Chamber and committees

Local authority funding is allocated using a needs-based formula which is kept under constant review and agreed each year with the Convention of Scottish Local Authorities (COSLA).As a result of Aberdeen City Council having the lowest relative need they receive the lowest funding per head but because of this they will receive an extra £10 million in 2017-18 and an extra £8.7 million in 2018-19, over and above their needs-based formula share as a result of the 85% funding floor introduced by the Scottish Government in 2012.

Since the introduction of the 85% funding floor Aberdeen City Council has been allocated more than £50 million over and above their needs-based formula funding allocations.

The Scottish Government sets national direction of policy on mental health and provides funding to agencies, including NHS boards and local authorities, to support implementation of policy.

The management of local actions in implementing national policy, and decisions on local spending priorities are the responsibility of relevant local agencies. It is therefore the responsibility of NHS boards, local authorities and Integration Authorities to work with their partners and regularly review spending decisions to ensure they deliver fit for purpose services which respond to the needs of their local population, including for people living with an eating disorder.

Scottish Government actions to improve the mental health and wellbeing of Scotland’s population are set out in the Mental Health Strategy 2017-2027. Delivery of these actions will impact positively either directly or indirectly on the care and treatment of those living with an eating disorder.

In the current Strategy we are committed to developing a digital tool to ensure young people with an eating disorder are able to access support in a way that reflects digital lifestyles. We are also committed to a number of actions around prevention and early intervention and improving access to treatment and joined up accessible services. For example we are working with partners to improve access to child and adolescent mental health services; to improve access to psychological therapies as an evidence based treatment for eating disorder and other mental health conditions; and to improve responses for those in distress.

As I announced on 14 December, the Local Government Finance Settlement for 2018-19 protects local government day to day spending for local services in cash terms, and delivers an increase in capital spending of £89.9m.

Taken together with the additional spending power that comes with the flexibility to increase Council Tax by up to 3 per cent (worth around £77 million) this means that the total funding available next year will deliver an increase in the overall resources to support services of 1.6 per cent in cash terms and a real terms increase of 0.2 per cent.

While the regulatory fiscal and legislative process in respect of the industry are reserved to Westminster and UK Ministers, a recognition of the industry’s importance to our energy mix and economy, The Scottish Government has strongly supported the sector during the recent period of challenging prices and the associated downturn in exploration and development work this has caused. Through the Energy Jobs Task Force we have developed a number of interventions to support the sector, augmenting the pre-existing work of the oil and gas team within Scottish Enterprise and Highlands and Islands Enterprise. These interventions include support for workers, in the form of the Transition Training Fund, and we have provided a further £12.5 million to support innovation and business resilience; this specific support is available to business operating in the oil and gas sector across Scotland, including the North East. This included £10 million of SE funding to help firms take forward vital research & development to support innovation and improved productivity. To date around 111 innovation projects with a total project value of around £43 million have benefited from increased funding of around £16 million of SG support so far; we have also provided targeted support for business resilience reviews from industry experts, with over £2.5 million investment committed to this at the time of writing.

In addition, the Scottish Government and the UK Government have committed to investing on a 50:50 basis to support the development of an £180 million Oil & Gas Technology Centre (OGTC) through the £250 million Aberdeen City Region Deal. This is now underway and is making great progress on a path to become a new, world class centre to support innovation of the oil and gas industry in the North East, the rest of Scotland and across the whole of the UK.

The Autumn Budget included a commitment to make transferable tax histories available for North Sea Assets from November 2018 to facilitate the transfer of late life asset transfers, expanding access to decommissioning tax relief to new entrants. The Scottish Government has led the call for all UKCS fiscal reforms in recent years, including on this measure given that essential reforms have often lagged and delayed investment in the sector. While the transfer of tax histories is a positive step, we have been calling for this since the Autumn Statement 2015 and we remain of the view that Loan Guarantees commitments need to be fulfilled.

Extensive statistical testing for the NRAC formula determined that the impact of Morbidity and Life Circumstances on the need for health services, under these two care programmes, was best captured using the following indicators of need:

(a) Care of the Elderly: All-cause Standardised Mortality Ratio (SMR) for ages 0-74; and, the Limiting Long-Term Illness Rate.

(b) Mental Health and Leaning Difficulties: (i) for the under 65 age cohort - Scottish Index of Multiple Deprivation (SIMD) (employment domain); SIMD (crime domain); hospital admissions due to alcohol; and, Standardised Mortality Ratio for ages 0-64 with mental health as a cause of death; (ii) for the over age 64 cohort - hospital admissions due to alcohol; Standardised Mortality Ratio for ages 65 and over.

The delayed discharge bed days as a proportion of all occupied bed days, as published in the annual report (link) shows NHS Grampian (10%) as slightly above the Scottish average (8.2%). However, the health board has made good progress reducing delays across the region, with data for 2014 and 15 showing this figure at 16.2%, with the Scottish average remaining around 8%.

The partnerships within Grampian have faced significant challenges recruiting and retaining care staff across the region, and have had to think innovatively about how to provide care within the community. This has included the up-scaling of Intermediate Care services.

The Scottish Government continues to support all partnerships across Scotland reduce the level of delayed discharges. Aberdeen City has been making steady progress reducing the number of delays over the last two years. Since the first annual delayed discharge publication the rate of delays per 1,000 population in Aberdeen City has reduced by 34%.

In 2016-17 NHS Grampian’s resource budget increased by 6.6% and NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde’s resource budget increased by 5.2%. The funding uplift for NHS Grampian included an additional £15 million to accelerate NRAC parity.

Population level is only one of a range of factors taken into account when calculating NRAC shares, which are used to inform allocations to NHS Boards. Other factors include, for example, relative deprivation.