Chamber and committees

Responsibility for the management of the police estate sits with the Scottish Police Authority and the Chief Constable.

Police Scotland has advised that while they have no plans to build any new police stations in 2023, a new police station will be opened in spring 2023 at Newton House in Ayr, which is owned by South Ayrshire Council. This will provide a new, modern replacement for the existing Ayr police station.

Transition is reserved to the UK Government, and there is no funding provided to the Scottish Government to undertake transition related activities. However the Scottish Government has designed the application guidance for devolved benefits to provide comprehensive information on entitlement. Similarly, signposting is included to refer clients to the relevant agencies for reserved benefits where appropriate. Adult Disability Payment launched in August last year. The application form asks clients about their possible entitlement to Armed Forces Independence Payment, War Pensioners’ Mobility Supplement and War Pension Constant Attendance Allowance. Where appropriate, clients are then directed to Veterans UK for further advice. We have also worked with Veterans UK to develop an information sharing process between the organisation and Social Security Scotland. This is intended to ensure that veterans can efficiently access the support to which they are entitled.

Furthermore, as part of our Social Security Scotland stakeholder communications plan, we ensure that third party organisations, including those that support veterans, understand the overlaps and are in a position to adequately advise and assist veterans during their interactions with Social Security Scotland or the UK Government agencies administering reserved benefits. We hold regular discussions with Veterans UK and the Ministry of Defence to ensure there is consistency in the messaging provided to veterans and people leaving the Armed Forces.

In relation to veterans healthcare, the Scottish Government has developed a scheme to help General Practices to identify and recognise the circumstances of veterans and their families . This is currently in the pilot phase of the programme.

In addition, the application form for Adult Disability Payment asks clients about their possible entitlement to Armed Forces Independence Payment, War Pensioners’ Mobility Supplement and War Pension Constant Attendance Allowance. Where appropriate, clients are then directed to Veterans UK for further advice.

We are also engaging with Scotland’s Housing Network’s Local Housing Strategy Group to encourage local authorities to identify the housing needs of the veterans and Armed Forces community. This will include local authorities sharing examples of best practice.

Finally, during 2022, the Scottish Government supported the UK Government work to undertake a scoping study for provision of digital verification of veteran status and contributed to the project’s Discovery Phase. We will continue to support the work as it progresses which will make it easier for all veterans to identify as such when accessing services and support.

Through the National Drugs Mission, the Scottish Government is investing £250 million over the life of the Parliament to save and improve lives by expanding capacity in and improving access to treatment and support, both in the community and in residential rehabilitation. For the first time this year we will have data on the number of veterans accessing drug and alcohol treatment services, using the new Drug and Alcohol Information System (DAISy). We will use this data to inform our work to better meet the needs of veterans who use drugs to support them to achieve their recovery goals.

The ‘Welcome to Scotland’ guide was first introduced in 2018 to provide practical information to Service personnel and their families who are moving to or already living in Scotland, on topics such as housing, education, healthcare and employment. It is not specifically targeted at veterans or their families but it is promoted to the veterans community through the Veterans Scotland newsletter.

The guide is refreshed annually and we work with the military in Scotland, the Ministry of Defence and the Armed Forces Families Federations to develop and promote its use.

We have published a housing guide which provides information about housing in Scotland and contacts of organisations who may be able to help Armed Forces and ex-service personnel obtain housing suitable for their needs. The guide also directs veterans to the Veterans Gateway which provides information on support to veterans and their families including housing and independent living.

I refer the member to the answer to question S6W-13853 on 26 January 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

The Scottish Government reviewed the Antimicrobial Stewardship (AMS), Health Protection (HP) and Infection Prevention and Control (IPC) Workforce in 2022, as part of the work formulating evidence towards the recently published ‘Infection Prevention Workforce: Strategic Plan 2022-2024’. The plan is about building capacity and capability of AMS, HP (with relevance to IPC) and IPC workforce in all health and care settings, to enable recovery and development. It reflects on the need for planning post pandemic across all health and care, and as part of the wider system infection management needs. Following a situational analysis, recommendations in the plan include:

• identifying the current specialist workforce across health and care to assess and address demands (current and future) and potential service gaps, to allow for succession planning and sustainability.
• reviewing and addressing current IPC capability within the AMS and HP Workforce.
• reviewing current educational and career pathways and identify key priorities in order to meet future and evolving needs to support service delivery.
• progressing the work for a national surveillance eSystem for IPC within secondary care, with the support of local and national stakeholders.
• identifying the requirements for new/emerging local/national specialist roles, which will support phased implementation of a sustainable workforce.
• that each Board should consider whether services should be led by a clinical leader with a focus on AMR, HAI and IPC and with accountability to the executive team within a board, or partnership, to ensure safe and effective clinical service delivery.

Analysis of the responses to the 2020 Health and Social Care Staff Wellbeing Survey, by protected characteristics, was completed in 2021. The results did not show any significant differences in the wellbeing of staff from under-represented groups, compared to other groups of staff and compared to the general well-being of under-represented groups in the general population.

Demographic questions, including on ethnicity were included in the 2021 and 2022 iMatter Health and Social Care Staff Experience Continuous Improvement Model questionnaires for the first time.

The demographic analysis is scheduled to be available later this year. This will allow Health Boards to put action plans in place to deliver improvements, where needed, for under-represented groups.

The demographic questions replicate the 2022 Scottish Census questions, meaning that direct comparisons of the workforce to the population can be made.’

As outlined to the member in parliamentary question S6W-13453 on 26 January 2023, the national framework for acute oncology services has been published. The framework lays out the agreed key principles that underpin an effective Acute Oncology Service (AOS) in NHS Scotland and outlines the clinical standards and proposed outcome measures against which services can be developed and monitored.

In addition, we have committed to increasing the acute oncology workforce as outlined in the National Workforce Strategy for Health and Social Care.

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