Chamber and committees

The circumstances which led to the case before the European Court of Human Rights preceded the Human Trafficking and Exploitation (Scotland) Act 2015. The 2015 Act introduced new protections for victims of human trafficking and exploitation offences in Scotland.

The 2015 Act requires the Lord Advocate to issue instructions regarding the prosecution of persons who are, or appear to be, the victims of trafficking, slavery, servitude or forced or compulsory labour and who have allegedly committed a criminal offence. These instructions were published in May 2016 and were updated in August 2021, following a review by the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service in light of the European Court of Human Rights’ decision in VCL and AN v UK. The instructions sets a strong presumption against prosecution of adult victims who have been compelled to commit an offence and the compulsion is directly attributable to trafficking or exploitation and a strong presumption against prosecution of child victims who have committed an offence in the course of, or as a consequence of, being trafficked or exploited.

Decisions in relation to prosecution are for the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service which makes its decisions independently.

Both Police Scotland and the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service continue to discharge their positive obligations to potential victims of human trafficking and exploitation.

Information on the application of the Lord Advocate’s instructions can be accessed through the Trafficking and Exploitation Strategy progress reports https://www.gov.scot/policies/human-trafficking/ .

The Scottish Government has regular communication with the UK Government on a range of issues relating to human trafficking and exploitation, including the decision by the European Court of Human Rights in VCL and AN v UK.

We continue to work with the UK Government and other organisations to ensure the findings of VCL and AN v UK are appropriately considered.

We commissioned and published in 2018 a first national independent expert report on specialist NHS dementia beds provision Transforming Specialist Dementia Hospital Care with recommendations for sector modernisation as part of wider whole-system reform in localities.

The report noted the most recent official figures at that time on numbers of NHS Old Age Psychiatry beds and Geriatric Medicine beds. These figures include people with an organic illness (dementia) and those with a functional illness (mental ill health conditions such as depression, bi-polar and schizophrenia) and the report noted that it was difficult to provide a precise number of patients with dementia in these settings, given the frequency of co-morbid conditions and under-diagnosis of dementia.

We continue to work with the author of the report as part of wider work since 2018 to support implementation of the report and to support local service modernisation, workforce planning and resourcing.

MHOs are critically important as they protect and safeguard the rights of vulnerable people with mental health conditions.

MHO workload pressures have no doubt been exacerbated by the COVID pandemic, but we are aware of a number of issues that are having an impact. These include significant numbers of applications for guardianship orders under Adults with Incapacity legislation, supporting hospital discharges when there is an issue with incapacity, as well as the challenges of working on detention and compulsory treatment orders during the pandemic. MHOs also provide ongoing advice for other professionals, users of services and carers about the use of mental health legislation when planning care and treatment.

While it is the responsibility of local authorities to ensure they have the appropriate levels of MHOs in place, we have been working, with COSLA, local authorities, the Scottish Social Services Council and others since 2019 to improve MHO capacity across Scotland.

We are committed to addressing a shortfall in the MHO workforce by 2023 as part of our wider Integrated Health and Social Care Workforce Plan (2019) and we are investing £1.5 million over 2019-2022 to support Local Authorities and Health and Social Care Partnerships in training additional MHOs. Additionally, we are currently evaluating with COSLA options to support new MHO posts and decisions will be made in due course.

The next round of allocations will be confirmed and dispersed to local authority areas this Autumn.

Our Commitment to Childminding , published in January 2021, sets out how the Scottish Government will continue to work with partners to promote childminding as a positive career choice and as a choice for parents and carers when they decide the most appropriate childcare option for their family.

This includes promoting childminding careers by working with employability bodies, including the Department of Work and Pensions and Skills Development Scotland, and exploring the opportunities to ensure that Early Learning and Childcare students are exposed to the career options of childminding within student placements during the course of their study.

The Scottish Government will continue to monitor trends in the number of childminding services and to ensure that our approach reflects the evidence obtained from the recently published Financial Sustainability Health Check . We also want to ensure that childminders continue to play a vital role in ongoing delivery of the 1140 programme and in how we implement our new Programme for Government Commitments for one and two year olds over the course of this Parliament.

