Chamber and committees

There are more than 1,200 social care providers across Scotland, with local authorities responsible for providing or commissioning services. Local authorities and Health and Social Care Partnerships will wish to ensure that, in providing a range of services, their workforce planning arrangements take full account of the need to have safe and sustainable numbers of staff.

To maximise capacity to meet demand, and maintain integrated health and social care services throughout autumn and winter, our winter plan highlights the additional funding of £528 million allocated directly to Health and Social Care Partnerships for 2022 23. This funding was aimed at the following social care measures:

• £124 million to enhance care at home

• £144 million to support the December 2021 uplift to £10.02, as well as a   further -

• £200 million to increase the minimum hourly rate of pay in adult social care

• £20 million to support interim care arrangements

• £40 million to enhance multi-disciplinary teams

• Waiving fees for mandatory PVG checks for new entrants to social care

• Extension of the Social Care Staff Support Fund to 31 March 2023, to ensure   that social care workers absent with Covid-19 receive their full pay

Alongside this, SG have established a social care winter planning working group, to consider a number of potential/feasible options to ease the current pressures in the Adult Social Care Sector in advance of the winter period 2022-23. Local government are among those represented on this group.

To help alleviate the current pressures in social care, we are working with partners to scope out and design localised support with recruitment for the winter period. This will include marketing assets which can be adapted to meet local needs, and providing more in-depth support with recruitment where capacity to recruit is a barrier. This work is being taken forward in collaboration with key stakeholders representing the sector.

The Scottish Government will carry out the review required by section 41 of the EU Withdrawal from the EU (Continuity) (Scotland) Act 2021. This Act requires Ministers to review and consult on the effectiveness of the governance arrangements introduced by the Act, access to justice on environmental matters and whether the establishment of an environmental court could enhance the environmental governance arrangements. The report has to be presented to the Parliament within six months of Environmental Standards Scotland (ESS) adopting its first full strategy.

The ESS strategy has recently been laid in the Parliament and is expected to be published shortly, subject to the Parliamentary process. The review is planned to be published and the subsequent consultation to be launched in spring 2023.

The Scottish Government is committed to introducing a new right to a healthy environment as a part of the planned Human Rights Bill.

The Scottish Government previously informed Parliament that a statement setting out an Emergency Budget Review (EBR), in relation to the 2022-23 Scottish Budget, was planned for the week commencing 24 October.

However, following the unprecedented uncertainty and instability brought about by the current UK Government in recent weeks, including a series of announcements and changes to UK economic and fiscal measures leading to economic turmoil, mortgage products being pulled, the pound crashing and the Bank of England having to take emergency action to stabilise financial markets, culminating in another change in Prime Minister, the EBR will be deferred until after the planned fiscal statement from the new UK administration currently scheduled for 31 October. This will also allow the EBR to take account of updated independent forecasts of the UK economy from the Office for Budget Responsibility.

Parliament will be kept informed regarding the updated timing of the EBR statement.

As set out in the Programme for Government 2022-23, later this year we will consult on potential restrictions on alcohol advertising and promotion to protect vulnerable groups, including children and young people and those in recovery. Subject to the outcomes of this consultation, we will introduce legislation within the lifetime of this parliament.

The consultation is still under development and we are considering all methods of alcohol advertising and promotion. We will fully engage with all relevant stakeholders to understand their views and any potential impacts of proposals.

Please see the following table of contracts which have been awarded so far by year, as part of the National Care Service Programme.

Currently, there is no additional budget specifically allocated for procuring external advice from private companies, although the National Care Service Programme will retain flexibility to procure external expertise as necessary to deliver the National Care Service.

This decision was taken on 14 September.

Artists are a significant part of Scotland's culture sector and the Scottish Government is committed to seeing them thrive.

Since April 2021, Creative Scotland has distributed 491 awards to individuals through the Open Fund, totalling £6.2m.

They also distributed 3,923 awards to individuals through the Hardship Fund for Creative Freelancers, to the value of £7.5m in the same period.

Further information on the delivery of SG emergency Covid19 funds by Creative Scotland is available in the Evaluation of Creative Scotland COVID-19 Emergency Funding Programmes | Creative Scotland which covers the 2020-21 emergency funding. A further report on the delivery of SG’s emergency funding by Creative Scotland from late 2021-2022 is currently in preparation.

Creative Scotland is also working on a new approach to funding organisations over multiple years as set out in their Future Funding Review. This aims to offer organisations greater certainty in planning which will improve opportunities for the many freelance artists that are pivotal to their work and who make up over half of the workforce in the arts sector.

The Scottish Government has supported the Centre for the Moving Image (CMI) in the production of Edinburgh International Film Festival through our Festival EXPO fund since the fund’s inception in 2007. The amounts awarded are as follows:

2008-09 - £60,000

2009-10 - £110,000

2010-11 - £180,000

2011-12 - £100,000

2012-13 - £150,000

2013-14 - £110,000

2014-15 - £125,000

2015-16 - £115,000

2016-17 - £110,000

2017-18 - £110,000

2018-19 - £104,000

2019-20 - £100,000

2020-21 - £75,000

2021-22 - £50,000

2022-23 - £110,000

The Scottish Government is continuing to work closely with its core funded cultural organisations, to understand the impacts that the current cost crisis, and wider pressures, are having on the sector. We will be looking at the potential for three-year funding settlements in preparations for the 2023-24 budget.

I refer the member to the answers to questions S6W-11097 and S6W-11098 on 17 October 2022. 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