment of qualified nurses and the enhancement of Health Board recruitment capacity.

NHS Lanarkshire's qualified nursing and midwifery workforce has increased by 28.5% since 2006, exceeding the 12.1% growth across NHS Scotland.

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

We are working with operators to monitor the impact on service levels and changes in vacancy levels. My officials are also in regular contact with the Department for Transport regarding issues about delays to licence applications and driver testing, which have affected recruitment and training.

In addition, officials across the Scottish Government are working with the bus sector to facilitate solutions to workforce issues through the Labour and Skills Shortages Action Plan, and connecting Local Employability Partnerships (LEPs) who are aware of opportunities in their areas with bus service operators (through the Confederation of Passenger Transport (CPT)).

Examples of good practice are being shared across the network of both LEPs and members of CPT to encourage more local level collaboration that matches the needs in each area. For example, all LEPs have been made aware of the successful recruitment fairs run for McGills/Xplore Dundee by Dundee LEP.

The Scottish Government has no plans to make changes to rights of appeal in the planning system.

A number of amendments that sought to introduce a third party right of appeal were considered, and rejected, by the Scottish Parliament during consideration of the Planning (Scotland) Act 2019.

Those workers who are not eligible for the Self-Isolation Support Grant may be eligible for an emergency grant from their local authority. Scottish Welfare Fund Crisis Grants are available to all people regardless of their current benefit eligibility. They are specifically designed to provide a safety net when an emergency situation occurs and there is no other way to cover costs.

In addition, support can be provided via the Local Self-Isolation Support Service which is a proactive outbound call service operated by local authorities. The service calls people who are self-isolating, and who are happy to pass on their details. This service helps with support to access food, medication, and other essentials, whilst also signposting to further advice services. Help can be provided by contacting The National Assistance Helpline on 0800 111 4000 which anyone can contact, and operates between 09.00 to 17.00 every weekday.

(a) There are no current plans to change the value of the SISG. It is not intended to be a direct replacement for lost income but remains reflective of the financial impact on workers who have to isolate. For most people who qualify for the Grant, £500 will be more than they would normally earn during that period.

(b) We have committed to making sure that eligibility for the Grant aligns with the public health policy on isolation. In particular during times of uncertainty or when a new variant such as Omicron arose, it is important to make sure that low income workers can follow the public health guidance without having to worry about being worse off as a result. Since the Grant began, it has facilitated both local and national changes in health policy such as extending eligibility as part of a local secondary contract tracing exercise and widening access in Omicron cases. Our approach is to continue to ensure that the grant will be available should it be needed.

Self-isolation can be difficult, but it is essential to protect people and reduce the spread of Coronavirus. The Scottish Government is fully committed to supporting low income workers who have to isolate. That is why we have put aside £100m for increased spending on the Self-Isolation Support Grant to ensure that low income workers won't experience financial hardship as a result of doing the right thing.

Between the start of the scheme and 31 October 2021, 48,810 Grants have been awarded totalling £25.3 million. Eligibility has also widened to allow many more workers to access the support available. Workers earning less than the Real living Wage, living in households whose income is less than 25% above their Universal Credit level or receiving Council Tax Reduction are all eligible if they have to isolate. Additionally, carers of adults who need assistance to isolate and parents or carers of children who are isolating may also be eligible if their caring responsibilities prevent them from working. More information on eligibility including a checker tool is available at Self-Isolation Support Grant (£500) - mygov.scot

Police Scotland collate missing persons statistics and have provided information from the legacy National Missing Person Database and the current National Missing Person Application which is used to record data on missing people.

Prior to 2016 missing persons incidents recorded by the Police Scotland were recorded and broken down by police divisional areas not by individual local authorities. From 2016 Police Scotland has been recording and reporting both missing persons incidents and missing persons episodes.

A missing person incident is an instance where Police Scotland receive a call reporting a missing person and the incident is logged on the command and control system (STORM). A missing person episode is when someone is reported missing to Police Scotland and a police investigation is then initiated and recorded.

Therefore, depending on the circumstances, a missing person incident may or may not become a missing person episode, such as when someone is reported missing and found quickly without the need for a full investigation.

The information the member has asked for can be broken down as follows:

Missing Person Incidents recorded in each police division from 2010.

The Scottish Government did not receive advance notice of the Home Office decision to accommodate asylum seekers in hotels in Scotland. I wrote to the Home Secretary on 21 October to raise concerns about the lack of advance engagement on this matter and on the suitability of using hotels to accommodate people seeking asylum. Officials have subsequently had engagement with Home Office officials on this issue.

Scottish Government and COSLA have regular discussions about a range of asylum matters including the use of hotels.