Chamber and committees

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.

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 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)

While vouchers issued through the R100 Scottish Broadband Voucher Scheme (SBVS) can be used to connect individual properties, the scheme was specifically designed to allow vouchers in a community to be combined to extend available funding. Indeed, there are a number of examples of communities across Scotland – including Ardnamurchan within your own region – pooling together vouchers to deliver superfast broadband connectivity to a number of properties.

We also remain actively engaged with all 32 Local Authorities to ensure they are fully aware of any developments around the R100 SBVS, as well as other elements of the wider R100 programme. We hold quarterly meetings with a network of Single Points of Contact, and we also maintain a data portal that all Local Authorities can access to identify and support voucher-eligible properties.

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.

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.

(a) The Scottish Police Authority (SPA) considered the Scottish Police Federation’s (SPF) Deep Dive report in detail and was satisfied with the remedial actions which were planned and put in place by Police Scotland. The condition of the police estate remains a high priority for the SPA, and it continues to scrutinise Police Scotland’s plans for the delivery of improvements, which support the delivery of the Police Scotland Estate Strategy.

(b) Due to its rural location, and the distance to the nearest police stations, Police Scotland did not close Oban Police Station. Police Scotland did however implement an extensive programme of work to upgrade facilities. As a result of this work Police Scotland is confident that the works identified in the SPF report were completed and the standard across both the police station and the custody suite were significantly improved.

Following the publication of the SPF report, additional inspections have been introduced and further works have been carried out which involve close collaboration with Police Scotland’s Health & Safety Team, SPF and Union representatives. Police Scotland’s Health & Safety Team has confirmed that the improvement works meet health and safety requirements.

Given the age of Oban Police Station, Police Scotland has embarked on a programme of work which seeks to replace Oban Police Station, including a new custody suite.

(a) The Scottish Police Authority (SPA) considered the Scottish Police Federation’s (SPF) Deep Dive report in detail and was satisfied with the remedial actions which were planned and put in place by Police Scotland. The condition of the police estate remains a high priority for the SPA, and it continues to scrutinise Police Scotland’s plans for the delivery of improvements, which support the delivery of the Police Scotland Estate Strategy.

(b) Prior to the publication of the SPF report, Police Scotland had already commenced improvement works to these two properties in Dunoon. The properties were closed and residing officers were decanted to suitable temporary accommodation whilst the improvement works were underway.

Since then, the SPA has approved Police Scotland’s Housing Strategy (2022) which aims to bring all of Police Scotland’s housing stock up to Scottish Government’s EESSH2 2032 standards over the next 3-5 years.

Police Scotland is currently undertaking further work around its Dunoon housing requirements as part of delivering its Housing Strategy.

The Scottish Police Authority (SPA) did not refer itself to the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service. The SPA considered the Scottish Police Federation Deep Dive report in detail and was satisfied with the remedial actions put in place by Police Scotland. Since then, the SPA has approved Police Scotland’s Housing Strategy (2022) which aims to bring all of Police Scotland’s housing stock up to Scottish Government’s EESSH2 2032 standards over the next 3-5 years.

The condition of the police estate remains a high priority for the SPA, and it continues to scrutinise Police Scotland’s plans for the delivery of improvements, which support the delivery of the Police Scotland Estate Strategy.

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.