Chamber and committees

The Scottish Government has taken forward a range of measures to support the efficient delivery of Scotland’s Redress Scheme, which is survivor led with feedback encouraged and acted upon.

The scheme was established to provide acknowledgement and tangible recognition of the harm that has been caused to those who experienced abuse in care, with the commitment that it would be less adversarial and swifter than civil court action. The redress payment reflects part of that tangible recognition and is not considered compensation in the same way as a sum awarded by a court.

In direct response to feedback about timescales the number of case workers has increased from 12 in December 2021 to 23 in November 2022, and as a result we will see swifter allocation of completed applications to case workers from January.

The operating model was changed in April 2022 to ensure all applications received are initially triaged by the case work team and applicants are then advised what further information is required to progress their application. With applicants consent, case workers make referrals to the Redress Support Service to progress applications where additional information is required. This can include support from organisations specialised in record searches. To date, 834 referrals have been made to this service.

A group has been established which is considering ways in which we might be able to improve the process of applicants accessing care records as it is recognised that some applicants are having challenges in this area.

The Survivor Forum, which was established in March, has reported on its first survey and feedback on the scheme has been provided to both the Scottish Government and Redress Scotland, the independent decision making body. The forum will also increase its activity and engagement with applicants in early 2023, providing further opportunities to provide feedback on what is working well and what could be done better or differently.

The Scottish Government works closely with the SFC and Scottish Universities on an annual basis to review and deliver sustainable funding for universities and the whole tertiary sector when setting the budget allocation. This flexibility allows the numbers of funded places for eligible students to respond to university and student demands, so that in 2022-23 there are 121,917 full-time equivalent funded places, compared to 115,987 for 2019-20, the last academic year prior to the pandemic.

Scottish Universities are autonomous institutions and as such, with the exception of controlled subjects, the Scottish Government and Government Ministers do not direct individual universities on the number of funded places made available for specific subjects for eligible Scottish and EU domicile students. Universities are allocated a finite amount of money and it is then for the universities themselves to decide: how to distribute these places between faculties; the courses they offer; and how many of the total funded places will be available on each course. To give universities additional flexibility in student recruitment, the Scottish Funding Council allows universities to recruit up to 10% above the number of funded places awarded.

The Scottish Government firmly believes that access to university should be based on the ability to learn and not the ability to pay, however there is a need to exert a level of control over the higher education budget, which means that the number of students able to access a funded place is not unlimited. Our commitment to free tuition means that, unlike elsewhere in the UK, Scottish students studying in Scotland do not incur additional debt of up to £27,750, and average student loan debt for Scottish students is the lowest in the UK.

The Framework for Pain Management Service Delivery – Implementation Plan was published in July 2022 and sets out the actions the Scottish Government are taking to improve care and services for people with chronic pain.

The Implementation Plan acknowledges the importance of specialist pain management services and includes a number of specific actions to improve access and quality of care provided by these services. This includes convening an expert working group to review pathways into specialist care and identify opportunities to share and promote best practice as well as piloting new digital pathways to improve how people access specialist services.

As part of this work it is expected that challenges around staffing of specialist services will also be explored. This activity will also be informed by a new national pain service managers network which will help to identify and prioritise key issues affecting the resilience and quality of specialist pain services, including workforce. In addition, the Scottish Government will publish, for the first time, projections of required workforce growth across health and social care as part of the National Workforce Strategy. Once generated these will be reviewed annually.

There were 2,467 cases of exclusion (temporary or permanent) from publicly funded schools in Scotland during 2020-21 where the reason recorded was either physical assault using improvised weapon, physical assault using weapon or physical assault with no weapon (against either a pupil or staff member). This is down from 4,458 in 2018-19 and 5,374 in 2016-17.

The list of active groups and sub-groups within the Finance and Economy portfolio includes:

