Chamber and committees

We know that the global pandemic and the lockdowns implemented to restrict the spread of the virus have had significant impact on many people with learning disabilities who were unable to access the support and community connections that they usual rely upon.

Assessments were carried out before any measure were put in place, to ensure this was the appropriate action to save lives, and during and after the restriction period to assess the impact on people’s mental health.

We have been working with partners and those with lived experience to deliver our Learning/Intellectual Disabilities and Autism: Towards Transformation Plan, which was published in March 2021. This includes actions to shape supports, services and attitudes to ensure that the human rights of people with learning disabilities are respected and protected and that they are empowered to live their lives, the same as everyone else.

We fund the Scottish Learning Disability Observatory (SLDO) to carry out research, including on the impact of the pandemic. We will continue to work closely with the SLDO to fully understand the actions required to address the research findings.

The Scottish Government and COSLA are engaging via a new leadership and engagement framework that puts people’s voices and experiences firmly at its heart. The first topic chosen by people with lived experience was mental health, following the impact of the pandemic. People with a learning disability have conducted their own peer research, including accounts of how the pandemic affected them and their families. They are currently progressing solutions and improvements based on their experiences.

We have also commissioned Healthcare Improvement Scotland to gather and provide insights into different approaches to the redesign of learning disability day services in recognition of the challenges the COVID-19 pandemic has created. In October 2020, the New Models of Learning Disability Day Support Collaborative was launched. The collaborative works with Health and Social Care Partnerships to develop their current service provision in line with Keys to Life outcomes whilst taking into account learning from working through the pandemic.

We have sought information both on the substance of the UK Government’s policy and on its proposed approach to discussing a possible model for Scotland: we await clarity on both fronts.

As noted in my response of 3 November 2022, for survivor privacy reasons, given the small number of applications which have been determined in which NHS Scotland Boards are named, we cannot provide a further breakdown to the level of individual organisation as this would not be appropriate at this time.

NHS Scotland Boards contribution to Scotland’s Redress Scheme is a collective contribution on behalf of all 22 NHS Boards and NHS Scotland Boards have committed to pay an agreed proportion of all relevant cases. This is noted on Scotland’s Redress Scheme: contributor list, which also details NHS Scotland Boards joining Scotland’s Redress Scheme on 23 May 2022.

There are agreed financial arrangements in place between Scottish Government and NHS Scotland Boards to ensure NHS budgets are adjusted accordingly to account for any relevant Redress Payments.

Discussions with the UK Government on possible Investment Zones remain at an exploratory stage: but we have been clear that any Investment Zones in Scotland would have to be the right fit for Scotland’s economy, reflect our policy and governance landscape, and respect the devolution settlement, in particular in relation to planning and environmental protection. The UK Government is currently reviewing its policy, and we await further information.

No Scottish Government guarantees were in place.

IJBs were given a funding allocation in 2021-22 to support a range of Covid pressures. This was a ring fenced allocation specifically for Covid.

There have been a number of significant changes to Public Health policies in relation to Covid over the summer, resulting in the profile of Covid spend reducing significantly compared to when funding was provided to IJBs.

In response to this, we communicated the action to reclaim surplus Covid reserves to be redistributed across the sector to meet current Covid priorities. We will continue to work with IJBs to understand their financial forecasts and further detail will be communicated later in the financial year. The detail will follow at an IJB level and the process and timetable will follow through further communications.

The Scottish Government recognises the importance of day services to adults with learning disabilities, their families and carers. Decisions about individual services are made by local authorities. However, the Scottish Government maintains regular contact with local authorities to encourage and support the re-opening of services. The Cabinet Secretary for Health and Social Care wrote to all local authorities and Health and Social Care partnerships on 25th May 2022 requesting that they undertake a survey of registered day centre services in their area with a view to identifying which services have re-opened, which have only partially opened (or opened with reduced capacity), and why. The purpose of this was to gain insight into the challenges around re-opening and capacity to inform the development of Scottish Government policy advice and guidance.

The findings from the survey identified that Covid-19 restrictions such as physical distancing, which were in place at the time were a barrier to services returning to full capacity. Covid-19 guidance for building-based day services was updated in both May and September and there is no longer a requirement for physical distancing between services users or staff. The survey also identified challenges in relation to the workforce. These exist across social care and work is under way to improve recruitment to the sector. This has included funding to extend the Myjobscotland website, the creation of a recruitment portal with the Scottish Social Services Council (SSSC), and working with Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) colleagues to host a series of social care job fairs across Scotland.

The survey will be repeated in November 2022 in order to establish how much progress has been made towards increasing capacity since the original survey was undertaken.

This would be an operational matter for Scottish Enterprise and is subject to the formal administration process.

The Scottish Government is actively considering its response to the Empire, Slavery and Scotland's Museums steering group recommendations. Discussions to help inform our response are continuing with, amongst others, representatives from Museums Galleries Scotland, and members of the steering group themselves, to make sure the complexities and challenges involved are fully understood. After these discussions have concluded, a formal response will be issued in due course.

The safety and wellbeing of all fire and rescue officers is of upmost importance to the Scottish Government.

As the employer of firefighters in Scotland, the FBU DECON campaign is a matter for the Scottish Fire and Rescue Service. SFRS has been engaged with this research for a number of years and met with Professor Anna Stec of the University of Central Lancashire on 1 November to hear directly of the important research she is doing and to offer SFRS cooperation on that work.

SFRS have a Management of Contaminants Group which has already made significant changes in procedures, equipment and facilities to reduce firefighter contact with equipment which could contain contaminants harmful to health and this important work will continue.