Chamber and committees

In 2021-2022, the Scottish Government invested over £12 million to support free income maximisation, welfare and debt advice services and has allocated the same amount in 2022-2023. This overall figure includes frontline and second tier advice and debt services.

We also invest in a range of other services that provide advice and information to people on specific issues including Housing, Consumer, Additional Support for Learning, Kinship Care, NHS Patient Support and Fuel costs. In 2021-2022, we invested over £17.5 million in these services and have allocated over £20 million in 2022-2023.

The Scottish Government welcomed the Setting the Bar report and its findings will inform future policy decisions. Social workers make a highly skilled, unique and make a valuable contribution to supporting individuals and families across Scotland. We acknowledge the significant pressures social workers face around increasing workloads, staff shortages and the more complex needs of those they support – all of which have been exacerbated by COVID.

Social workers are primarily employed by local authorities. It is the responsibility of local authorities to plan their workforce and ensure they have the appropriate levels of staff in place to provide social services for their residents. To aid with this, the Scottish Government provided additional funding of £25m, announced as part of the 2022-23 Budget, to relieve pressure on the adult social care sector to ensure care can be delivered safely to those who need it. As agreed by COSLA Leaders, £22m of funding was distributed based on grant aided expenditure for adult social work for 2022-23. It will be used to employ additional social workers or associated social work assistants or support staff – with the clear purpose of adding to the capacity of the social work workforce to respond to the current pressures.

An additional £25m funding has been invested by the Scottish Government to support the training of social workers over the last 5 years, including post-graduate bursaries and support for practice-based learning. In addition, between 2021 – 2023, the Scottish Association of Social Work is receiving £200,000 of funding to provide a peer support service covering a range of issues, including wellbeing and resilience.

The recently published National Care Service (Scotland) Bill will establish a new National Social Work Agency, which will support the social work profession in a range of areas, including: workforce planning and social work terms and conditions.

Considering the findings of the report, the Scottish Government will continue to work with COSLA and other stakeholders to look at how social workers can be supported while they undertake their vital work across our communities.

The Scottish Government welcomes the Setting the Bar for Social Work in Scotland report and will consider and discuss the findings with its partners to inform and develop future social work workforce policy. Social workers make a highly skilled, unique and valuable contribution to supporting individuals and families across Scotland. We recognise the significant pressures faced by frontline social workers due to increasing workloads and staff shortages.

Social workers are primarily employed by local authorities and supporting a work-life balance is principally a matter for employers through local terms and conditions.

The Scottish Government have invested in the wellbeing of social workers including the National Wellbeing Hub, backed by £5m, and the Social Work Professional Support Service, backed by £200k, to provide a peer support service covering a range of issues: career development, promote wellbeing, and the development of a stronger professional identity.

The Scottish Government’s investment of £25m, announced as part of the 2022-23 Budget, was additional funding to relieve pressure on the adult social care sector to ensure care can be delivered safely to those who need it. £22m of funding was distributed, as agreed by COSLA Leaders, and will be used to employ additional social workers or associated social work assistants or support staff – with the clear purpose of adding to the capacity of the social work workforce to respond to the current pressures.

The recently published National Care Service (Scotland) Bill will establish a new National Social Work Agency, which will support and invest in the social work profession by providing national leadership, and overseeing and supporting social work in a range of areas, including: workforce planning, improvement and social work terms and conditions.

The Scottish Government will continue to work with COSLA and stakeholders to look at how social workers can be supported while they undertake their vital work across our communities.

The Scottish Government welcomes the Setting the Bar for Social Work in Scotland report and will consider and discuss the findings with its partners to inform and develop future social work workforce policy. Social workers make a highly skilled, unique and valuable contribution to supporting individuals and families across Scotland. We acknowledge the significant pressures social workers face around increasing workloads, staff shortages and the more complex needs of those they support – all exacerbated by COVID.

Social workers are primarily employed by local authorities and it is the responsibility of local authorities to plan their workforce and ensure they have the appropriate levels of staff in place to provide social services for their residents.

