Chamber and committees

The funding will be invested in supporting primary care, and we have been discussing the best use of this with a number of partners. An announcement will be made in the near future.

An adult protection committee must include members nominated by the council, the relevant health board and the relevant chief constable and may include a representative nominated by the Care Inspectorate. The convener must not be a member or officer of the council and, as laid out in guidance ideally, is independent of all representative bodies.

Nominees have to show they have the relevant knowledge and skills. This includes having an understanding of the importance of working collaboratively and effectively in a multidisciplinary and multi-agency context.

The Scottish Government expects all the partner organisations on an adult protection committee to be involved in recruiting the convenor, and this is set out in the guidance for the committees.

The Scottish Government accepts the findings of this review and is taking forward the recommendations for the Scottish Government, which are:

To clarify the relationship between the role of the convenor of an adult protection committee in respect of significant case reviews and the guidance to Chief Social Work Officers on significant case reviews, and

To clarify with the Care Inspectorate the position regarding registration of services provided under the Social Care (Self-directed Support) (Scotland) Act 2013.

Following this the Scottish Government will consider whether further changes are required to the guidance that is being developed on significant case reviews in adult protection and to the code of practice for public bodies and office holders involved in adult protection.

The Scottish Government expects all the agencies involved to consider the findings of this review and to take action on the relevant recommendations.

This report was published by Marine Scotland Science and the Scottish Government is now considering the policy implications arising from it, noting that fishing with electricity is currently illegal under the terms of EU legislation. To assist the consideration of policy, officials will meet with a number of interested parties at the end of March 2015.

A recent Marine Scotland Science report on electrofishing for razor clams suggests that electro-fishing is potentially less damaging than other traditional fishing methods, including the use of dredges, with the exception of hand gathering by divers. The study did not address the broader question of long-term sustainability of razor clam populations under various levels of commercial fishing activity, nor the medium and long-term effects of electrofishing. It also concluded that electrofishing is a much more efficient method of harvesting. The report does not offer any advice on the amount of fishing effort which could be applied in different areas supporting razor populations and recognised that further research is required to establish this.

The government has no plans at present to establish further pilot projects involving fishing with electricity. During the preparation of the report noted in the question, field studies were undertaken that involved the use and operation of commercial fishing vessels. The government therefore considers that this work has collected the information required at present to assist the consideration of policy on this matter. Should further or different information be required the government will consider additional research activity, which may again involve the use of commercial fishing vessels.

Marine Scotland has met with the Razor Fisheries Forum twice in 2014 to discuss licencing arrangements for the fishery and will meet with them again at a razor stakeholder event at the end of March 2015.

It is in the Adult Support and Protection (Scotland) Act 2007 that the convenor of an adult protection committee cannot be a member or officer of the council. Guidance sets out that the convenor must be seen to be independent in thought and action as well as being someone with the necessary skills and knowledge. The guidance also recommends that it is desirable for the convenor to be independent of all the organisations represented on the committee.

In the last twelve months two individuals, and one MSP on behalf of a constituent, have written to Scottish Ministers about the provision of dental services in Oban.

In the last twelve months one parliamentary question (S4W-21447 answered on 12 June 2014) has been tabled about the provision of dental services in Skye. Parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament’s website, the search facility for which can be found at:

http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/parliamentarybusiness/28877.aspx

The National Health Service (Scotland) Act 1978 places a duty on every NHS board, in accordance with the regulations, to make arrangements with dental practitioners to provide NHS General Dental Services (GDS).

In the event that service provision is inadequate, NHS boards can put in place other arrangements. These can include provision of NHS GDS by the Public Dental Service, or the board can make special arrangements with an independent contractor to provide NHS GDS at suitable centres or in the homes of persons requiring such services.