Chamber and committees

The Scottish Government has clear standards for the quality of care across our health and social care services and the safety, protection and wellbeing of residents and staff in our care home sector is a priority. We have for each of the last three years provided NHS Highland with funding of £864,800 per year to support their enhanced oversight and support of local care homes to encourage quality improvement and sustainability, and we recently confirmed further funding for 2023-24.

Ultimately the commissioning and provisioning of care home services for local communities to meet needs rests with NHS Highland and the Highland Council. The Scottish Government is in regular contact with NHS Highland, the Highland Council, and providers of social care to understand the challenges they are facing which include the impact of care home closures across the system.

The Communities Mental Health and Wellbeing Fund for Adults is distributed through by Third Sector Interfaces (TSI) across all regions of Scotland, who deliver the Fund locally to grassroots community organisations, in partnership with others including Health and Social Care Partnerships, local councils and people with lived experience. This ensures that the Fund, is able to respond to local needs and circumstances, whilst adhering to national guidance. This will continue to be the case in 2023-24.

The share of the fund that each TSI receives is calculated by using the National Resource Allocation Formula (NRAC) to ensure a fair distribution of the fund.

Timing of local fund processes including award decisions will vary across regions, with each TSI led partnership agreeing their own process and timetable. Information on how to apply for this year’s funding will be accessible in due course on the TSI Scotland website . All TSIs will have distributed funding no later than 31 March 2024.

The following table shows a time series for the number of registered private sector businesses in the construction of domestic buildings sector, split into Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (SMEs) and large enterprises. The construction of domestic buildings sector is defined as Standard Industrial Classification (“SIC”) code 41.202 and is a sub-category within the construction sector, Section F. A SME here is defined as a business with 0 – 249 employees, whilst registered businesses are businesses that are registered for Value Added Tax (VAT) and/or Pay As You Earn (PAYE). The data covers the period from 2010 to 2022, earlier data are not readily available and, also not comparable due to changes in SIC definitions and methodology over time.

The number of registered private sector businesses by employee size band in the construction of domestic buildings (SIC 41.202) in Scotland, March 2010 – March 2022.

The Deposit Return Scheme has already delivered hundreds of millions of pounds of investment across Scotland, and is creating over 500 new green jobs which includes those via third party operators. While some of these jobs may be filled already the majority will become operational as the scheme goes live on 1 March 2024 .

The average response time (in days) for the Office of the Public Guardian to process (a) Electronic Power of Attorney Registration (EPOAR) submissions and (b) postal power of attorney requests in 2022-23 now that the financial year is complete is as follows (the table also indicates average figures for previous years):

The Scottish Government has not used Facebook to recruit paid patient representatives for any health projects.

I refer the member to the answer to question S6W-17222 on 4 May 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 .

Overall, the Scottish Government thinks that this is a well-designed and helpful document which clearly outlines the approach which Scottish Cycling plans to take.

We welcome the focus on improving diversity in cycling participation as well as a pathway for all, regardless of ability.

We are pleased to see references to the 2023 UCI Cycling World Championships, highlighting the significant opportunity to increase cycling participation this provides, including through initiatives such as the Cycling Facilities Fund.

The Senior Responsible Officer (SRO) met with the Accountable Officer (AO) to discuss the gateway review recommendation suggesting a "Portfolio approach". After due consideration it was deemed that at this moment in the programmes development it was not the appropriate course of action to take and would be reviewed on an ongoing basis.

I refer the member to the answer to question S6W-17543 on 12 May 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 .