Under the Children and Young People (Scotland) Act 2014 education authorities in Scotland have a statutory duty to consult and plan on delivery of early learning and childcare (ELC) ( part 6 section 50 ) and on the delivery of day care and out of school care ( part 8 section 55 ) in their local area, at least every two years. Locally-led consultation and service planning is essential to ensuring funded ELC offers that meets local demand and circumstances.

In addition, the Scottish Government has undertaken a number of research exercises to understand parents’ and carers’ needs and preferences at a national level. Over the last three years these include:

• Parents' views and use of early learning and childcare , published in August 2018, in which findings were drawn from an online survey and a telephone survey of parents. The study explored the views and experiences of parents and carers with children under the age of six across Scotland, to inform the expansion of ELC in Scotland. The report found that at the time, nearly 9 in 10 parents (88%) used some form of funded provision and that most combined this with paid and/or informal provision.
• Annual questions about use and affordability of childcare in the Scottish Household Survey for households with a child aged under 11 years old on. The latest report, Under Use of Childcare, published in September 2020, found 79 per cent of households with a child aged two to five years used some form of childcare in 2019.
• Out of school care parent survey , published on 30 August 2019. The report found that use of out of school care was similar across both term-time and the school holidays, with more than half of parents using term-time care (58%) and holiday care (61%). Half of all parents (50%) used both, while 23% used neither.
• Most recently, the Financial Sustainability Health Check of the childcare sector in Scotland, which was published on 31 August, collected information from providers on demand for their services. At the time of the survey (May 2021) overall levels of demand (measured as occupancy levels) were lower for all types of service compared to March 2020. The largest reduction in demand had been in school age childcare (SAC) only services. However, the report also found that demand had generally held up better for services delivering funded ELC than for non-funded services. More detailed information on reported demand can be found in Section 2 of the supporting Analysis and Evidence paper.

No households have had their replacement oil or LPG boilers or heating systems cancelled as a result of the Scottish Government and Scottish Green Party shared policy programme commitment to immediately end public subsidy for oil and LPG boilers.

All Warmer Homes Scotland and Home Energy Scotland Loan applications with committed offers signed prior to 6 September 2021, for either replacement oil/LPG boilers or heating systems, will have these honoured and receive their installations/loans. No local council has reported plans to install an oil/LPG boiler or heating measure as part of their Area Based Scheme.

Home Energy Scotland ended recommendations and referrals to Scottish Government schemes for the replacement of oil and LPG boilers from 6 September 2021. From this date, customers will receive advice on lower-carbon alternatives to oil and LPG that are suitable for their homes.

Warmer Homes Scotland surveys ended the recommendation of oil and LPG systems on 6 September 2021. As a result, no further letters offering either replacement oil or LPG boilers or heating systems were sent from 6 September 2021.

The Aberdeen - Laurencekirk multi-modal study is being undertaken by Nestrans and includes consideration of a range of multi-modal options. The potential options being considered as part of this transport appraisal have been determined by Nestrans who have detailed knowledge of the local area. Further details on the study can be provided by Nestrans.

The Care Inspectorate for Scotland are responsible for setting and reviewing the ratios for all childcare setting in Scotland. Usually, childminders can care for a maximum of eight children at any one time under the age of 16 years, of whom a maximum of six children will be under 12 years, no more than three children will be under primary school age, and only one child will be under one year old.

The number of children cared for at any one time includes the childminder’s own children or family members, whether or not they are present in the service. Evidence indicates that these ratios provide good outcomes for children.

In discussion with a setting, The Care Inspectorate may vary the adult to child ratios to take account of special circumstances that support the best outcomes for children, such as the presence of siblings under the age of one, the presence of children with additional support needs or the layout of the premises being used. Ratios will also be varied where more than one childminder works from the premises, or the childminder employs an assistant.

Guidance was last published on these ratios in 2018. It was last reviewed in 2019.