Chamber and committees

The Scottish Government response to the recommendations made by the Independent Review of Inspection, Scrutiny and Regulation of Social Care was published on 6 March 2024, accepting all 38 recommendations.

The response set out that significant work already underway will in part or fully address many of the recommendations. Priority work has already commenced on new workstreams that focus on implementing recommendations 15 and 33: a review of the care service types, and corresponding definitions as set out in Schedule 12 of the Public Services Reform (Scotland) Act 2010 and a review of the Health and Social Care Standards, to help ensure the Standards are based on human rights, ethical commissioning and are outcome focused.

The implementation of the recommendations will be phased to ensure they do not place undue pressure on regulators, providers and those working in services. The Scottish Government will provide periodical updates on progress on the Scottish Government website at https://www.gov.scot/groups/social-care-independent-review-of-inspection-scrutiny-and-regulation/

The Scottish Government will continue to work closely and collaboratively with regulators, providers, partners and with those who have lived and living experience of social care support and linked services in all aspects of this work.

As part of Keeping The Promise by 2030, the Scottish Government is committed to ensuring that all adoptees and adoptive families can access the support they need, when and where they need it throughout life.

Furthermore, under the Adoption and Children (Scotland) Act 2007, local authorities have a duty to assess someone’s needs for adoption support services and then provide that support.

The Care Inspectorate collects data from local authority adoption services as well as voluntary adoption agencies in their annual returns, which includes data on the rate of adoption breakdown. This information is published in the Care Inspectorate’s annual Fostering and Adoption statistical bulletin. The latest bulletin was published in August 2023 careinspectorate.com/images/documents/7251/Fostering and adoption stats report 2022-23.pdf

I refer the member to the answer to question S6W-26499 on 23 April 2024. 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 .

The Scottish Government recognises that childcare costs can be a challenge for many parents and carers, particularly those experiencing poverty. Data from the nationally-representative Scottish Household Survey in 2022 showed that of households with at least one child aged 0-11 years 14% found it difficult or very difficult to afford childcare, although 53% of households found it very easy or easy. Across the full year, almost three quarters of households (73%) had no childcare costs, with around a fifth (19%) spending less than 10% of their average monthly income. A further 5% spent between 10 and 20% of their income on childcare.

The Scottish Government is continuing to invest nearly £1 billion a year in high-quality, funded early learning and childcare. Scotland is the only part of the UK to offer 1,140 hours a year of funded ELC to all three and four-year-olds and eligible two-year-olds. This offer has been in place since 2021 and, if families paid for this themselves, it would cost them around £5,800 per eligible child per year. We also remain committed to designing and building a system of School Age Childcare that supports parents, particularly on low incomes, to have secure and stable employment. This is why, over the next year, we will work with Local Government and other partners to develop the infrastructure and services needed to provide childcare in specific communities in six local authority areas: Shetland, Fife, Clackmannanshire, Inverclyde, Glasgow and Dundee. This work will enable us to begin to create and test, for the first time, what an all-age childcare system will look like for Scotland. We are taking a person-centred and place-based approach to designing this system – that means involving children, parents and providers in co-designing services to meet their needs.

The Mental Health Strategy 2017-2027 set out a 10-year vision of where mental health funding would be focused. This included areas such as additional investment for mental health workers and improved provision of services including CAMHS.

In addition, our Mental Health Transition and Recovery Plan was introduced in 2021-22 which set out the key commitments in responding to the mental health needs resulting from COVID. This included funding for Children, Young People and Families, Older People, Distress Interventions and other areas listed in the Plan. This was backed by a £120 million Recovery and Renewal Fund which has subsequently been included in the overall budget allocation for mental health services in each financial year since.

Grants to organisations for people with care experience by age

The Scottish Government does not hold information on how many 3G rubber pitches there are in Scotland.

In 2023, sportscotland identified that there were 505 full size (approx. 100x60m) synthetic surfaces in Scotland. Of those 398 are 3G with polymeric infill.

he Framework for Effective Cancer Management provides NHS Cancer Teams with the tools to effectively manage people with a suspicion of cancer, from the point of referral to first treatment. A refresh of the Framework will take place in 2024 to ensure each key element has been reviewed and updated, providing NHS Cancer Teams with the tools to effectively manage patients with a suspicion of cancer, from the point of referral to first treatment.

Work is underway to redesign cancer diagnostic services with new optimal cancer diagnostic pathways published for Lung Cancer and Head & Neck Cancers. Work is underway to redesign the colorectal cancer diagnostic pathway.

In addition we have now established five Rapid Cancer Diagnostic Services to provide primary care with a new referral route for patients with non-specific symptoms of cancer in NHS Ayrshire & Arran, NHS Borders, NHS Dumfries & Galloway, NHS Fife and NHS Lanarkshire.

The recommendations made by the UK Government's Animal Welfare Committee are still being considered. Improving aquaculture health and welfare is an ethical responsibility and is one of the main priorities that is enshrined in our Vision for Sustainable Aquaculture.

The Scottish Government is committed to the highest possible welfare standards for animals, including fish. It is now standard practice for all farmed salmon and large farmed trout in Scotland to be killed using a percussive or electrical stunning methods delivering irreversible instantaneous unconsciousness. Small farmed trout are killed using electrical stunning methods and all salmon killing facilities in Scotland operate CCTV on a voluntary basis. These were both recommendations made by the UK Government’s Animal Welfare Committee.

The Scottish Government does not hold the information requested.

Public Health Scotland publish official statistics on how long patients waited for their first cancer treatment at

Cancer waiting times - 1 October to 31 December 2023 - Cancer waiting times - Publications - Public Health Scotland and on ongoing waits for key diagnostic tests at Diagnostic waiting times - Waits for key diagnostic tests 27 February 2024 - NHS waiting times - diagnostics - Publications - Public Health Scotland