Chamber and committees

We aim to enable better access to a range of services for older people as and when they need them. We want to ensure people are financially secure and supported as they age. This is why, in 2025-26 the Scottish Government has allocated over £15.4 million for the provision of free income maximisation support, welfare and debt advice.

Between Apr 24-Sep 24, investment from the Equalities and Human Rights Fund resulted in a total of 16,087 individuals helped directly with the provision of support, information and advice, with the Age Scotland Helpline providing £1,184,367 of income maximisation advice, with a further 1,039 organisations have also been supported via capacity building and information sharing.

We engage regularly with the Older People’s Strategic Action Forum on actions we take to support the needs of older people in Scotland.

Given that drug and alcohol related problems can contribute to loss of accommodation, the actions taken through Alcohol and Drug Partnerships (ADPs) to provide recovery-based support can help prevent homelessness. To help align their contribution, ADPs bring together a range of partners at the local level with experience and responsibilities spanning the statutory, third sector, and community space to ensure that strategic planning reflects the wealth of local knowledge and expertise in providing services to those most in need. Whilst there is no prescriptive direction as to which individuals and organisations should sit on or contribute to an ADP, there is an expectation that local authorities will field representation with sufficient insight into wider services within their remit, such as Housing, Social Work, and Education, to ensure appropriate linkage to those areas of service provision.

The Scottish Government wants to ensure that progress is made based on the principles of shared public responsibility and earlier intervention to prevent homelessness, as set out in the proposals for new homelessness prevention duties in the Housing (Scotland) Bill currently before the Scottish Parliament.

The Scottish Government is currently working with COSLA, and in consultation with other partners, to revise the Partnership Delivery Framework to Reduce the Use of and Harm from Alcohol and Drugs, to bring greater clarity and consistency to the remit, membership, and organisation of ADPs.

Each of the bodies referenced are responsible for setting their budgets in accordance with their strategic plans and to meet the needs of their local population. How they allocate funding to delivery partners to achieve their outcomes is a decision for them however there is an expectation that public bodies funded by the Scottish Government will develop Equality Impact Assessments through the Equality Act 2010.

Where individuals or organisations feel that public bodies have not fulfilled their obligations under the Equality Act 2010, this should be drawn to the attention of the Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC), as escalation is a matter for the Commission. The process involves the Commission's power to issue a compliance notice, and subsequently seek enforcement through the courts, if necessary.

Scottish Ministers cannot direct EHRC because it is independent from Government. As it is a reserved public body, the Scottish Parliament cannot change its powers.

The provisions contained within Part 2 of the Care Reform (Scotland) Bill are proposed to allow for the sharing of information for the efficient and effective provision of public health and social care services. Within this context the provisions could enable the appropriate sharing of information in order to consider data-driven approaches to early intervention and targeted support, thereby helping to prevent individuals from experiencing homelessness at an earlier stage.

The Bill is informed by the extensive co-design work, commissioned by Scottish Ministers, to better inform the development of this legislation, which has included individuals with experience of homelessness. Details of this work can be found here: National Care Service - information sharing to improve care support: seldom heard voices co-design findings - gov.scot

The specific spend from the Single Scottish Estate (SSE) programme budget during the 2024-25 financial year was £611,000. This budget covers a range of delivery matters for the programme, including funding 7 posts dedicated to the SSE work. The business as usual function of Property and Construction Division also provides delivery support to the programme.

I refer the member to the answer to question S6W-37115 on 6 May 2025. 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.

I refer the member to the answer to question S6W-37115 on 6 May 2025. 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.

I refer the member to the answer to question S6W-37086 on 6 May 2025. 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 Local Government finance funding formula provides a complex but objective assessment of need and uses the most up to date information for the full range of indicators, including factors such as rurality, population, road length and deprivation. Rurality is accounted for within the Local Government finance settlement, both in relation to Early Learning and Childcare and school funding. In Early Learning and Childcare this relates to support being distributed in relation to the number of pupils living in rural areas.

The vast majority of funding allocated to councils is provided by means of a block grant. It is then the responsibility of individual local authorities to manage their own budgets and to allocate the total financial resources available to them, including on Education, on the basis of local needs and priorities, having first fulfilled their statutory obligations and the jointly agreed set of national and local priorities.

The annual Funding of Local Government publication provides an overview of the process of funding council in Scotland, while the Local Government Allocation Statistics (Green Book) publication sets out in more detail the date, methodology and calculations underlying the distribution of the funding between councils. https://www.gov.scot/collections/local-government-finance-statistics/#thefundingoflocalgovernmentinscotland.

The Scottish Government recognises the serious impact that untreated hearing loss can have on individuals, including potential links to cognitive decline and dementia risk in older people.

The Independent Review of Audiology Services, published in August 2023, set out 55 recommendations which the Scottish Government accepted in principle to support improvements to audiology services across Scotland. A significant amount of work has been undertaken to date, to move forward the implementation of recommendations made as part of the Independent Review, involving a wide range of stakeholders across the public and third sector. In December 2024 we concluded this phase of work and will soon publish a report outlining how each of the recommendations set out in the Independent Review has been closed or transitioned, and the rationale for that.

We know that audiology services are facing sustained pressure, and this challenge is not unique to Scotland, with similar issues being felt across the UK. However, it is not acceptable that some people have had to wait longer than they should for appointments and referrals. The Scottish Government is taking action, and the 2025-26 Budget is providing a record £21.7 billion for Health and Social Care.

Audiology is considered a clinical priority area within the NHS in Scotland and improvement work is being progressed through the National Planning and Delivery Board under leadership from the Chief Operating Officer, NHS Scotland.