• Apprenticeship Approval Group (AAG)
• Business Support Partnership
• Climate Emergency Skills Action Plan - Implementation Steering Group
• Clyde Mission Strategy Group
• Community Wealth Building (CWB) Bill steering Group
• Creative Industries Leadership Group
• Developing the Young Workforce Employers Forum
• Digital Collaborative Governance Group
• Economic Leadership Group
• European Structural and Investment Funds Programme Board
• European Structural and Investment Programme Monitoring Committee
• European Structural and Investment Programme Monitoring Committee Working Group
• European Structural and Information Technology Board
• Financial Services Growth and Development Board
• Flexible Workforce Development Fund Senior Strategic Group
• Foundation Apprenticeship Enhancement Group
• Green Freeports Programme Board
• Industry Leadership Chairs Group
• Innovation Strategy Steering Group
• Input-Output Expert Users Group (IOEUG)
• Lifetime Skills Offer Steering Group
• Life Sciences Scotland Group
• Ministerial Trade Board
• National Strategy for Economic Transformation Delivery Board
• National Strategy for Economic Transformation Portfolio Board
• National Strategy for Economic Transformation Skilled Workforce Programme Board
• Public Sector Network Steering Group
• Regional Economic Policy Advisory Group
• Retail Industry Leadership Group
• Scottish Apprenticeship Advisory Board (SAAB) Group Board
• Scottish Apprenticeship Advisory Board (SAAB) Standards And Frameworks Group
• Scottish Apprenticeship Advisory Board (SAAB) Employer Engagement Group
• Scottish Apprenticeship Advisory Board (SAAB) Employer Equalities Group
• Scottish Apprenticeship Advisory Board (SAAB) Apprentice Engagement Group
• Scottish Business Growth Group
• Scottish Cities Alliance Chief Executive Officers Group
• Scottish Cities Alliance Delivery Group
• Scottish Cities Alliance Leadership Group
• Scottish City Region and Growth Deal Delivery Board
• Scottish Economic Statistics Consultation Group
• Scottish Government and Business Organisations Meeting
• Scottish Government Labour Market Evidence Programme
• Scottish Taskforce for Green and Sustainable Financial Services
• Skills Ministerial Group
• Strategic Leadership Group for Advanced Manufacturing
• Sub-Scotland Economic Statistics Group
• Tourism and Hospitality Industry Leadership Group
• Wellbeing Economy Governments (WEGo)
• Young Persons Guarantee Equalities Subgroup
• Young Persons Guarantee Employer Advisory Group
• Young Persons Guarantee Implementation Planning Group

Please note these groups will be kept under review.

The Heat in Building Strategy shows that including fabric upgrades the estimated average building-level cost of installing a zero emission system, such as an air source heat pump, is just over £12,000. The cost for an individual dwelling can vary depending on the building type, materials, existing levels of energy efficiency and type of heating systems being replaced; and we recognise that retrofit costs for hard-to-treat properties are likely to be higher than the average.

Further analysis of the estimated capital and running costs of zero emissions heating systems has been undertaken as part of the Business and Regulatory Impact Assessment for the Heat in Buildings Strategy, which can be accessed at: Heat in buildings strategy: business and regulatory impact assessment - gov.scot (www.gov.scot) .

We continue to develop the evidence base on the costs of different low and zero emissions heat options suitable to different properties across the Scottish building stock. For example, we are undertaking research to better inform our understanding of the cost of installing energy efficiency measures and replacing direct emissions heating systems in homes. While there is no fixed definition of a HTT home, this research includes traditional tenements and homes off the gas grid. This research is due to complete early next year.

As set out in the answer to S6W-12343 on 5 December there is a range of support available to all properties including for older and hard-to-treat off-gas-grid properties.

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-11865 on 17 November 2022. Our New Build Heat Standard will apply to all new buildings seeking building warrant approval from 1 April 2024, as well as conversions of existing buildings – however, only where certain criteria are met. Installing new zero direct emissions heating systems will reduce the exposure of consumers to the costs associated with volatile fossil fuel prices.

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 .

Caledonian Sleeper is a subsidised Franchise. The Caledonian Sleeper Franchise is of significant social, economic and environmental value to the people of Scotland.

Decisions on non-domestic rates beyond 2022-23, including any reliefs, will be considered in the context of the Scottish Budget and in line with the Framework for Tax, prevailing economic conditions and other government priorities.

The Scottish Government has taken forward a range of measures to support the efficient delivery of Scotland’s Redress Scheme. The delivery of the scheme, in partnership with the independent decision making body Redress Scotland, is survivor led with feedback encouraged and acted upon.

Total numbers of applications to the Scottish Government are in line with modelling done prior to scheme launch. The comparatively higher level of applications submitted in the first few months reflects the large number of survivors who worked tirelessly to see the scheme open.

The scheme is open for five years and recognises the need for applicants to carefully consider their options, at their own pace. The scheme aims to empower applicants by providing information and support in order that they can decide if the scheme is right for them.

As of 31st October 2022, 1756 applications for redress have been received and 277 applications have been passed to Redress Scotland for consideration.

Of the 202 payment offers made, 178 applicants have accepted and payments totalling £8,570,168 have been made to survivors or their next of kin.