Chamber and committees

The Family Learning Scotland Programme (‘the Programme’) was successfully delivered by Peeple from March 2020 to December 2021 despite significant disruption from the COVID-19 pandemic. The Programme was managed through a contract and Peeple provided reports throughout the contract period to provide assurance on progress and on the final outcomes.

The Programme offered training to early learning and childcare practitioners in an evidence-based family learning approach. A review of the evidence for the chosen approach can be found on the Peeple website here:

peep evidence base | www.peeple.org.uk

Training was offered to up to 432 practitioners in every local authority in Scotland and 383 practitioners undertook the training. Practitioners continue to offer family learning opportunities to children and families across Scotland and continue to be supported by Peeple. This support includes the Peep Champions Network, a termly meeting of representatives from each local authority in Scotland trained in the approach.

Through the Whole Family Wellbeing Fund, we have conducted a competitive grant process to build on the Family Learning Scotland Programme. ‘Families Learning Together’ will test widening out family learning training to all services that interact with children and families in a local area.

We will announce the partner for this new project shortly.

I understand that local authorities are keen to get clarity on Phase 3 of the Learning Estate Investment Programme.

We previously wrote to local authorities to explain that consideration of potential Phase 3 projects was still ongoing. It is important to recognise that we are trying to make these important investment decisions against a backdrop of market volatility on current projects, the need to keep Scottish finances on a sustainable trajectory and most recently, RAAC prevalence in school buildings.

These are big decisions, and it is important we get them right. I hope to announce successful projects as soon as possible.

I wrote directly to Richard Turfitt, the Senior Traffic Commissioner, on 6 September to set out our strong concerns with the proposed guidelines and to request any future proposals are developed with the full involvement of the Scottish Government and the Scottish football governing bodies, and most importantly, supporters clubs and fans. The consultation was subsequently withdrawn but nevertheless I look forward to receiving a response to my letter.

Procurement of the upgrade works at Ardrossan has been paused. Please refer to my letter to Task force members dated 15 August 2023 informing them of the decision.

Minister for Transport – Letter to Task Force members August 2023 | Transport Scotland

And as in the answer to question S6O-02548 on 21 September 2023 Meeting of the Parliament: 21/09/2023 | Scottish Parliament Website .

The Home Energy Scotland (HES) Grant and Loan Scheme was launched in December 2022 and offers homeowners in Scotland a grant, interest free loan or a combination of both to support the installation of zero direct emission heating systems and energy efficiency measures.

As the scheme is already open to all domestic homeowners in Scotland who live in the property they own, there are currently no plans to widen the eligibility of the scheme.

Ferguson Marine Port Glasgow is responsible for consultation with the Maritime and Coastguard Agency on the design aspects of MV Glen Sannox and MV Glen Rosa, not Caledonian Maritime Assets Limited.

CalMac, as operator of the Clyde and Hebrides Ferry Service, has engaged with the trade unions since 2017 regarding operational readiness of the vessels.

The report on the evaluation of Out to Play Improve, initially named as the Outdoor Learning Practicum, was published on the Scottish Government Children and Young People Improvement Collaborative website in November 2022, and can be found here .

The Scottish Government thanks Audit Scotland for a thorough, clear and wide-ranging report on Adult Mental Health Services in Scotland. Ministers recognise how closely some of the content of the report mirrors our vision, outcomes and priorities that we set out in our Mental Health and Wellbeing Strategy. We will now take the time to carefully consider both the specific recommendations and the wider substance of the report. We will publish the Delivery Plan for our Mental Health and Wellbeing Strategy, together with our Workforce Plan, this Autumn, which will set out the actions we will take to address many of the issues set out by Audit Scotland.

The Scottish Government will shortly publish Core Standards for Mental Health Services, which will be implemented first in adult secondary services, as well as the National Specification for Psychological Therapies and Interventions. The aim of the standards and service specification is to ensure that individuals, their families and carers know what they can expect from mental health services, and from psychological therapies in particular. These standards are measurable and will provide a basis for continual improvement through enabling greater accountability and scrutiny.

The implementation of the standards will initially be supported by a self-assessment. The self-assessment will encourage reflection, learning and exchange regarding best practice and the identification of areas for improvement.

The implementation of the Core Standards for Mental Health Services and the National Specification for Psychological Therapies and Interventions will be further supported by Public Health Scotland’s 2023-24 review of the Mental Health Quality Indicator Framework. The scope of the review includes new measures that arise from these recent publications, with the aim to improve the general monitoring of the quality, outcomes and experiences of mental health services.

The Scottish Government is responsible for setting the strategic policy for the NHS in Scotland. Legal responsibility for service delivery rests locally with Health Boards who configure services taking into account local circumstances and the reasonable needs of their patient populations.

Specifically in relation to long COVID, the Scottish Government has established a £10 million long COVID Support Fund and commissioned the establishment of a National long COVID Strategic Network, which has a strategic and national coordinating role to support the delivery of healthcare and support for people with long COVID.

I refer to my answer to question S6W-21155 on 22 September 2023, which outlined activity being undertaken by the Network to support evaluation, including the collection of patient related experience and patient outcome measures. 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

I refer the member to the answer to questions S6W-21356 and S6W-21358 on 29 September 2023. 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 .