Chamber and committees

Social Security Scotland recognises that clients can have complex and varied accessibility needs. Letters are available in a number of different languages and formats, including Braille, easy read and large print.

Before letters are changed to an alternative format, all letters are created using standard templates, in line with the Social Security Scotland style guide.

The Social Security Scotland style guide provides guidance on plain English terms and inclusive language for commonly used technical terms, such as using “benefit” or “award” over “assistance.”

Letter templates are designed using the Social Security Scotland style guide and Digital Scotland Service Standard. Templates are tested throughout the design cycle and aim to meet a Flesch Reading Ease of between 70 to 80, equivalent to school grade level 8 or reading age 9 - 11 years.

Social Security Scotland use accessible fonts, colours, and formatting options such as headings and lists to set out blocks of text for ease of reading.

Social Security Scotland work with external service providers who deliver translation services and letters in Braille and large print, in line with industry standards by following UK Association for Accessible Formats guidelines, which is the standard for UK transcribed documents.

We continue to review Scotland’s AI Strategy to keep pace with changes and growth in technology. This is why, in 2023, I commissioned an independent review into Scotland’s approach to AI which was published last year. AI+Independent+Review+-+Call+for+Views+-+Initial+Report+-+Advancing+AI+for+Scotland+-+Reformatted+-+January+2024.pdf. Since then, the AI Alliance has re-focussed priority areas into three pillars of work which include empowering people, supporting business and AI adoption in the public sector. As Scotland’s 2021 AI Strategy states: The Alliance will evolve. Scottish Government will continue to review performance of the strategy and adapt to create sustainable growth and continued innovation.

The Scottish Government has written to NHS Scotland Boards noting the closure of the Managed Voluntary Register previously operated by the Faculty of Physician Associates and encouraging the early registration of Physician Associates (PAs) with the General Medical Council following the introduction of statutory regulation of the role in December 2024.

The Scottish Government continues to engage regularly with the PA workforce, including through dialogue with the Scottish Physician Associate Network which is represented on our national Medical Associate Professionals Programme Board.

Four Scottish Government civil servants are working on delivering the actions set out in the Artificial intelligence strategy: trustworthy, ethical and inclusive.

Public bodies are reviewed quarterly as part of the Scottish Government’s Assurance cycle to ensure they are operating efficiently and effectively.

One of the key aims of our Public Service Reform (PSR) programme is to drive efficiency and effectiveness across government and public bodies, making sure we have the public body landscape to deliver the services the people of Scotland need. As part of this, we have commissioned data on expenditure on corporate functions to identify where there is duplication and are working with public bodies to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of our services.

The Scottish Government’s policy is that any new public body should only be set up as a last resort and after consideration of all other delivery mechanisms has been exhausted. The Ministerial Control Framework ensures any Scottish Government proposal to establish a new public body is based on evidence and value for money, with approval from Cabinet before any decision is made.

The Scottish Government is supportive of a gradual and carefully managed expansion of physician associate (PA) and anaesthesia associate (AA) roles, underpinned by robust evidence of the benefit that can be derived from these roles in specific settings and contexts.

In order to achieve this, we have established a national Programme Board to advise on key aspects of the roles and NHS Scotland’s approach to their deployment. This work builds on action already undertaken to introduce statutory regulation of the roles which we consider is vital for patient safety. GMC regulation has, for the first time, introduced UK-wide standards for education, training and professional practice with meaningful consequences when these are not met.

The implementation of regulation has not prevented physician associates (or anaesthesia associates) who are currently practising from continuing to do so, nor has it prevented NHS Boards or other employers from designing services around, and recruiting to, these professional groups.

As set out in Section 19(1)(b) of the Anaesthesia Associates and Physician Associates Order 2024, from December 2026 it will be an offence to practise as a PA or AA in the UK without holding registration with the General Medical Council (GMC).

Surgical Care Practitioners, also a Medical Associate Profession, are not regulated by the GMC.

The information requested on how many (a) physician associate and (b) other medical associate profession roles were recruited by NHS Scotland in 2023-24 is not centrally held. Information on how many whole-time equivalent physician associates and other medical associates are in post can be found on the TURAS NHS Education for Scotland workforce statistics site at: NHS Scotland workforce | Turas Data Intelligence.

The Scottish Government does not hold this information.

The Scottish Government continues to identify opportunities to remove unnecessary duplication across the public bodies landscape.

In July 2024, public bodies were asked to provide information to identify opportunities for delivering services in alternative ways and to increase efficiencies across corporate functions. A report of the findings from this commission was published on 15 November 2024, and can be found at Public Bodies Expenditure: Supplementary Report of Data Commission - gov.scot.

A key strand of the Public Service Reform (PSR) programme is to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of our public services for the people of Scotland. As part of this, we continue to engage with public bodies to progress the programme and deliver long term fiscal sustainability.