Chamber and committees

Good morning. You mentioned that the budget for social care support and NCS delivery has increased by 29.1 per cent this year. I am sure that the Scottish Government would acknowledge, as the committee does, the pressures that are on social care budgets in relation to recruitment and retention of staff, which you mentioned, and commissioning.

The committee has heard calls that it would be best to invest money and energy in tackling front-line pressures on core services. To what extent do the use of eligibility criteria and the four SDS options remain useful to us in understanding how social care operates in Scotland and, more importantly, in ensuring that it is delivered equitably?

Good morning, convener. I have no relevant interests to declare. I am very much looking forward to contributing to the work of the committee.

Good morning, and thanks for your contributions so far.

Most of my questions are for you, Mr McCart, and are around the national collaboration and the learning-based approach to improvement. We have heard a bit about that this morning, but could you define what a learning-based approach to improvement is?

Kind of. When my colleagues and I talk about these systems, it is not an abstract thing for us, as we will often have in mind specific constituents who have perhaps been failed, sometimes with tragic consequences. For me, the most important question is: when will citizens who are in receipt of or in need of this support see changes as a result of that improvement work? What is the timeframe?

It might be helpful to say what appreciative inquiry is.

To what extent can the committee be assured that health and social care partnerships and local authorities have access to support for improvement work?

Is that work accessible to people who are delivering services on the ground?

In some ways, this is quite a difficult question to frame so, if I may, I will just be direct. David Williams, is it correct to say that the decision on how to structure a health and social care partnership is a political one?

We have heard quite a lot this morning about systems and things from the perspective of those who deliver support to citizens. We spoke about accounting rules, stuff around eligibility criteria and performance that can get in the way of that innovative way of working. If we were to ask one of your citizens who is receiving support about your system, what do you think that they would say was in need of changing? What would they say should change to make services fairer, more equitable and better for them?

Thank you. Do any panel members who are online wish to come in?