Chamber and committees

On this occasion it was Scottish Care, the representative body for independent care home providers and care providers in Scotland, who informed the Scottish Government about the situation at Elsie Inglis Nursing Home.

It is an employer’s responsibility to train staff. Employers must ensure that all those working in their services have the appropriate skills and knowledge to carry out their role.

The National Care Standards clearly state that services must have policies and procedures in place which cover all legal requirements, including staffing and training. This includes having a staff development strategy and effective training plans in place for all staff.

The Scottish Government remains committed to eradicating fuel poverty in Scotland by 2016 as far as practicably possible. The number of people in fuel poverty at any given time is determined by income levels, energy prices and the energy efficiency of their homes. We have seen fuel price rises recently by Scottish Power that have clearly impacted on the number of people affected by fuel poverty.

Energy prices are dictated by markets and regulation of the energy companies is reserved to Westminster. The Cabinet Secretary for Finance, Employment and Sustainable Growth has written to OfGEM seeking discussions with them and urging that they build on their Retail Market Review to deliver a radical simplification of tariff structures including considering possible compulsory tariffs for the fuel poor. OfGEM subsequently announced, on 22 June 2011, that it would press ahead with a radical overhaul of the retail energy market, including looking at sweeping away complex tariffs.

In 2009, 770,000 households (33%) were estimated to be in fuel poverty.

No.

Employers are responsible for the training and continuous learning of their employees.

Bodies such as Skills for Care and Development, the sector skills council for the social services sector, the Scottish Social Services Council (SSSC), Social Care and Social Work Improvement Scotland and the Scottish Qualifications Authority amongst others, support employers in training their workforce.

There is guidance and tools available to all employers in the social services sector which supports the identification, level and quality of training required for their employees. This includes the SSSC Code of Practice, National Occupational Standards, Scottish Credit and Qualifications Framework and the Continuous Learning Framework.

It is an employer’s responsibility to train their staff. Employers must ensure that all staff have not only the appropriate skills and knowledge to carry out their role, but ensure that the knowledge and skills is continuously updated.

The National Care Standards clearly state that services must have a staff development strategy and effective training plans in place for all staff.

Staff working in care home services for adults are required to register with the Scottish Social Services Council. A condition of registration is that a person has, is or working towards, an appropriate qualification for the job they undertake.

If the price increases announced by Scottish Power were replicated by the other suppliers, up to 169,000 more households would be placed into fuel poverty.

The Scottish Government is aware of the briefing sheets produced by the Scottish Assembly for Tackling Poverty 2011 and we note the points raised within them.

I understand from Social Care and Social Work Improvement Scotland that it received nine complaints after 9 November 2010 broken down as follows:

I further understand that consideration of the three complaints marked as “in progress” is pended as a consequence of the ongoing police investigation.