Chamber and committees

The Scottish Government is determined to do all that it can to prevent childhood adversity and to support children and adults affected by adversity. As part of the Getting it Right for Every Child (GIRFEC) approach, we are progressing actions to better prevent childhood adversity and support children and young people negatively affected. In addition, we are progressing actions to better support adults impacted by early life adversity and trauma.

The term ACEs was originally developed in the US in the 1990s in a survey of adults which explored the health impacts of adverse childhood experiences. The findings from this survey, and ACE surveys undertaken in other countries including in England and Wales, provide a helpful evidence base for understanding, at a population level, the impact of childhood adversity on a range of health and wellbeing outcomes in adulthood.

The substantial evidence from ACEs surveys undertaken internationally has a well proven central premise that adversity in childhood, especially in multiple forms, has significant potential to impact on developmental and longer-term outcomes. It is this clear finding from the ACEs research, along with other sources of evidence, which is informing Scottish Government policy to address childhood adversity. We do not regard this as adherence to a “standard model” which prescribes a certain approach or activity.

The Scottish Government recognises that actions to address ACEs require both support for individuals and families (in particular supportive relationships), as well as action to address the societal and structural factors that give rise to or contribute to childhood adversity. We take this forward as part of the GIRFEC agenda. Our approach is therefore framed within broader work to reduce poverty and inequalities, including societal women’s inequality. There are a wide range of policies in place to address these including the Child Poverty Act and Equally Safe, the delivery plan to prevent and eradicate violence against women and girls. It is in this broad context that we are working across all areas of Government and with partner organisations to prevent and respond to adverse childhood experiences. Furthermore, the Scottish Government does not limit action on childhood adversity to the 10 most commonly cited ACEs. We are adopting an approach which seeks to address the wide range of adversities which can cause toxic stress and potentially have a detrimental impact on people’s lives, including, for example, bereavement, bullying, community violence and homelessness.

While the ACE population surveys show that childhood adversity is a risk factor for a range of poorer outcomes as an adult, we are clear that childhood adversity does not automatically equate with negative outcomes at an individual level. Our commitment to address childhood adversity is about recognising the well-established risks at a population level, seeking to prevent that adversity as far possible and, where it does occur, to provide support to individuals affected to minimise any negative impacts.

Key to addressing childhood adversity is developing a trauma informed and responsive workforce across Scotland, capable of recognising where people are affected by trauma and adversity, capable of responding in ways that prevent further harm and which supports recovery, and in ways which address inequalities and improve life chances. This trauma-informed approach goes beyond any single model or study. The Scottish Government has committed £1.35m over three years to design and deliver a National Trauma Training Programme coordinated by NHS Education for Scotland (NES). The Programme is founded on the Transforming Psychological Trauma: Knowledge and Skills Framework (2017), which was informed by a wide range of evidence and consultation, including the views of people with lived experience of trauma. The framework lays out the essential and core knowledge and skills required by all tiers of the Scottish workforce to ensure that the needs of children and adults who are affected by trauma are recognised, understood and responded to in a way which recognises individual strengths, acknowledges rights and ensures timely access to effective care, support and interventions for those who need it.

Pupil Equity Funding was introduced in 2017 as a new way of working to close the attainment gap, by providing money directly to the schools, and head teachers, that know their young people best, giving schools the power to choose where to target support and interventions. While the Scottish Government collects and publishes school level Pupil Equity Funding spend from Local Authorities each financial year, we do not collect or hold detailed information about what the funding has been spent on. The Pupil Equity Funding national operational guidance states that the funding should be focused on activities and interventions that will lead to improvements in literacy, numeracy, health, and wellbeing, which will include approaches to tackle Adverse Childhood Experiences.

I refer the member to the answer to question S5W-23798 on 26 June 2019. All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament's website, the search facility for which can be found at http://www.parliament.scot/parliamentarybusiness/28877.aspx.

I refer the member to the answer to question S5W-23798 on 26 June 2019. All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament's website, the search facility for which can be found at http://www.parliament.scot/parliamentarybusiness/28877.aspx.

The Scottish Government recognises that rail freight supports sustainable, inclusive economic growth and contributes to the wider climate change targets and has, therefore, worked closely with the rail freight industry to understand the capacity of the rail network for freight and areas where growth can be facilitated. This work has been informed by studies carried out by Network Rail to determine the demand and capacity for freight services including the Scotland Route Study, the Freight Network Study and the Industry Growth Plan for Scotland.

The Scottish Government jointly launched the Local Governance Review with COSLA to consider how powers are shared across national and local government, and with communities. Engagement extended beyond local government to consider all public services. Summary reports of the initial findings can be found at https://www.gov.scot/democracymatters . We didn't specifically ask about directly elected Lord Provosts and mayors in Scottish local authorities. Instead, we asked a short set of broad questions about the future of local democracy in Scotland. From over 350 responses from individuals, communities and public institutions, whether or not we should have provosts or mayors didn’t appear in the analysis. On 16 May 2019, the Scottish Government and COSLA announced the initial findings and set out next steps. A further round of widespread engagement will take place later in 2019 in order to help create a new system of community-led decision-making that can become integrated into Scottish society.

This was a small sample of only 165 Scottish GPs and of the 43 that said they would leave in the next 5 years over half of them were over the age of 55. There are a variety of reasons why GPs leave the profession. The new GP contract, agreed with the BMA and GPs addresses the concerns raised by the BMA and ensures GPs are able to spend more time with patients and less on bureaucracy, making a career in general practice an even more attractive career choice.

We have committed to increasing GP numbers by at least 800 in the next 10 years and are investing in a package of retention initiatives for GPs who may be considering leaving the profession, including support for GP appraisals, mentoring, coaching and a new Staying in Practice Scheme.

The North of HS2 to Scotland Working Group (comprising representatives from Transport Scotland, the Department for Transport, HS2 Ltd and Network Rail) was set up in 2016 to deliver the Scottish and UK Governments' joint commitment to identify potential infrastructure improvements that could be implemented over the next 10 years to improve the capacity, resilience and journey time on the rail routes between Scotland and England. This Group meets every two months, with the next meeting scheduled for 3 July 2019. The group has been examining options on both the East and West Coast routes to Edinburgh and Glasgow.

The National Planning Board considered the next stage of the proposals for the establishment of a Scottish thrombectomy service at their meeting in May 2019. The proposals have been designed and developed by the Directors of the Planning Thrombectomy Advisory Group and their work is ongoing to design a national plan.

The Board agreed that ensuring the current interventional neuroradiology service has the necessary strong foundations and components in place is a necessary condition for the future provision of a safe and effective specialist thrombectomy service. Given the international shortage of interventional neuro-radiologists, one of the critical elements of a future service is the recruitment and retention of those specialists.

Until the plan is finalised, costs and timescales will not, and cannot be known. However, the Scottish Government has made clear that investment will be made available.