Chamber and committees

The Scottish Government has recently published an interim evaluation report of the first year of the Whole Family Wellbeing Funding: Whole Family Wellbeing Funding (WFWF): year 1 - process evaluation - interim report - gov.scot (www.gov.scot) . It explores the work of Children's Services Planning Partnerships (CSPPs) and early evidence of implementation in respect of the funding administration, design and set-up of funded activities (from September 2022 to February 2023). Overall, CSPPs have told us that WFWF is beneficial and supportive for increasing holistic whole family support and scaling current models.

A full evaluation report of Year 1 will be available in early 2024. This will be based on evidence from annual Children’s Services Plan reports, and will explore children, young people and families’ experiences of family support services that have received WFWF, and the extent to which the short-term outcomes of the funding have been achieved.

The Police and Fire Reform (Scotland) Act 2012 stipulates that the Chief Constable of Police Scotland is responsible for the policing of Scotland, and is accountable to the Scottish Police Authority (SPA) for this, rather than to Scottish Ministers directly. These arrangements are in place to ensure public confidence that the police act independently, free from unwarranted ministerial interference.

In 2022-23, £33.5 million of Whole Family Wellbeing Funding (WFWF) was provided by the Scottish Government to deliver transformational change to improve holistic family support so that families get the right support, in the right way and at the right time.

This includes £32m for Children’s Services Planning Partnerships (CSPPs) to build local service capacity for transformation and the scaling up of holistic family support in local areas.

The remaining funding in 2022-23 was provided to set up a package of transformational activity. This included establishing collaborative partnerships with three CSPPs to accelerate learning, setting up a Learning into Action network, funding the evaluation and research work for WFWF and funding 12 projects that are helping to transform how families are supported by taking a cross Scottish Government approach to system change.

£50m has been allocated for the WFWF in 2023-24.

Currently in Scotland a new constable will start on a salary of £28,074. In England and Wales the lowest starting salary for a Constable is currently £23,556.

You will wish to note that police pay negotiations are ongoing for 2023-24, therefore salaries for police officers in Scotland will be revised on the conclusion of those negotiations. You should also be aware that the UKG’s decision to accept PRRB’s recommendations in E&W, indicates that salary levels there are also likely to change.

More information on Police Officer salaries in Scotland can be found on the Police Scotland website using the following link: Pay and Grading Structure - Police Scotland .

We are progressing recommendations from the New Deal for Business Group on labour market participation, with a focus on supporting parents into employment through school age childcare and nurturing the skills which businesses need for a transition to net zero.

We are rapidly fulfilling commitments made in the National Strategy for Economic Transformation, including developing a lifetime skills offer for adults, which will ensure future support is targeted at those who need it most. Our apprenticeship programme is enabling employers to invest in their work force and provide greater opportunities to those at the start of their careers.

UK government has temporarily eased visa rules for some construction workers in order to help fill job shortages. However, UK Government immigration policy fails to address Scotland’s distinct demographic and economic needs and highlights the need for a tailored approach to migration to best support Scotland’s communities, economy, and public services to flourish. With full powers over migration, Scotland could boost its workforce and tackle recruitment challenges, many of which have been caused by the end of free movement and the Brexit imposed on Scotland by the UK Government.

The Scottish Construction Leadership Forum (CLF) is the main forum for Scottish Government and industry interaction. The Skills and Workforce Working Group of the CLF, comprising public and private sector members, is currently co-developing a Transformation Action Plan to take action on the issues faced by the industry.

The 2022 Country and Regional Analysis (produced by HM Treasury) includes analysis of expenditure on public services in Scotland and comparisons with other parts of the UK as a whole. In 2021-22 public order and safety spending in Scotland was £3.3bn. On a per capita basis spending in Scotland was 13% higher than in England and 7% higher than in Wales:

Public Order & Safety Expenditure (per capita)

Enforcement of legislation around the sale and purchase of nicotine vapour products (NVPs) is carried out by Local Authorities as part of the Enhanced Tobacco Sales Enforcement Programme (ETSEP). This is overseen by the Society for Trading Standards Officers in Scotland (SCOTSS) and funded by the Scottish Government.

SCOTSS membership includes representation from every Scottish local authority trading standards service. We regularly meet with SCOTSS, our last meeting took place on 21 June 2023, and our standing agenda includes enforcement in relation to NVPs and tobacco.

Through this engagement, we continue to support strong national and local alliances to tackle the availability and sale of tobacco and NVPs to under 18s.

The Scottish Government received two reports in 2022, one jointly from NHS Fife and NHS Lothian and one jointly from NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde and NHS Ayrshire and Arran. The reports contain data on the number of women in threatened extreme preterm labour (labour at less than 27 weeks gestation) who were transferred from NHS Fife to NHS Lothian or from NHS Ayrshire and Arran to NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde in anticipation of the requirement for specialist neonatal care for their baby.

Building on the success of the Digital Scotland Superfast Broadband (DSSB) Programme, which connected over 15,000 premises in the Na h-Eileanan an Iar constituency to fibre broadband, the Reaching 100% (R100) programme is ensuring that all homes and businesses can access superfast broadband.

R100 contract build is being deployed in line with plans submitted by BT plc as the successful bidder for the R100 North contract, that covers the Na h-Eileanan an Iar constituency. Contract build is being delivered in phases that have been designed to maximise efficiency, aligning contractual build with commercial build plans in an area when possible. We will continue to work closely with Openreach, as BT’s delivery partner for the R100 North contract, to accelerate contract build where opportunities allow.

The R100 Scottish Broadband Voucher Scheme (R100 SBVS) offers eligible properties up to £5,000 to secure a superfast connection. The R100 programme team continues to engage with commercial operators with a view to them becoming registered suppliers for R100 SBVS in the Na h-Eileanan an Iar constituency.

We have committed to building a system of school age childcare, providing year-round childcare for families on low incomes by the end of this Parliament. This involves working with Local Authorities to design and deliver a system that works for those who use and deliver it.

This year, we are investing £4 million to support Local Authorities with costs related to the delivery of planned summer programmes for children from low-income families during the 2023 school summer holidays. This is in addition to the £21.75 million investment for delivery of holiday free school meal alternative payments for eligible families. We are also investing around £3 million to expand and deliver services in our four Early Adopting Communities (Glasgow, Clackmannanshire, Dundee and Inverclyde).