Chamber and committees

Provision for bereavement support within maternity wards is outside of the scope of specialist Perinatal Mental Health Services, which support women with complex mental health presentations.

The Scottish Government committed through the Programme for Government 2023 – 24 to improve miscarriage care. Part of this work includes the provision of separate spaces in maternity wards in hospitals for those experiencing a pregnancy or baby loss.

The Scottish Government is committed to developing services and support structures which facilitate good Perinatal and Infant mental health across Scotland, investing over £36 million since 2019. This includes funding for the Perinatal and Infant Mental Health (PIMH) third sector fund which has supported a range projects, including Held In Our Hearts which provide counselling and mental health support to parents and families who are pregnant after having experienced baby loss.

The latest published statistics show that since Carer’s Allowance Supplement was first introduced in April 2018, payments have been made to 10,845 carers in South Lanarkshire local authority area who were eligible on at least one eligibility date from April 2018 to October 2023.

Carer’s Allowance Supplement is paid twice a year. For April 2023 and October 2023 eligibility dates, the payment value was £270.50. For the April 2024 eligibility date, the payment value increased to £288.60.

The latest statistics were published on 13 February 2024 and covered carers in receipt of Carer’s Allowance Supplement to the October 2023 eligibility date. This information is available at: https://www.socialsecurity.gov.scot/reporting/publications/summary-statistics-for-carers-allowance-supplement-to-october-eligibility-date-2023 . The next publication of Official Statistics is due to be released on 13 August 2024 and will include information to the April 2024 eligibility date.

In their published December 2023 Economic and Fiscal Forecasts, the Scottish Fiscal Commission forecast 368,000 children will be eligible for the Scottish Child Payment in Scotland in 2024-2025 and that 329,000 children will receive payments.

They also forecast Best Start Foods will be paid for 51,000 children and pregnant women in Scotland in 2024-2025 and 58,000 Best Start Grant payments will be made, 16,000 for Pregnancy and Baby Payment, 20,000 for Early Learning Payment and 22,000 for School Age Payment.

The Scottish Fiscal Commission do not publish forecasts of the number of children eligible for Best Start Grant or Best Start Foods, or the number of children receiving Scottish Child Payment, Best Start Grant or Best Start Foods by constituency.

Social Security Scotland routinely publish Official Statistics for Best Start Grant and Best Start Foods, and Scottish Child Payment. The latest statistics, covering the period to the end of March 2024, do not currently include information by Scottish Parliament constituency. These also do not include information on the number of children benefitted from Best Start Grant and Best Start Foods.

The latest statistics show that, as of 31 March 2024, 329,055 children and young people aged 0-15 years were actively benefitting from Scottish Child Payment. This information along with further breakdowns including local authority area, and individual child age can be found at Social Security Scotland - Scottish Child Payment: high level statistics to 31 March 2024 .

The latest statistics show that, in the 2023-2024 financial year covering April 2023 to March 2024, 56,455 individual parents or carers were paid for Best Start Grant. For comparison, 204,460 parents or carers received at least one Scottish Child Payment.

The latest publication for each benefit can be found at: Social Security Scotland - Statistics .

The Scottish Government committed through the Programme for Government 2021-2022 and 2023–24 to improve miscarriage care, part of this work includes the provision of separate spaces in maternity wards in hospitals for those experiencing a pregnancy or baby loss.

We also funded Sands UK to develop and implement the National Bereavement Care Pathway for pregnancy and baby loss in Scotland (NBCP). All 14 NHS Boards are now signed up to the Pathways and implementation is ongoing with continued support from Sands.

The pathways acknowledge that bereavement care is the responsibility of all health professionals working in maternity services. While some NHS Boards have specialist bereavement midwives, all midwives, consultants and other workforce are trained in bereavement care. The maternity workforce, aim to have an informed, skilled team who are all able to provide the specialist care that bereaved parents need.

In addition to wider maternity bereavement supports, perinatal mental health services have a role in ensuring continuity, appropriate support, and signposting/transition for any parent who is within the perinatal period, is in receipt of perinatal mental health services and experiences bereavement.

The Scottish Government is committed to ensuring that all people living with kidney disease in Scotland are able to access the best possible care and support, and benefit from healthcare services that are safe, effective and put people at the centre of their care.

We expect all NHS Boards in Scotland to adhere to current guidelines and follow best practice when providing psychosocial care for people with chronic kidney disease.

Our Mental Health and Wellbeing Strategy published in 2023, sets out a long-term vision, and a set of outcomes, for the mental health and wellbeing of the population.

In September 2023, we published the National Specification for Psychological Therapies and Interventions , to ensure effective, equitable, efficient and high-quality person-centred Psychological Therapies (PT) are delivered consistently across Scotland. The Specification sets out the standards to which we expect Psychological Therapies to be delivered, including appropriate staffing

We recently met with Kidney Care UK and welcome and value their work and remain committed to engaging with them on these important matters.

