Chamber and committees

The Independent Review into the delivery of Forensic Mental Health Services in Scotland, published at the end of February 2021, made 67 recommendations for improvements to the delivery of forensic mental health services, including several on community forensic mental health.

The Scottish Government supports the recommendations of the review, agrees that community provision is a crucial component of the forensic mental health system and that forensic community mental health teams are key to supporting mental wellbeing in the community. Recommendations 18 and 19 of the Review recommend that work be undertaken to define the service remit of community forensic mental health teams and to ensure they are appropriately resourced to meet demand. The Forensic Mental Health Services Managed Care Network is gathering information on current provision to establish a baseline to take this work forward.

On 14 October 2021 the Scottish Government published the Fair Start Scotland: Evaluation Report 4 - Year 3 Overview , which provides an overview of evaluation research relating to the third year of service delivery from 1 April 2020 up to 31 March 2021.

The report includes findings from a telephone survey of over 1000 participants; local area case studies, interviews with participants across the country, an economic evaluation and analysis of management information on participants’ outcomes.

Results from the telephone survey show that nine in ten people (90%) were aware the service was voluntary. It also shows that:

? 95% of people feel they were treated with dignity and respect

? 82% of people felt the service took account of their individual needs and circumstances

? 84% of people felt the service offered support to improve their general quality of life and well-being

The full telephone survey was published alongside the Year 3 Evaluation Report and can be found here .

In addition to findings from the survey, interviews with participants were also conducted as part of the evaluation. Findings from these interviews suggest that Fair Start Scotland participants with experience of the DWP Work Programme disliked the compulsory nature of the latter and the risk of sanctions for non-completion or non-participation. Participants also felt that Fair Start Scotland key workers are more supportive and respectful than Work Programme advisers.

Most recent statistics published on 23 February 2022 show that since its launch in April 2018, FSS has supported more than 14,000 people into work.

The statistics show that for participants where data is complete, 37% were supported into work. They also show that the majority of people who get jobs have high levels of sustaining employment:

? 71% of those starting jobs sustained employment for at least 3 months.

? 79% of those who sustained employment for 3 months reached 6 months.

? 77% of those who sustained employment for 6 months reached 12 months.

The Fair Start Scotland: Economic Evaluation , also published on 14 October 2021, found evidence that the jobs achieved by Fair Start Scotland participants are more stable in comparison with other programmes.

Findings from the overall evaluation suggest that the service has a positive impact on the wellbeing of participants, both in terms of the quality of jobs achieved and improved labour market outcomes, as well with regards to their experience of the service as a whole.

The Scottish Government takes seriously the responsibility to ensure those going through the criminal justice system with mental health issues are appropriately supported, treated and cared for, while ensuring their rights are being maintained, especially during these challenging times that may have a significant impact on people’s mental wellbeing.

A new national standard for Psychological Services and Therapies, which will describe what good quality psychological care looks like, is currently under development with a publication date of Summer 2022. This will include describing the provision of care in forensic and prison services. This will help ensure that Psychological Therapy services and therapies are delivered and measured in equitable ways across the prison estate in Scotland.

The Scottish Government has invested £9 million in 2021-22 for Psychological services in Scotland to grow the Applied Psychology, and Psychological Therapies workforce. Further funding will be provided for 2022-23 to support services to provide Psychological care to all clinical areas of care detailed in the Psychological Services and Therapies standard.

During Eating Disorder Awareness Week 2022, we welcomed the training offer that Beat, the UK’s eating disorder charity, has developed to ensure that our future workforce feels confident to support anyone who comes forward with concerns about disordered eating. We are pleased to see that all our medical schools in Scotland are in discussions with Beat to deliver eating disorder training, or are already delivering it.

We were also pleased to announce additional funding for Beat which includes Beyond the Symptoms Training for GPs and healthcare professionals, which will support them to identify when a patient has an eating disorder, and confidently intervene early. This training will be available from April.

Our guidance to local authorities is clear that the £150 cost of living payment should not be applied to historic council tax debt or arrears. Households who have difficulty in meeting their council tax liability should contact their council to establish if they are eligible for a council tax reduction. This scheme currently reduces the council tax liabilities of over 470,000 households according to their circumstances and ability to pay and applications can be backdated by up to six months.

The Scottish Government publishes figures relating to Local Authority New Build Completions in the ‘Local Authority Starts and Completions’ table found on our website here; https://www.gov.scot/publications/housing-statistics-for-scotland-new-house-building/

Some of these homes will have been supported by Scottish Government funding and some will have been financed through other routes.

Retailers are entitled to claim a reasonable handling fee and be reimbursed for the deposit for each processed in-scope container. The Scheme Administrator, Circularity Scotland Ltd (CSL), will provide retailers with appropriate guidance which will aid retailers in identifying such containers and therefore limit the chances of ineligible containers being returned.

As Scheme Administrator, CSL will verify collected containers prior to payment to ensure no ineligible containers have a deposit or handling fee paid.

Under the producer responsibility principle, these costs will be borne by industry.

The average household charge in Scotland is £375 in 2021-22. In 2022-23, this will rise to £391.

By comparison, Discover Water have stated the average charge across England and Wales to be £412 in 2021-22 and £419 in 2022-23. https://discoverwater.co.uk/annual-bill provides further information on individual company charges.

The Scottish Government has not made any legislation that would require the adoption of a heat pump in any building.

Rather, as part of our Heat in Buildings Strategy, we have proposed that all homes will be regulated to use zero emissions heating systems by 2045. Such systems include, but are not limited to, heat pumps.

As set out in the Heat in Buildings Strategy Business and Regulatory Impact Assessment (BRIA), the average cost of installing a heat pump is currently around £10,000 with, approximately, an additional £2,000 for energy efficiency measures to support the efficient performance of the heat pump. However, the cost of conversion to zero emissions heating systems is likely to vary across properties according to property type, size and condition.

The BRIA also explains that the impact on operating costs is also likely to vary across properties, with some seeing a slight increase in energy bills while others experience a reduction. The impact that installing a heat pump will have on energy bills is dependent on the relative price of electricity and the fuel being displaced, the relative efficiency of the heat pump and the heating system being replaced, and a number of other factors, including the design and quality of system itself, user operation, and the energy efficiency of the property in which it is installed. Wider system costs, for example upgrading energy networks, may have an impact on consumer bills.

We recognise that in decarbonising our homes we must not make fuel poverty worse, and the Heat in Buildings principles set out in the Fuel Poverty Strategy commit to delivering measures to help those in fuel poverty to manage their running costs.

Further analysis of the estimated capital and running costs of zero emissions heating systems has been undertaken as part of the Business and Regulatory Impact Assessment for the Heat in Buildings Strategy, which can be accessed at: Heat in buildings strategy: business and regulatory impact assessment - gov.scot (www.gov.scot) .

The member may also be interested in an independent report, commissioned by the Scottish Government, that assessed the suitability of low carbon heating technologies in residential buildings in Scotland. The report can be accessed at: Executive Summary - Low carbon heating in domestic buildings - technical feasibility: report - gov.scot (www.gov.scot) .

The Scottish Government will produce a range of further impact assessments when we introduce legislation requiring zero emissions heating systems.

Veterans who have left the armed forces within the past two years are a priority access group for the Low Cost Initiative for First-Time Buyers (LIFT) shared equity schemes, which includes the Open Market Shared Equity and New Supply Shared Equity schemes.