Chamber and committees

Okay. It can be challenging to get clarity on the social care budget because of the way that the money flows between the Government, health services and local government. The Scottish Government committed to increasing spending on social care by 25 per cent over this parliamentary session. Can you remind the committee of the progress that has been made on that?

You have touched on the importance of social care for the whole system. We talk about health and social care separately, but the services are intrinsically linked, particularly from the perspective of patients. Good-quality services in the community often prevent hospital admissions, particularly those that are unscheduled. How does the Scottish Government make decisions about the appropriate balance between money going to social care and money going to other areas of health?

We are thinking about the budget. Will that service reform make it easier to move budgets and move resource into the community?

Are you able to tell the committee how that increase compares with the Barnett consequentials that the Scottish Government has received?

How will the work of the careers collaborative fit into post-school reform plans?

Before we go any further, I should probably say that that is my language. When I ask what is stopping the provision, it is about how it is offered. I do not necessarily think that anyone is being obstructive.

That was my language—do not worry about that.

Thank you. That reassurance is helpful. With the convener’s indulgence, I will move on.

You spoke about geographical and sectoral skills planning and shortages. The Health, Social Care and Sport Committee is pursuing an inquiry into rural healthcare, and a theme that has cropped up a couple of times is the lack of allied health professionals in rural areas. Several professional bodies that have contributed to the inquiry have spoken about the need to adapt the training for those professions and have suggested that earn-as-you-learn apprenticeship-type provision for physiotherapists and other allied health roles would be helpful, because people who already have connections with the rural areas that they are in will have a grounding in the relevant organisations. Those professional bodies identified the universities themselves as the blockers to that provision. Do you have any reflections on what would need to happen to change those types of offerings, so that people in rural areas could progress on those pathways?

I have a brief question about speaking to the existing workforce. The minister gave the example that people in the workforce often know what needs to happen in order to progress. Is there an opportunity to speak to the workforce?

Thank you.