The Scottish Government’s investment of £25m announced as part of the 2022-23 Budget was additional funding to relieve pressure on the adult social care sector to ensure care can be delivered safely to those who need it. £22m of funding was distributed based on grant aided expenditure for adult social work for 2022-23, as agreed by COSLA Leaders, and will be used to employ additional social workers or associated social work assistants or support staff – with the clear purpose of adding to the capacity of the social work workforce to respond to the current pressures.

Over the last five years, the Scottish Government has provided over £25m to support the training of social workers during this period, including for post-graduate bursaries and support for practice-based learning to increase the number of entrants into the profession.

The recently published National Care Service (Scotland) Bill will establish a new National Social Work Agency, which will support and invest in the social work profession by providing national leadership and overseeing and supporting social work in a range of areas, including: workforce planning and social work terms and conditions.

The Scottish Government welcomes the Setting the Bar for Social Work in Scotland report and will consider and discuss the findings with its partners to inform and develop future social work workforce policy. Social workers make a highly skilled, unique and valuable contribution to supporting individuals and families across Scotland. We acknowledge the significant pressures social workers face around increasing workloads, staff shortages and the more complex needs of those they support – all exacerbated by COVID.

We know that social workers have faced particular stress and emotional impact from working at home during the COVID pandemic. Even though supporting the impact of that is primarily for employers, the Scottish Government has also taken action to ensure that social workers have the right support.

Enhanced wellbeing support services, backed by £5m, are in place, including the National Wellbeing Hub. The Hub includes resources specifically for social workers and to support home working. In acknowledgement of the current challenges, the Scottish Government has invested £200k in a Social Work Professional Support Service to provide a peer support service from 2021-2023. The service covers a range of issues including wellbeing and resilience.

Our ambition is to raise the status of, and ensure investment in, the social work profession. This is to be delivered through our commitment to establishing the National Care Service and National Social Work Agency.

The Scottish Government will continue to work with COSLA and stakeholders to look at how social workers can be supported while they undertake their vital work across our communities.

We know people living in poverty have poorer health outcomes and this is why we are committed to addressing the underlying causes of health inequalities and increasing healthy life expectancy. There is a stark social gradient to alcohol harms and outcomes linked to poor diet with those in the most deprived areas being the most affected

Population-wide measures to transform the food environment are more likely to be effective in reducing health inequalities than measures aimed only at encouraging individuals to change their behaviours. That is why we will introduce a Bill in this Parliament that includes powers to restrict promotions of foods high in fat, sugar or salt and introduced Minimum Unit Pricing for alcohol. The Scottish Government’s Alcohol Framework 2018 sets out our priorities for preventing alcohol-related harm, including our world-leading minimum unit pricing policy.

A recent study by Scottish Health Action on Alcohol Problems has highlighted the effectiveness of alcohol nurses in Deep End practices in Glasgow, in supporting people with alcohol problems who have complex needs. The Scottish Government will carefully consider the findings of the report which highlight the need for more research into the effectiveness of these services.

The Scottish Government is developing a new Disability Equality Strategy, working in collaboration with Disabled People’s Organisations. The development process provides the opportunity to consider the priority issues affecting disabled people in Scotland, including accessibility.

Everyone should have access to the toilet facilities they need. Under the Equality Act 2010, individual businesses and organisations are responsible for ensuring that they make reasonable adjustments to meet the needs of disabled people. Responsibility for oversight of compliance with the 2010 Act rests with the Equality and Human Rights Commission.

In 2019 we revised Scottish building standards and introduced a requirement for Changing Places Toilets (CPTs) to be installed in certain types of large new non-domestic buildings (for example large retail buildings; secondary schools providing community facilities; hospitals; and passenger stations for air, rail, road, or sea travel). CPTs are facilities suitable for use by people whose care needs are more complex. In addition to standard facilities, they provide additional space for assistants, an adult-sized changing bench, and a hoist.

The Scottish Government committed in our 2021-2022 Programme for Government to invest £10 million in Changing Places Toilets over this parliamentary term. This will increase the number of Changing Places Toilets across the country, and support mobile changing places to allow people easier access to events and outdoor venues around the country.

These facilities will make a real difference to disabled people and their families. The first phase of this work is underway to establish the application and assessment criteria, to ensure the Changing Places Toilets which are delivered are fit for purpose.