Chamber and committees

The Scottish Children’s Reporter Administration (SCRA) is responsible for the recording of data relating to children and young people in the Children’s Hearings System. Official Statistics, published annually, are available on the SCRA website https://www.scra.gov.uk/ , and include the number of children referred to SCRA each year, and the number of children on a compulsory supervision order.

The Scottish Government is committed to ensuring that everyone living with respiratory conditions, including asthma, receives the best possible care and treatment to enable them to live longer, healthier, and independent lives.

In March last year we published the first Respiratory Care Action Plan for Scotland, that sets out our priorities and commitments for driving improvement in prevention, diagnosis, care, treatment and support for people living with respiratory conditions such as asthma. One of the priorities for year one of the Plan is improving access to meaningful respiratory data. This will enable us to understand where people’s needs are not being met and inform service improvements, allowing us to better explore any areas of concern.

Asthma + Lung UK were involved in the development of the Plan and are members of our national advisory committee, the Scottish Respiratory Advisory Committee, that has been established to oversee the Plan implementation. We are working closely with them and other key stakeholders, including clinicians and our newly formed Lived Experience Network, to develop an implementation programme.

Women’s health is a key priority for this government. Our Women’s Health Plan, published in August 2021, underpins actions to address health inequalities by raising awareness around women’s health, to improve access to health care for women across their life course and to reduce inequalities in health outcomes for girls and women.

We recognise the importance of increasing knowledge to ensure that adequate treatment and care is provided for people with neurological conditions.

Over 5 years of implementing the Neurological Care and Support – National Framework for Action 2020-25 we will allocate £4.5 million in total to improve the care of people with neurological conditions. To date, £2.2 million funding has been awarded to 37 innovative projects across the statutory and third sectors, which seek to improve neurological care and support services. A significant number of these have involved providing support and training to healthcare professionals.

Activity delivered directly by Scottish Government includes a jointly-organised Anticipatory Care Planning (ACP) webinar with Healthcare Improvement Scotland in August 2021 on how the principles of good ACP can be adapted for neurological conditions. The webinar was attended by over 250 individuals, the majority clinical staff, including nurses, allied healthcare professionals and healthcare support workers.

We established a Redesign Project Group in January 2021, as a subgroup of the Scottish Government’s National Advisory Committee for Neurological Conditions. The group developed and published guidance for healthcare professionals working in neurology on the appropriate use of video, telephone and face to face outpatient appointments. This was accompanied by a webinar for healthcare professionals.

This information regarding nursing roles is not held centrally.

I refer the member to the answer to question S6W-08462 on 23 May 2022. 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 Firth of Clyde cod spawning closure took place from 14 February to 30 April. During my appearance at the RAINE Committee on 9 March I committed Marine Scotland officials to meet with stakeholders after the closure both to hear their thoughts on how it has worked from their perspective and for Marine Scotland to report on activities observed from their part and this meeting will take place in the coming weeks.

The Scottish Government continues to monitor the impact of policy decisions on the economy and the environment and in the spirit of co-management will work alongside all relevant stakeholders for a more sustainable West of Scotland cod stock.

Any proposal to extend a contract for a private sector prison would be at odds with Scottish Government policy that prisons should be owned and operated by the public sector. In addition, an extension to an existing PFI contract would not be permissible under procurement regulations. The proposal which was made would have provided additional accommodation at a cost to the public sector.

In 2021-22, the Scottish Government funded NHS 24 £2,372,209 to support the delivery of Breathing Space, a free, confidential phone and web based service for people in Scotland experiencing low mood, depression or anxiety.

The Scottish Government recognise that demand for mental health support from NHS 24 continues to be high, that is why a significant investment of nearly £5 million was made from the Recovery and Renewal fund in 2021-22 to support the NHS 24 Mental Health Hub.

The Mental Health Hub is available for any individual calling the 111 service seeking support for their wellbeing and mental health, or if they are in distress, 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

Breathing Space and the Mental Health Hub will continue to support people experiencing mental health impacts as a result of the cost-of-living crisis as spending plans are developed and agreed with NHS Boards through the usual channels.

The Scottish Government is aware of the pressures impacting on all sectors.

The National Care Home Contract determines the rates paid for residential care by Local Authorities. This is negotiated annually by COSLA, Scottish Care and Scotland Excel, the Scottish Government is not a contractual party to this agreement. However we are aware that the cost of living crisis was discussed and an agreement was reached to recognise some of the pressures.

To support care homes to recruit and retain staff we have funded an increase in the minimum hourly rate for those providing direct Adult Social Care rose to £10.50 p/h. This represents an increase 12.9% for these workers in the course of a year.

Additionally by the end of this Parliament we will have budgeted over £800m of increased annual support for social care compared to current spending. We continue to provide NHS Boards and Integration Authorities with the funding they require to meet the cost of responding to the pandemic, which comes on top of the £1.7bn already provided to Health Boards and Health and Social Care Partnerships in 2020-21.

In keeping with its original purpose, the Communities Mental Health and Wellbeing Fund is supporting grassroots community-based initiatives across Scotland which promote good mental health and wellbeing. Managed locally by Third Sector Interface (TSI) bodies, the Fund is aimed at tackling priority issues such as suicide prevention, social isolation and loneliness, prevention and early intervention and addressing the mental health inequalities exacerbated by the pandemic. This includes a particular focus on the needs of ‘at risk’ target groups including women, people from a minority ethnic background, people facing socio-economic disadvantage and older people, amongst others.

Nearly 2000 awards have been given to community projects through Year 1 of the Fund. Early data shows that projects are being funded across the whole of Scotland, supporting a wide range of community activities involving sport, nature, outdoor initiatives, the arts, community cafes and choirs, with a large proportion of these focused on prevention, social isolation and loneliness. Projects being funded include activities which are open to all; whilst many others are focused on the needs of the ‘at risk’ target groups outlined above. Key themes have emerged among projects, such as building community and interpersonal links, often by facilitating discussion or activities and providing space and support.

Officials are currently compiling a monitoring report on year 1 of the Fund, which will be published in June. The report, based on monitoring data provided by each TSI, will give a detailed breakdown of the type of projects funded, key themes and groups targeted by projects, organisation types, and a wide range of illustrative examples of projects funded across Scotland.

Some examples include:

? Avenue Confidential, in Aberdeenshire, who provide Family Wellbeing Groups for parents affected by relationship challenges. These cover topics such as: self-care; healthy communication; blended families; children’s wellbeing; and recognising the impact of trauma in oneself and others.

? The Cactus Book Club, in Aberdeenshire, who are launching a book club for 16-26 year olds who are isolated due to their health. This group is often overlooked and it is a difficult age to be isolated. The club will address loneliness and anxiety about the future and will offer members the chance to feel included.

? The Third Level Foundation, in Aberdeen City, who are running weekly workshops for family members affected by someone with Borderline Personality Disorder. The workshops will cover a range of topics to improve mental health and wellbeing for all.

? The Bridge, in Aberdeen City, who have increased their capacity to run ‘Link Friends’ which arranges for volunteers to visit and arrange phone calls to older people facing isolation. Funding enables increased staff time and facilitates more volunteer work.