Chamber and committees

Details on local authority funding allocations and the number of additional staff recruited are available on the Scottish Government website at the following link: Teachers - Schools - gov.scot (www.gov.scot)

All local authorities will consider and assess how much of their 2023-24 resource planning assumptions (RPAs) they target towards property acquisitions.

I refer the member to the answer to question S6W-20718 on 5 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

We are working with key partners to implement the recommendations of the 2022 evaluation of the first-year of the Suicide Prevention Bereavement Support Services. This showed how well the service meets the needs of family members, whilst also flagging a number of operational aspects (such as support for staff and young people) where further work would be helpful in order to inform roll out planning.

We are therefore investing a further £255,000 in 2023-24 to extend the pilot Suicide Bereavement Support Service until March 2024. This ensures continuity of service and we will use this time to gather further evidence about its impact. The final independent evaluation report is due to be published in early 2024. This will inform subsequent roll out of support for families bereaved by suicide across Scotland.

This forms part of our ambitious work on suicide prevention, which is underpinned by significant investment of £2.5m in 2023-24, and a Programme for Government commitment to double suicide prevention annual funding to £2.8 m by 2026.

I refer the member to the answer to question S6W-20716 on 5 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

Our new strategy takes a fresh approach to tackling the inequalities that lead to suicide. This is reflected in our key priorities for 2023-24 which include a commitment to support new peer support groups across Scotland; drawing on the extensive feedback and evidence we considered when developing our strategy.

We are providing funding of £389,150 to the Scottish Recovery Network over the next 3 years to continue its vital work to build peer support capacity across Scotland. The innovative Creating Hope With Peer Support project is developing and co-designing peer support training with a range of community based suicide prevention groups and services. Our aim is to enable high quality peer support to be provided across the country for those in crisis, contemplating suicide or who have been affected by suicide.

The training will be piloted in winter 2023-2024 and rolled out to other groups and services across the country when finalised, helping to increase the number and range of people who can access peer support.

I refer the member to the answer to question S6W-20573 on 5 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 .

I refer the member to the answer to question S6W-20573 on 5 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 .

Where a person chooses a care home that does not accept the National Care Home Contract, the Community Care and Health (Scotland) Act 2002 and associated guidance Charging for Residential Accommodation Guidance (CRAG) allows for topping up of care home fees. The Act and guidance also sets out the conditions around the top up of care home fees and states that these arrangements should be sustainable.

Any contract agreed when an individual enters residential care should clearly set out what happens if any top up fees can no longer be paid, and this contract is covered by consumer protection laws. The Local Authority also has a statutory responsibility for the delivery, commissioning and charging for care home services.

The Scottish Government does not hold this information. It is statutory responsibility of local authorities to manage and maintain their school estate.

However, the proportion of schools in “good” or “satisfactory” condition has increased from 61% in April 2007 to 90.4% in April 2022.