The Scottish Fiscal Commission’s December 2023 publication forecast that a total of 98,000 people in Scotland will receive payments for Carer’s Allowance/Carer’s Support Payment in the financial year 2024-25.

Statistics on the number of people receiving Carer’s Allowance in each local authority and constituency area in Scotland can be found on the DWP’s statxplore tool: https://stat-xplore.dwp.gov.uk/webapi/jsf/login.xhtml .

Carer Support Payment is replacing Carer’s Allowance in Scotland and is only currently available for new applications in Dundee City, Perth and Kinross and Na h-Eileanan Siar. Carer Support Payment will be open to new applicants in South Lanarkshire from 24 June 2024. Everyone in Scotland already receiving Carer’s Allowance will automatically have their awards moved safely and securely to Carer Support Payment. We are writing to carers to let them know when their award has been selected for transfer and what to expect.

Carer Support Payment statistics are published on a quarterly basis. The latest published statistics are available at https://www.socialsecurity.gov.scot/publications/statistics .The next publication of Official Statistics is due to be released on 13 August 2024.

The Scottish Government expects all NHS Boards in Scotland to adhere to current guidelines and follow best practice when providing psychosocial care for people with chronic kidney disease.

Our Mental Health and Wellbeing Strategy published in 2023, sets out a long-term vision, and a set of outcomes, for the mental health and wellbeing of the population.

We published the National Specification for Psychological Therapies and Interventions in September 2023, and Public Health Scotland updated the national waiting times guidance , to ensure that PT is delivered to a high quality and measured consistently across Scotland.

We recognise the pioneering research and private investment in Web 3.0 technologies across Scotland. Nevertheless, our focus in applying digital technologies for Public Service Reform is based on an understanding of end-to-end services and user needs, rather than committing to use particular technologies.

We invest expert staff time in continuing to advise and support Scottish Enterprise’s work coordinating private sector activity on Web 3.0 technologies, through its Digital Trust Scotland - Blockchain Taskforce. The work of Scottish Enterprise produced a report in May 2023, Blockchain In Scotland Landscape Overview , which demonstrates the comprehensive engagement we have through this Taskforce. Hence, through involvement in the Taskforce, we would expect to have opportunity to provide more support where there are gaps identified that clearly lead to economic impacts.

Scottish Government's CivTech Programme, has invested in diverse technologies that include Web 3.0, and has attracted over 90% of its participants from innovative start ups and SMEs, many of whom have gone on to set up Scottish bases. The Scottish Government has also provided funding support to the Scottish GovTech Cluster, which aims to support collaboration within the technology sector focused on connecting government agencies, businesses, researchers, academia and all other groups and individuals wishing to use technology (including Web 3.0) to improve and transform public services. The Scottish GovTech Cluster are working to attract investment both from within Scotland and from outside the country matching businesses and researchers with funding opportunities and provide support to help them secure investment.

We recognise that one potential private investment channel available for Web 3.0 companies is digital assets - for example cryptographic utility tokens. Our Financial Services/FinTech team are currently addressing related policy questions around Digital Assets in Scots Private Law. We would expect this work give Web 3.0 businesses in Scotland more legal clarity about such funding mechanisms.

We recognise that alternative career pathways such as earn-as-you-learn can widen access to midwifery careers by providing an alternative route into the profession for those who may not want or be able to choose the undergraduate route, including those who are settled and rooted in our rural and island communities.

Following recommendation from the Deans of the Scottish Dental Schools, with respect to competence and confidence of pandemic-affected students, undergraduates and vocational trainees in the system during the pandemic were required to repeat the 2020-21 academic year. The Scottish Government has been clear that it could take up to five years for repercussions to fully resolve, however vocational training has now resumed in full and dental school outputs are back to pre-pandemic levels.

Despite this interruption, the Scottish Government has maintained a strong track record in growing the NHS dental workforce in Scotland, with 57 dentists per 100,000 of the population, compared to 42 in England and 46 in Wales.

NHS Education for Scotland statistics published on 4 June 2024 also show an improving picture in workforce numbers, with the number of ‘high street’ NHS dentists from the period March 2023 to March 2024 increasing by almost 5%.

The longer term trend is also positive - these figures show the number of ‘high street’ NHS dentists has increased by 28% from the period March 2007 to March 2024.

The Scottish Government is continuing to work on a range of initiatives to bolster the NHS dental workforce through consideration of both domestic and international pipelines, as well as of the shape and structure of the workforce required into the future. This work includes collaboration with its counterparts across the UK and devolved governments to improve workforce pathways for international dentists, in addition to harnessing skill mix to improve capacity within dental teams.