Chamber and committees

There is an agreed protocol between Audit Scotland and the Scottish Government covering the arrangements for carrying out and clearing performance audit reports undertaken on behalf of the Auditor General for Scotland (AGS) which are published as part of the Scottish Public Finance Manual. The purpose of the protocol is to ensure that all relevant parties in the Scottish Government and Audit Scotland are aware of the arrangements for carrying out performance audits undertaken on behalf of the AGS and clearing draft reports.

The protocol states that in relation to the draft report/key messages:

“The project manager sends a copy of the key messages document and draft report to all project advisory group members, including the SG representative, for comment.”

For formal clearance of the report, the protocol says:

“The AGS sends a formal letter and a copy of the report to the relevant Accountable Officer. The AGS’s letter specifies the date when comments are due back (this is three weeks from the date of the letter) and asks for confirmation of the factual accuracy of the report and any other comments on the presentation and conclusions.”

While the Scottish Government can provide comment on the draft report, the final decision on what to include in the report is solely the responsibility of Audit Scotland. The comments provided were in line with standard procedures where Audit Scotland asked for comments on the draft report. In the interest of accuracy, Audit Scotland accepted a number of points raised and amended the final report accordingly, in exactly the same way as has been done on many other occasions.

The Children and Young People Bill will:

 

Provide enhanced support to kinship carers who obtain an order under section 11(1) of the 1995 Act (which will be deemed a “kinship care order”).

Place a duty on local authorities to ensure that families in the early stages of distress who seek help are provided with appropriate forms of intervention (for example, family group conferencing or support with substance misuse). This will provide more help for those carers who accept long term caring responsibilities for a child This will be available where a child’s wellbeing would be at risk of being impaired and where appropriate, it can be used to promote the role of a kinship carer; and

Place a duty on local authorities to provide a minimum of 600 hours early learning and childcare to three and four year olds, looked after two year olds and two year olds subject to a kinship care order.

The Children and Young People Bill was introduced to Parliament on 18 April. The Bill and accompanying documents have been published on the Scottish Parliament website:

http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/parliamentarybusiness/Bills/62233.aspx

http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Topics/People/Young-People/legislation/impact.

Kinship carers of children who are looked after are entitled to financial support from the responsible local authority. A number of local authorities also offer allowances to kinship carers of non-looked after children and those on a section 11 order of the Children (Scotland) Act 1995 (e.g Residence Order).

The level of kinship care payments are the responsibility of local authorities. The Scottish Government is committed to working with local authorities to ensure that kinship carers receive the support they need.

The Scottish Government is currently reviewing financial support to kinship carers with a view to tailoring support and tackling inconsistencies across Scotland.

The Scottish Government is providing over £13 million for short breaks between 2010-15 to be channelled through the voluntary sector. Organisations such as CHILDREN 1^st, Geeza Break and Kinship for the Future North who support Kinship Carers have benefitted from this fund.

As stated in Parliament on 26 February 2013, serving members of staff of a NHS board will in future not be appointed as board members of a scrutiny body (Healthcare Improvement Scotland or the Care Inspectorate).

The arrangements for the appointment of the chief executive of NHS Tayside as a member of the board of Healthcare Improvement Scotland were made prior to this announcement and in accordance with the rules governing Public Appointments, prior to this announcement. The Medical Director of NHS Tayside is not a member of the board of Healthcare Improvement Scotland.

All members of NHS boards are expected carry out their responsibilities in line with the board member’s Code of Conduct surrounding any potential conflicts of interest and any conflict of interests would be recorded on the Register of Interests. Further details on these can be found on the Healthcare Improvement Scotland website via the following link:

http://www.healthcareimprovementscotland.org/about_us/our_board.aspx.

Local authorities are responsible for having foster carer procedures in place which will be inspected against National Care Standards by the Care Inspectorate. The Care Inspectorate is responsible for the registration and inspection of foster care services.

Standard 5 states that “you know you will be fully assessed by the agency before being accepted as a foster carer” and Standard 6 states that “you can be confident that the agency treats applications to become a foster carer fairly and without unnecessary delay.”

The Care Inspectorate are responsible for inspecting foster care services against national care standards which cover recruitment, assessment and approval of foster carers. As part of those duties they examine the processes and practices of dealing with applications to foster. This includes formal processes and support.

The Care Inspectorate in their holistic inspection of children’s services consider the outcomes for children who are assessed as requiring fostering services which includes how local authorities commission fostering services.

National Care Standard 6 against which foster care agencies are inspected, states that applicants should be made aware that the assessment will be completed within 6 months from the date of receipt of their application unless unforeseen circumstances prevent this.

It further states that prospective foster carers will receive regular feedback on the progress of their application (at least once a month) and that there are clear indications given of any work that is needed to further the process.

This information is not held centrally by the Scottish Government or Care Inspectorate. However as part of the inspection process the Care Inspectorate seeks feedback from foster carers on their experience of the service and the support they receive from the agency, whether local authority based or independent.

<>There are no key national eligibility criteria for determining the suitability of applicants to become foster carers. Guidance on the Looked After Children (Regulations) no longer specifies the categories of people with whom a child may be fostered. Applications to foster may come from a wide range of different family structures and many authorities make a point of reflecting this openness in recruiting new carers. Each case will be assessed on its own merits.