Chamber and committees

Yes.

A number of members want to ask questions on that issue. We will start with Evelyn Tweed.

Paul Sweeney has a final question.

We move to questions on social care inclusion from Paul O’Kane.

Our third item is consideration of the Community Care (Personal Care and Nursing Care) (Scotland) Amendment Regulations 2023. The purpose of the regulations is to increase the value of payments for free personal care and nursing care by 9.5 per cent. This is an annual increase. The policy note states that emerging evidence in recent years shows that the cost of providing personal and nursing care has increased significantly and the payment made to providers by local authorities for self-funding residents has not kept pace with it.

The Delegated Powers and Law Reform Committee considered the regulations at its meeting on 24 January 2023 and made no recommendations in relation to the regulations.

We are now going to have an evidence session with the Minister for Mental Wellbeing and Social Care and supporting officials on the regulations. Once we have had all our questions answered, we will proceed to a formal debate on the motion.

I welcome Kevin Stewart, who is the Minister for Mental Wellbeing and Social Care. Accompanying the minister are Scottish Government officials Marianne Barker, who is the unit head of adult social care charging, and Clare Thomas, who is the policy manager of adult social care charging. Thank you for joining us today.?I invite the minister to make a statement.

My colleagues will ask questions later about the difference between what is happening in the English NHS with regards to the remit of the Patient Safety Commissioner and what is proposed for the Scottish patient safety commissioner.

During your deliberations when deciding on whether to have a patient safety commissioner, were there discussions about alternatives? Was anything discounted or put in the mix that you thought might be a way forward that would not go down the route of creating a patient safety commissioner?

Thank you. That is a helpful starting point. The independence of the commissioner seems to be the paramount reason for taking them out of the system, so that they can be, I suppose, the watchdog of the system, on behalf of patients. It is helpful to know the process and why you came to that conclusion.

Good morning, and welcome to the third meeting in 2023 of the Health, Social Care and Sport Committee. I have received apologies from Tess White.

Before we commence this morning’s meeting, we have a change of membership to inform everyone about. Carol Mochan has left the committee and will be replaced by Paul Sweeney. I thank Carol Mochan for all the work that she has done on the committee in the past couple of years and wish her all the best in whatever is next for her committee-wise.

Our first item today is to welcome Paul Sweeney to the committee and to invite the new member to declare any interests that are relevant to the committee’s remit.

The second item on our agenda is to decide whether to take items 5 and 6 in private. Are members agreed?

Members indicated agreement.

Does Evelyn Tweed want to come back in?