Chamber and committees

The Scottish Government is not currently introducing on-demand antibody testing.

Immune responses are more complex than the measure of an antibody test. The Chief Medical Officer's advice urges caution around the interpretation of antibody test results, and has advised Health Boards in Scotland to focus on using antibody tests to improve our understanding of COVID-19, and in the clinical management of patients, where appropriate.

Clinicians have the discretion to request an antibody test for an individual if they determine the result will be of benefit to the clinical management of a patient.

We know the vaccine offers significant protection against the virus, and as further research of the immune response to COVID-19 vaccinations in patients with immunosuppressed conditions continues, we would urge those individuals to continue to be cautious to help keep themselves safe.

Research is underway which will help us better understand the immune response to COVID-19, and vaccine efficacy in immunosuppressed groups, and which will be instrumental in helping inform how best to protect immunocompromised individuals from COVID-19 infection in the future.

Our approach to antibody testing is being kept under review.

I refer the member to the answer to question S6W-02569 on
‎ 9 September 2021. 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 Scottish Government aims to carry out scoping work on the remit and powers of a Learning Disability, Autism and Neurodiversity Commissioner in this Parliamentary year.

Following the successful passage of a Learning Disability, Autism and Neurodiversity Bill, a Commissioner would be appointed as soon as possible.

We are in daily contact with Health and Social Care Partnerships (HSCPs) facing the greatest challenges and are monitoring the situation closely. Health Boards and HSCPs have provided assurances that people in need of the most urgent care will continue receiving care during this challenging period.

We are working with local partners to address these pressures at a local and national level, including putting in place measures to support recruitment and multi-disciplinary working. Some of the immediate actions we have taken include: funding support to advertise vacant posts on a dedicated social care webpage; and targeted communication with Further and Higher Education nursing students and Social Work students, to encourage applications to join the workforce.

We have allocated an additional £380 million to Health Boards to help with costs arising from the pandemic. This comes on top of the £1.7 billion already provided to Health Boards and Health and Social Care Partnerships last year.

For unpaid carers, we have invested an additional £28.5m for local carer support in this year’s budget, bringing total investment in the Carers Act to £68m per year. The previous Cabinet Secretary wrote to authorities in March to highlight the importance of using this additional funding to expand carer support. We also added a further £1.1m last year to the annual £3m voluntary sector Short Breaks Fund and have committed an additional £570,000 this year, enabling more families/carers and young carers to take a break from caring.

The Scottish Government criminal proceedings database does not hold information on the specific type of vessel involved in charges prosecuted under Loch Lomond Byelaws.

The Crown Office & Procurator Fiscal Service were able to manually search relevant case records and confirmed that 3 people have been prosecuted for offences involving a jet ski under Loch Lomond Byelaws 2013 B3.5(1)&3.17 - Knowingly/recklessly/negligently navigate and behaviour of vessel.

The Scottish Government allocated £475,000 of additional funding to Loch Lomond and The Trossachs National Park Authority over this year and last year to meet the costs associated with additional visitor management pressures in the National Park following the easing of restrictions put in place during the COVID-19 pandemic in the National Park. This is in addition to £425 000 which has been allocated to mitigate the wider impact of the pandemic on businesses and local communities.

The additional funding for visitor management has been spent on a range of additional measures by the Park Authority, including increasing its seasonal staff complement (such as rangers, campsite wardens and environment officers) to manage the substantial number of visitors to the national park and the high volume of litter and waste generated; providing and maintaining additional temporary toilet facilities; making adjustments to Park Authority sites to ensure COVID-safe access for the public; and providing additional signage, for example to help manage traffic in congested areas.

In addition, the Scottish Government allocated £70,000 to the Park Authority from the Scottish Government’s COVID Recovery Task Force Funding in 2021 to fund strategic development plans for East and West Loch Lomond to assess how these areas can continue to attract visitors whilst reducing visitor pressures such as traffic and parking capacity issues.

Looking to the future, the Scottish Government’s increase in the Park Authority’s Capital budget by £540,000 for 2021-22 and for each of the next three years will enable the organisation to deliver visitor infrastructure improvements and develop a capital investment plan to better support visitor management in the National Park.

The information requested is not held centrally by the Scottish Government as this is an operational matter for Loch Lomond and The Trossachs National Park Authority. I have therefore asked the Park Authority’s Chief Executive to write to the Member to provide details.

Self-Directed Support (SDS) is Scotland’s mainstream approach to social care that seeks to give unpaid carers and people receiving care and/or support flexibility, choice and control to meet their own personal outcomes, using a human rights based approach. In March 2021 the SDS Framework of Standards was published. This enables and encourages both local authorities and individuals to use Self-Directed Support in a flexible manner, enabling consideration out with traditional support services that may have been previously provided.

Scottish Government also funds independent support providers across Scotland to support people to arrange support that meets their needs by providing advocacy, information and advice on social care at local levels.

The Self-directed Support (Direct Payments) (Scotland) Regulations 2014 set out that people in receipt of a direct payment, Option 1 of Self-directed Support, may employ family members where this is deemed appropriate in certain prescribed circumstances. However, if the family member is acting as Power of Attorney or Guardian and managing a direct payment, it is prohibited under the Section 9 of the Direct Payment regulations for family members to be employed as personal assistants.

Local authorities should consider requests to employ family members on a case by case basis, taking into account the family member’s health, their capacity to provide the required care, and other welfare and wellbeing factors.

The Scottish Government Covid-19 Advisory Group met on
‎ 5 August 2021 and is due to meet again on 9 September. Papers and minutes are published following meetings, providing time for appropriate permissions to be sought.