Chamber and committees

Funding for local authorities is provided by the Scottish Government through the General Revenue Grant. It is the responsibility of individual local authorities to manage their own budgets and to allocate the total financial resources available to them, including on school clothing grants, on the basis of local needs and priorities.

In recent years the Scottish Government has added a further £13.9 million to support local authorities to provide eligible families with the national minimum amount of school clothing grant, as per our joint agreement with them.

As local authorities are responsible for setting their own eligibility criteria for the school clothing grant, we do not hold information centrally about the percentage of families who will be eligible to receive the school clothing grant, and the number of grants we anticipate will be paid.

Information about the number of children and young people who receive school clothing grants and the expenditure involved is provided within the annual Scottish Local Government Financial Statistics returns, which I have referred to in my answer to question S6W-28873 on 14 August 2024. The answer to this question contains information about school clothing grant expenditure in the five most recent financial years for which this information is available.

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 Scottish Government does not hold information specifically on the number of e-bike thefts as the data we receive from Police Scotland is a general count of the number of crimes and offences recorded by the police, split by local authority.

Depending on the circumstances of any given case, such as how an e-bike was stolen or it’s spec, there are a number of different crime classifications that might be used by the police (for example Theft of a Pedal Cycle, Theft of a Motor Vehicle, Robbery etc.). As such, it is not possible to identify within the Recorded Crime statistics how many of the cases involve an e-bike being stolen.

Financial support for travel to hospital appointments is available to patients and authorised escorts, according to eligibility criteria and medical requirements. The Scottish Government provides the overall guidance to NHS Boards on reimbursement of patient travel costs and Boards are responsible for setting and applying local policy.

Where travel is necessary, Boards are expected to support patients to identify and access support available, taking account individual circumstances and ensuring patient care is at the centre of all decisions made.

Where a patient is eligible for assistance with travel costs, claims should normally be ratified and reimbursed within 1 to 2 weeks, allowing time for the claim and supporting documentation to be reviewed. Where assistance is required with upfront costs, Health Boards can make bookings on behalf of eligible patients and this should be discussed with the relevant Health Board as part of the overall treatment arrangements.

In January 2024 we implemented a national policy for the reimbursement of electricity costs for home dialysis patients to address inconsistencies across Health Boards where some fully reimburse electricity costs, and others provide partial reimbursement or none at all. Boards are expected to proactively identify eligible patients and ensure electricity costs for eligible patients are reimbursed promptly. A review of implementation is currently underway and a further update will be provided in Autumn 2024.

The Scottish Government is committed to ensuring that all people living in Scotland with long-term conditions including chronic kidney disease, are able to access the best possible care and support, and benefit from healthcare services that are safe, effective and put people at the centre of their care.

Financial support for travel to hospital appointments is available to patients and authorised escorts, according to eligibility criteria and medical requirements. Where travel is necessary, Boards are expected to support patients to identify and access support available, taking account individual circumstances and ensuring patient care is at the centre of all decisions made.

In January 2024 we implemented a national policy for the reimbursement of electricity costs for home dialysis patients to address inconsistencies across Health Boards where some fully reimburse electricity costs, and others provide partial reimbursement or none at all. Boards are expected to proactively identify eligible patients and make reimbursement. A review of implementation is currently underway and a further update will be provided in Autumn 2024.

Recruitment and training of registered mental health professionals is a matter for employers such as NHS boards and Local Authorities. These bodies make informed decisions about recruiting counsellors and psychotherapists or training new mental health practitioners, according to the needs of local service providers and working with relevant professional bodies. The Scottish Government expects employers to apply standards and frameworks which are appropriate to the specialism being recruited for.

In September 2023, we published Mental Health Core Standards, initially applying to adult secondary mental health services. These outline national expectations to boards regarding staffing levels and appropriate skills.

This information is not held by the Scottish Government.

As at the end of July 2024, 98 applications to the reopened Independent Living Fund have been received. Of these, eight have completed all steps of the application process and are now in payment. The total annual value of these awards in payment is £162,446, and £7,443 has been paid out to new recipients so far.

Scottish Government welcomes the comments of the British Dental Association Scotland that the new system represents an improvement on the previous Statement of Dental Renumeration.

Official statistics published by Public Health Scotland on 28 May 2024 show that in the quarter ending 31 March 2024, over 1 million patient contacts were delivered by NHS dentists and there were three quarters of a million free at the point of use enhanced examinations.

This is indicative that Scottish Government intervention is supporting patient access to care.Ongoing assessment of the sector will provide information to support any future interventions, in particular around equality.

The Scottish Government continues to work closely with Skills Development Scotland (SDS) and the Scottish Funding Council (SFC) to maximise apprenticeship opportunities and ensure that employers wishing to take on an apprentice are supported and able to do so.

Scottish Government investment will support up to 25,500 new Modern Apprenticeship starts in 2024-25 and continue to provide support for more than 38,500 apprentices already in training.

For Graduate Apprenticeships (GA), SFC have published their indicative funding allocation for universities, which includes provision for up to 1,378 GA in academic year 2024-25. In addition, we have committed to fund up to 5,000 Foundation Apprenticeships in 2024-25.

No consulting firm has been hired or paid to oversee the implementation of the Best Start programme for maternity and neonatal care. The Best Start Implementation Programme Board (IPB), Chaired by Jane Grant, Chief Executive of NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde was established in June 2017 to guide the implementation of The Best Start: A Five-Year Plan for Maternity and Neonatal Care in Scotland.

Members of the IPB are drawn from NHSScotland, third sector organisations, Partnership and Royal Colleges. Members are not paid; however, third sector representative have been reimbursed for travel expenses.