Chamber and committees

All public bodies in Scotland produce and publish individual audited annual accounts. The Scottish Government produces all the accounts that are required. In a letter of 2 November 2016, the Permanent Secretary wrote to the Public Audit and Post-Legislative Scrutiny Committee, in advance of her attendance at the Committee on 10 November: http://www.parliament.scot/S5_Finance/PAPLS_Papers_10_November.pdf

Work has continued to develop this new output but it has been challenging to accommodate this additional project with existing and new priorities, alongside overcoming the many technical challenges associated with consolidating data from a significantly expanded number of organisations, some operating to different accounting standards. However, the work is now drawing to a conclusion. Draft material has been shared for internal consultation within the Scottish Government and is with Audit Scotland for review .

On 23 November 2018, Leslie Evans, Permanent Secretary, wrote to Jenny Marra, Convenor of PAPLS, laying out progress https://www.parliament.scot/S5_Public_Audit/Meeting%20Papers/PAPLS_Meeting_papers_PUBLIC_29_Nov_2018.pdf

In this letter, target dates were set out for sharing information for internal consultation by the end of December 2018, and for audit and publication by end March 2019. Information has been shared for internal consultation, and audit colleagues have been invited to engage. Final format, plans and dates for publication have not yet been agreed.

As referenced in the response to PQ S5W-24505 on 16 August 2019, the Scottish Government is developing a draft account which consolidates the wider public sector in Scotland. The Public Finance and Accountability Act 2000 requires consolidated public accounts to be audited before they can be laid and published Draft material has been shared for internal consultation within the Scottish Government and is with Audit Scotland for review. Further consultation and audit arrangements will be agreed, and the draft will be audited, finalised and published in due course.

All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament's website, the search facility for which can be found at: http://www.parliament.scot/parliamentarybusiness/28877.aspx

Scottish Government officials from the European Structural Funds and State Aid Division maintain regular dialogue by email, phone and in person with the European Commission regarding the European Social Fund.

Officials from the Scottish Government met officials from the European Commission in Brussels on 14 June 2019 to discuss the European Social Fund.

The information requested on how many occupational therapists have been employed in health and social care is not centrally available. National workforce data records how many occupational therapists are employed by each health board but does not separate out those who work in health and social care.

The number of Occupational Therapists working in NHSScotland can be found in the Allied Health Professions dashboard on the ISD website available here:

https://www.isdscotland.org/Health-Topics/Workforce/Publications/2019-06-04/AHP.asp

Further notes:

• Further information on the statistics, including information on how the data are collected and notes to aid interpretation, is given in the 'FAQs' section of the Workforce Statistics website at http://www.isdscotland.org/workforce/ .

Delivering person-centred care is a strategic priority for NHSScotland and the Scottish Government. Working in partnership with people who use health and social care services, their families and carers, to deliver care which meets their needs, is a vital part of our 2020 Vision for Health and Social Care.

Occupational Therapy is one of the twelve Allied Health Professions (AHPs) regulated by the Health and Care Professions Council with staff working across health, social care and housing. Occupational Therapists take a ‘whole person’ approach with people, addressing their health and wellbeing to support them to achieve their potential and what matters to them. Occupational Therapists are ‘dual trained’ in physical and mental health and can therefore work across both at point of qualification.

This professional ethos, knowledge and skillset underpins Occupational Therapy in all settings where staff work, so that a person centred approach is fundamental to interventions and support. The focus on ‘occupation’ – meaningful and purposeful activities unique to each individual – means that Occupational Therapists are well placed to devise, deliver and lead on personalised approaches to care. The developing ‘general specialist’ and Advanced Practitioner roles are seeing occupational therapy make a greater impact in empowering communities around prevention and wellbeing.

The Allied Health Professions Active and Independent Living Programme (AILP), which concludes in 2020, put the personal outcomes approach at the heart of its vision and this has enabled occupational therapists to lead and develop new and innovative personalised care responses. This includes delivering a tiered approach within children’s’ services which focus on the child or young person’s wellbeing which has seen support delivered closer, faster and more effectively to the child/young person without an increase in waiting times; work within forensic and secure settings equipping prisoners to develop daily living skills and thereby preventing re-offending; developing support for people around work – getting into, staying and getting back into employment – with the positive impact on health and wellbeing, and leading on aspects of health and social care integration particularly around support for older adults.

The following table shows how many people have received an option one of self-directed support since 2014-15.

Number of option one clients - Scotland

The Scottish Government is aware that some areas have not required their full allocation to extend Free Personal Care to all ages. If the full allocation is not expected to be required in 2019-20, local authorities have confirmed that they are meeting their statutory obligations. Local Authorities will monitor the situation throughout the year and re-profile funding as necessary, should demand for Free Personal Care increase beyond their current planning.

The funding for the extension of Free Personal Care was part of an additional £160 million health portfolio funding that was made available via Local Authorities to support social care and integration as part of the 2019-20 Budget. It is for statutory partners to manage their budgets and allocate the total financial resources available to them, having first fulfilled their statutory obligations and the jointly agreed set of national and local priorities.

The funding for the extension of Free Personal Care was linked to the stipulation that local authority social care budgets for allocation to Integration Authorities and funding for school counselling services this year must be at least £160 million more than in 2018-19. This ensures that even where areas have received funding for Free Personal Care that is beyond their currently projected levels of demand in this first year, funding for social care overall must increase.

This settlement means that personal care is now free for anyone in Scotland who is assessed as eligible. Local authorities have a statutory responsibility to ensure that personal care is no longer charged to the individual.

The following table provides the allocation by Local Authority for the extension of Free Personal Care to under 65s