Chamber and committees

We set out our commitment to establish an independent taskforce to consider whether the Scottish Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (Scottish SPCA) should be given extra powers to investigate wildlife crime in both the 2021-22 Programme for Government and in our Scottish Government and Scottish Green Party Shared Policy Programme.

The taskforce’s role will include due consideration of the potential implications of any proposed changes to the powers of the Scottish SPCA. The taskforce will report back by the end of 2022.

We will set out the remit of the taskforce in more detail in due course.

Tables 1 and 2 present the number of patients covered by the Treatment Time Guarantee (TTG) waiting within an inpatient or day-case setting by NHS Board at 31 December 2021, and the number waiting over 1, 2 and 3 years for a hip or knee replacement procedure, respectively.

Table 1: Number of patients waiting for a hip replacement procedure 1,2 as an inpatient or day case at 31 st December 2021, broken down by NHS Board of treatment and length of wait.

The Scottish Government is resolute in its continuing commitment to the Act and its principles. A successful Implementation will only be achieved through the co-production of the relevant stakeholders. Their focus has naturally been on responding to the challenges presented by the pandemic.

As services remobilise we are re-engaging with stakeholders to ensure implementation takes account of the learning developed during the pandemic and recognises the new environment within which services will now operate.

NHS 24 aims to provide high standards of care and despite the substantial increase in demand placed on the Service by the outbreak of COVID-19, NHS 24 continues to provide a highly effective, safe triage system to the people of Scotland.

As a result of this increased demand, and changes to service delivery, we have increased funding to NHS 24 by over £20m this year for additional recruitment and the addition of a new call centre in Dundee, which opened in December 2021.

This is supporting the additional recruitment of 575 full time equivalent call handlers and 140 full time equivalent clinicians to date, including through the recently established 24/7 mental health hub.

Calls to the 111 Service can be abandoned for a variety of reasons, including telephony providers ending calls after a period of time or patients choosing to end the call after being connected and hearing the options available to them. These include accessing self-care advice via NHS Inform, or contacting another area of the health service better placed to meet their needs.

NHS 24 is undertaking a piece of work to evaluate abandoned calls and determine how many of these callers are accessing other advice/support as directed and how many are re-dialling the Service after their call has been cut off by telephony providers or they have hung up the call. This will involve working closely with telephony provider and significant engagement with callers to the Service and will help the Service reduce instances of abandoned calls.

We will commission and support the Understanding Scottish Places (USP) consortium to review evaluation and data needs and share that understanding so that local partners can develop solutions that respond to the local circumstances.

In addition, the approach adopted via the Scotland Loves Local programme works with local partners to shape local opportunities that encourage and motivate people to change behaviours by thinking local first and supporting their local businesses and communities.

The independent review of the 2013 Town Centre Action Plan, A New future for Scotland’s Town Centres, was commissioned by Scottish Ministers and published in February 2021. We are working collaboratively with COSLA and partners to respond to the review with a revised action plan which will be published later in the spring, subject to approval from Ministers and COSLA.

The Scottish Government is establishing a group to help identify potential place demonstrator projects, including in towns and town centres, as part of our 5 year £325 million Place-Based Investment Programme.

The duty to ensure compliance with the new legislation on interlinked fire alarms in domestic properties rests with local authorities. The legislation provides flexibility for people to fit the necessary alarms in due course if they have been unable to do so by the February 2022 deadline.

The Scottish Government published a joint statement with COSLA on 21 January, which set out that local authorities will be taking a proportionate and measured approach to compliance taking individual circumstances into account as well as reflecting the evolving situation with the COVID-19 pandemic. No one will be criminalised if they need more time and there are no penalties for non-compliance.

People who are experiencing financial hardship may be receiving, or be eligible for, a range of financial support services (both direct and in-kind), and the nature and amount of support will depend on individual circumstances. Therefore it is not possible to make a meaningful estimate of what would be required in terms of additional support to bring all those below the poverty threshold above that threshold.

Scottish Government recognise the positive contribution older people make to their communities and are committed to ensuring that people are financially secure and supported as they age. Fairness and human rights remain at the heart of the Scottish Government’s approach as we work to keep older people safe, cared for and connected, with access to the essentials they need, with funding of over £1.3 million to organisations who are directly supporting the needs of older people during the Covid pandemic, including funding for helplines, food distribution and keeping people connected.

The SSSC has been administering Postgraduate Bursaries on behalf of Scottish Government since 2004. Funding of £2,655m each year is provided to support up to 300 students undertake the postgraduate course in social work.

A review of the scheme was undertaken by SSSC in 2021 to widen access to eligible postgraduate students. In response to Covid -19 Scottish Government approved a Hardship Fund for postgraduate social work students in May 2020. The fund remains in place.

As part of the 2021 Manifesto Commitments, the Scottish Government committed to undertake a review into the funding provision for postgraduate students. The review will be led by SAAS and areas for exploration are in the early development stages and therefore I cannot confirm at this stage what courses will be considered as part of the review.