Chamber and committees

The Scottish Government has received the Care Inspectorate pay offer proposal for 2023-24. The Care Inspectorate has since made a pay award offer for financial years 2023-24 and 2024-25 during week commencing 19 February 2024.

The Care Inspectorate’s recognised trade unions agreed to ballot their members on this offer. The results of the trade union ballots are expected in the second week of March. Should the offer be accepted, the Care Inspectorate intends to pay their staff the first element of the 2023-24 award in their March 2024 salaries.

The information requested is not held centrally .

In line with the Scottish Government home education guidance , choosing to home educate in itself should not be seen as a child protection concern, and local authorities should not treat it as such. The guidance encourages an annual meeting between home educating families and the local authority to discuss the ongoing education provision for the child, and recommends that the child should be given the opportunity to attend that meeting to express their views, but this is not compulsory.

If, from whatever source, an authority becomes aware of concerns about the home education of any child, outwith the normal contact time, they will need to gather the necessary information in order to form a view on whether those concerns are justified or whether the parents are providing an efficient education suitable to the age, ability and aptitude of the child.

The Scottish Government does not hold information on the number of children and young people who are home educating in Scotland.

We do not routinely publish waiting times for neurodevelopmental assessments.

As many children and young people do not meet diagnostic criteria for a neurodevelopmental disorder and their needs will change over time, the Scottish Government believe that the focus should be on identifying needs and the support they require within the framework of Getting It Right for Every Child (GIRFEC).

As described in the National Neurodevelopmental Specification , we expect NHS Boards and Children's Services partners to work towards implementing the standards outlined. The Specification makes clear that support should be put in place to meet the child or young person’s requirements when they need it, rather than be dependent on a formal diagnosis. For many children and young people, such support is likely to be community based, and should be quickly and easily accessible.

We are working with NHS Health Boards and Local Authorities to enhance support for neurodivergent children and young people, including how quickly they can access support. We have also funded five tests of change focussing on various aspects of the Specification, including improving multi-agency working.

Local authorities hold responsibility for ensuring the safety and wellbeing of children being home educated, and that the education they are receiving is suitable for their age and ability. In line with the Scottish Government's home education guidance, it is recommended that local authorities should make contact on an annual basis with those families who are known to be home educating within that local authority area.

If, from whatever source, an authority becomes aware of concerns about the home education of any child, outwith the normal contact time, they will need to gather the necessary information in order to form a view on whether those concerns are justified or whether the parents are providing an efficient education suitable to the age, ability and aptitude of the child. Local authorities have their own individual and established processes to obtain this information.

The Scottish Government and the Scottish Prison Service (SPS) are committed to modernising the prison estate to deliver a world leading custodial environment, which supports rehabilitation and a safer Scotland.

The decisions made by the UK Government to reduce capital funding in real terms year on year, alongside construction supply chain issues, labour shortages and recent high inflation means that the Scottish Government is having to make difficult decisions in terms of prioritisation of infrastructure projects. Replacing HMP Inverness and HMP Barlinnie remain the current prison infrastructure priorities and work on the replacement for HMP Greenock is unlikely to commence in 2025-26.

£648,000.

At the time of its announcement we indicated that the Mesh Fund would have an upper ceiling of £1 million, we have therefore ensured that the remainder of those funds have been invested in other mesh-related initiatives, including the Reimbursement Scheme, in line with calls made in the mesh campaigners’ Charter.

The announcement on 24 January of a £600m package for councils in England only resulted in £500m of new funding when the detail of the UK Budget was published on 6 March.

This package generated £48m, of the total £293m, barnett consequentials accruing to the Scottish Government as a result of the UK Budget.

Within the wider policies set out by the Scottish Government, NHS Scotland is expected to deliver services that provide high-quality care that is safe, effective, accessible and person centred. It is NHS Boards and healthcare professionals locally who have responsibility for service delivery, including antenatal classes, to meet the needs of their local population and service users.

Our expectation is that NHS antenatal classes will include information for parents on bonding with their baby, which supports the mental health of both parents and babies. The precise content of antenatal classes is likely to vary between NHS Boards and antenatal class groups, to better respond to the particular needs of local service users.

Midwives discuss mental health and general wellbeing with all women during antenatal and postnatal care appointments, ensuring that all women have access to advice and support throughout their pregnancy journey. These discussions may include the management of pre-existing mental health issues; the identification and management of emergent mental health issues during the antenatal and/ or immediate postnatal period, and possible postnatal changes which women may experience, such as “baby blues”. Following birth, these conversations continue with families during each contact with Health Visitors and Family Nurses.

All pregnant women are also provided with a copy of Ready, Steady, Baby! , a guide to pregnancy, birth and early parenthood up to one year, as part of their routine antenatal care. This includes information on mental health and wellbeing to help provide information for families, as well as signposting to further sources of support. The information in Ready, Steady, Baby! is available in translation and alternative formats, including an Easy Read resource, to ensure the information is accessible for women and families across Scotland.