Chamber and committees

We want time in temporary accommodation to be as short as possible and we are increasing housing supply to help with this.

Temporary accommodation is an important part of Scotland’s strong homelessness legislation and we are committed to ensuring that temporary accommodation is of good quality and serves the needs of its residents in helping to ensure positive outcomes for those experiencing homelessness.

Last month the Homelessness and Rough Sleeping Action Group released its recommendations for transforming temporary accommodation, most of which we have accepted in principle. Together with the Group’s previous recommendations around eradicating rough sleeping that were issued in March, there is a focus on preventing the need for temporary accommodation in the first place, by reducing demand through effective prevention measures, and improving outflow or move-on by increasing appropriate options for accommodation.

Proposed measures include the development of a national system of rapid rehousing, including moving to a ‘Housing First’ model for those with most complex needs – where people, for whom it is appropriate, move straight into a permanent, settled home rather than temporary accommodation.

It is intended that the Action Group will submit its final set of recommendations on ending homelessness at the end of June and following this, together with our partners, we will bring forward a programme of work to take forward the recommendations.

In October we reduced the period from 14 to 7 days that families with children and pregnant women are in unsuitable temporary accommodation, except in exceptional circumstances.

In line with the Programme for Government commitment, the Transport Bill will be introduced to Parliament before summer recess. At this time the Scottish Government’s proposals in relation to responsible parking will be set out in detail and subject to the associated legislative scrutiny.

Local authorities have duties under the Road Traffic Regulation Act 1984 to provide secure expeditious, convenient and safe movement of traffic, including parking matters. Under the 1984 Act, local authorities can decide to restrict or prohibit parking by making a Traffic Regulation Order (TRO). A TRO can be promoted for a variety of reasons and is enforceable when the appropriate road signs or markings are displayed.

Local Authorities can use these powers to cover particular hotspots, such as car free zones near schools or larger areas, and need not necessarily prohibit parking at all times – this would very much depend on the wording of the TRO being promoted by the local authority.

Scottish Government and the BMA have agreed that GP income should not be subject to arbitrary variation and should instead reflect the value of a GP’s work as an expert medical generalist. This can only be achieved by providing practices with the necessary funding for expert medical generalist work and the necessary expenses to support this work. To this end we have introduced a new funding formula to better address practice workload whilst investing £23 million to ensure that no practice lost funding in the transition.

The new GP contract – backed by investment of £110 million in 2018-19 – will also invest in placing additional primary care staff in GP practices to reduce GP practice workload. This includes an increased role and additional training made available for practice administrative staff who play a vital role in supporting patients in general practice.

As part of the preparatory work for the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) the Scottish Government eHealth Division has worked closely with NHSScotland Boards and considered the financial implications of these changes in legislation in consultation with the Information Commissioner's Office.

NHSScotland Boards recognised this is having a low impact as currently in most cases they do not charge for people to have access to their medical records.

The Scottish Government introduced free car parking on all NHS owned car parks in December 2008.

For the three PFI hospital car parks, the Scottish Government will continue to actively manage and review all historic PFI contracts effected before this Government’s commencement in office, with a focus on ensuring that contractual obligations are delivered and that contracts provide best value for money for the taxpayer.

We have no plans to review the legislation on banding and valuation of properties for council tax purposes.

I refer the member to the answer to question S5W-16571 on ‎5 June 2018. All answers to written Parliamentary Questions are available on the Parliament's website, the search facility for which can be found at http://www.parliament.scot/parliamentarybusiness/28877.aspx .

There are specific provisions, via amendments to the Functions of Health Boards (Scotland) Order 1991, which came into force in November 2017, that require NHS Boards in Scotland to provide access to abortion treatment free of charge for women resident in Northern Ireland. In addition, asylum seekers and refugees living in Scotland can also access abortion services free of charge.

The National Health Service (Charges to Overseas Visitors)(Scotland) Regulations 1989 provide that people who are not ordinarily resident in the UK are, subject to some exceptions, liable to be charged for any treatment they receive. Emergency treatment and certain other specific types of healthcare and groups are excepted, but there is no general exception for abortion services (where the abortion is not emergency treatment provided in a hospital Emergency Department), so abortions are not normally available free of charge to overseas visitors.

The Scottish Government believes all women should have access to abortion services as part of routine care, and available free from stigma.

I refer the member to the answer to question S5W-16699 on 31 May 2018. All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament’s website, the search facility for which can be found at: http://www.parliament.scot/parliamentarybusiness/28877.aspx .

The Scottish Government believes all women should have access to abortion services as part of routine care, and available free from stigma.

I refer the member to the answer to question S5W-16699 on 31 May 2018. All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament’s website, the search facility for which can be found at: http://www.parliament.scot/parliamentarybusiness/28877.aspx .