Chamber and committees

I am seeking assurances on how you will give farmers the confidence that the SSI will not fail to support less favoured areas and new entrant farmers. How can we convey that the Government’s interest is in continuity, stability and certainty—all the words that we have been hearing—to deal with the Brexit cliff edge? What is the best way to convey to farmers that the regulations will just continue the current situation so that there is no cliff edge?

I have a couple of questions about the creation of a national chief social work adviser and a national social work agency. The Care Inspectorate seems to support the approach that is being taken by the Scottish Government, saying:

“We believe placing the role of the National Social Work Agency and National Chief Social Work Adviser on a statutory footing recognises the unique role of social work and will ensure it is given due parity and prominence within the National Care Service.”

I know that Social Work Scotland will be giving evidence as part of the next panel of witnesses, but I am interested in your views on those proposals. What role do you envisage those bodies playing in support of the profession and social work services?

Would a national social work agency address issues that the previous panel of witnesses raised about how we need to work not just with social workers but with allied health professionals, occupational therapists and physiotherapists? We had a conversation about reablement the last time that we spoke. How would a national social work agency help to develop better partnerships and relationships with our allied health professionals?

Would that be the difference between an executive agency and a non-departmental public body?

Good morning. There are 25 pages of amendments to the bill. In section 17, in part 4, chapter 2 of the marked-up version of the bill, there are a load of subsections about membership of the board. I want to pick up Keir Greenaway’s point about people who should be represented on the board. One of the subsections refers to an individual being

“appointed on the basis that the Scottish Ministers believe that the individual will make an important contribution to the Board’s work on account of the individual’s being, or having been, a carer within the meaning given”

by the relevant section. Therefore, there is already a proposal for carers to be part of the membership of the board.

I am interested in the fact that this is a framework bill with a co-design process, on which work has started already. Does the membership of the board need to be clarified further? Should the bill be amended to state that the board should include a union representative, for instance?

The language needs to be clarified, to ensure that the individual represents the wider workforce in the care sector.

It has been quite interesting to hear the different opinions so far. I want to pick up on what Frank Reilly said about social workers leaving in droves.

Would having a national social work agency and creating a national social work lead help to address that in terms of looking at leadership, at education and at flattening the hierarchy on the ground to make sure that social workers know who the leadership is? In my experience as a registered nurse in NHS Dumfries and Galloway, some of the nurses did not know who the chief exec was or even who the chief nurse was. Would a national social work agency help to address some of those issues?

I will be brief. I come directly to Stephen Morgan. You said that Feeley made 53 recommendations, 11 of which are directly about the national care service, which is 20 per cent. One of those was to have a minister with social care in their title. We have that now—Maree Todd is the Minister for Social Care, Mental Wellbeing and Sport.

Are you saying that we can just get on with doing stuff and that we cannot wait on a bill? We are working towards a bill right now. Should we continue to do what we can now, while we are waiting? The bill is a framework bill, and further legislation will come down the line.

That brings me to my next question. If there was a national social work agency, local authorities, health boards and care boards would have to work together, so they wouldnae be working in silos. Could we do something different to what is proposed? What would the chief social worker do to eliminate silos?

I am thinking about what you said about the variation in pay across Scotland, as well as the variation in education, skills, expected competencies and delivery of services on the ground. Do people know what social workers do? Would the national social work agency, as proposed in the bill, help to establish a standard approach to what social workers do across Scotland? My understanding is that the aim of the agency is to create equivalent terms and conditions, salaries, expectations, skills, competencies and education across Scotland.