Chamber and committees

We published our Respiratory Care Action Plan for Scotland in March 2021. Since its publication we have established the Scottish Respiratory Advisory Committee (SRAC) to provide governance and oversight of the Plan implementation.

The SRAC held their first meeting in October of last year, at which, the SRAC agreed three initial priority areas for the first year of implementation. These are: pulmonary rehabilitation, data and child to adult transition services. Sub-groups have been established for each of these priority areas with membership comprising of clinical experts and third sector.

Each of the sub-groups have held their first meeting with further meetings taking place ahead of the SRAC in July. We are continuing to work with the SRAC to identify further commitments in the Plan that can begin to be progressed.

We have also funded The Alliance to launch a Respiratory lived experience network, in order to ensure that the experiences of those living with respiratory conditions are taken into account when delivering the commitments in the RCAP. The Respiratory Network was launched on 14 December 2021. The Network is represented on each of the sub-groups and the Alliance is currently working with sub-group members to determine the first pieces of work it will take to the Network. The Alliance is also in the process of expanding the Network’s membership to target groups specifically affected by the sub-groups’ focuses.

The Gourock – Dunoon ferry service was incorporated into the Clyde and Hebrides Ferry Services (CHFS) network from 21 January 2019 and therefore integrated as part of the monthly subsidy paid to the operator, CalMac Ferries Ltd (CFL). The subsidy is not split out on a route by route basis.

The Gourock - Kilcreggan service, was operated by Clyde Marine Services (CMS) on behalf of Strathclyde Partnership Transport (SPT) until 31 May 2020 when it transferred into the Clyde & Hebrides Ferry Service (CHFS) contract.

Reasons for train cancellations week beginning 16 May 2022 included driver shortages, trespass onto the tracks, fleet issues, signalling issues, points failures and other track faults. The following table provides the data for ScotRail service cancellations, week beginning 16 May 2022, for Glasgow Central station:-

The Scottish Government acknowledges Alzheimer Scotland’s 2019 Fair Dementia Care report – referenced in the Chief Executive of Scottish Care’s article in the Herald - which claimed that people with dementia are paying care costs amounting to approximately £50m per annum, with approximately £49m of those care costs related to residential care charges.

Adults who have been assessed as requiring personal care do not pay for this service, regardless of their condition or means. Nursing care is also of course free at the point of delivery. The Local Authority normally pays the free personal and nursing care for self-funding care home residents assessed as needing them directly to the care home provider.

The Scottish Government has increased Free Personal and Nursing Care payments above inflation for the last two consecutive years to recognise the increasing cost of care. For 2022-23 these rates are set at £212.85 per week for personal care and £95.80 per week for nursing care.

The Scottish Government appreciates that the costs of residential care can be high. Everybody in a care home, whether publically funded or self-funded, will pay a contribution to the cost of their care. The amount that they pay will be based on their individual financial circumstances. If a person has capital over the upper capital limit they will be classed as self-funding their own care. When a person is self-funding their care the amount that they pay to the care home is a contractual matter between them and the care home provider. This agreement is protected by consumer protection laws.

We recognise that the Fair Dementia Care report also focusses on the quality of and access to appropriate healthcare. We are committed to improving outcomes for residents in care home including those with dementia and cognitive impairment. We are going to publish a Healthcare framework in June which will provide a series of recommendations that aim to transform healthcare by full integrating the health and social care system that wraps around care homes. Critical to this will be a multi-disciplinary work approach that is pro-active and coordinated. The framework is not confined to ‘clinical’ provision or ‘clinical’ models of care, as it is recognised the health and wellbeing of someone living in a care home is influenced by a wide range of factors including, friends, family and the local environment.

The framework is an important step to change as we transition towards the National Care Service.

The Scottish Government is committed to ensuring that women can access abortion services safely and without fear of intimidation or harassment.

The Scottish Government is commissioning independent research which will provide evidence of protests and vigils. Gillian Mackay MSP has launched a consultation on buffer zones, and the Scottish Government asks anyone with an interest to respond.

We also continue to encourage hospitals and clinics to report protests and vigils as they happen to Police Scotland to ensure they are dealt with in an appropriate manner.

The First Minister is hosting a summit on abortions on 27 June, and an invitation has been offered to the Scottish Trade Union Congress.

In addition to this, Scottish Government has publically stated that it will work constructively with Gillian Mackay MSP on her forthcoming Member’s Bill on buffer zones. Prior to the launch of her consultation, Ms Mackay met with trade unions to discuss her proposal. Ms Mackay also met with myself and the my working group, to discuss her proposal and seek the views of members.

The Scottish Government has no plans to introduce legislation to restrict a property factor business’ ability to own 50% or more of residential buildings.

Legislation to restrict ownership of property to particular categories of business or individual would raise fundamental property right issues.

There are also no plans for the Scottish Government to introduce legislation to ensure that homeowners retain decision-making rights rather than property factor companies.

In tenements, owners have the right to vote to make decisions on the commonly owned areas of their property regardless of whether they own one property or numerous properties. Procedures on voting are laid down in title deeds or, where these are unclear, unworkable or non-existent, then the default provisions of the Tenement Management Scheme (TMS) under schedule 1 of the Tenements (Scotland) Act 2004 will be followed. Under the TMS a majority is required for undertaking repairs and maintenance. A unanimous decision from owners is required for undertaking improvements unless reasonably incidental to the maintenance.

We are aware of the global issues affecting construction which are impacting the pace of affordable housing delivery and we are working closely with the construction industry and housing partners to mitigate this where possible. Given these are global issues, largely outwith our control, it is impossible to quantify the extent of any current delays and when we may return to a more normal pace of delivery.

Despite these challenges and those caused by the global pandemic including necessary lockdowns, we are continuing to deliver affordable homes across Scotland, including accessible homes for social rent. Official statistics recently published show that we have now reached the previous 50,000 affordable homes target and have started on our ambitious plans to deliver a further 110,000 affordable homes by 2032, having already delivered 1,119 affordable homes towards this.

Reasons for train cancellations week beginning 16 May 2022 included driver shortages, trespass onto the tracks, fleet issues, signalling issues, points failures and other track faults. The following table provides the data for cancellations, week beginning 16 May 2022, for Newton station:-

Agricultural workers from Ukraine are critical in the production of soft fruit and vegetables in Scotland. As a result of the conflict, there are significant concerns about the needs of these workers and JustRight Scotland's new Worker Support Centre, supported by £41,000 from the Scottish Government will provide independent outreach and legal support for seasonal workers in Scotland. The Centre follows models used around the world to offer temporary migrant workers advice and support in times of crisis. In addition, The Scottish Government also funds the Royal Scottish Agricultural Benevolent Institution (RSABI) which has long-established connections to the wider agricultural community and related support services in Scotland.