Chamber and committees

The See Hear strategy was developed as a long term strategic framework in partnership with local authorities, health boards and third sector partners and is jointly endorsed by COSLA. Since 2014, the Scottish Government has provided almost £4m to establish and support a national network of See Hear Leads, supported by a See Hear National Co-ordinator post based the Health and Social Care Alliance. Local partnerships are in place across every local authority area in Scotland to assist in delivering the strategy. Areas for action and recommendations are implemented through local partnerships between statutory and third sector partners who are responsible for identifying local priorities, developing work streams, timescales and implementation plans based on local priorities and need. This ensures a responsive, flexible approach to deliver person centred outcomes, support and care.

I am pleased to announce that funding amounting to a total of £468,525 will be provided to 18 organisations, from our Small Grants Programme 2019-2020, for projects to commence in April 2019.

Total amount of Recommended funding - Programme Year 2019-2020

The Scottish Government values the contribution the marine tourism sector makes to inclusive growth, including in remote and fragile communities. Scotland’s Industry led Marine Tourism Strategy ‘Awakening the Giant’ sets a framework for the sector to work collaboratively, to protect and enhance the natural assets on which the industry depends, whilst delivering sustainable economic growth.

The Scottish Government promotes the Scottish Marine Wildlife Watching Code to ensure that wildlife watching is carried out sustainably and not to the detriment of wildlife or the environment. The Scottish Government funds many initiatives that help deliver a cleaner and greener marine environment by reducing marine litter. Several of these directly engage with tourists such as KIMO’s ‘Pick up 3’ campaign which encourages beach visitors to pick up 3 pieces of litter with each visit, and our Local Coastal Partnerships which each run different campaigns and projects to reduce irresponsible litter disposal at our beaches.

The Year of Coasts and Waters 2020 will further spotlight, celebrate and promote opportunities to experience and enjoy the natural environment and wildlife of Scotland’s unrivalled coasts and waters, along with encouraging responsible engagement and participation to secure a cleaner, greener marine environment.

Colleges are allocated childcare funding annually by the Scottish Funding Council (SFC) as part of student support funds. These funds support students studying Further and Higher Education courses at college. The two elements of the funding are the Lone Parent Childcare Grant (LPCG), and the Discretionary Childcare Fund.

The LPCG is an entitlement payment of up to £1,215 per year for students who are lone parents and who have formal registered childcare expenses. The Discretionary Childcare Fund is a cash-limited fund to help with formal registered childcare expenses. Payments from the fund are made at the discretion of colleges and on assessment of need, intended to supplement students’ existing resources. The SFC places no limit on the amount of support a student can receive and colleges have the flexibility to determine award levels.

In 2018-19, students in Further Education are benefitting from a record amount of £111 million in student support funding, which includes funding for childcare.

University students with childcare costs are also supported by way of the LPCG and the Discretionary Childcare Fund. Funding for these is allocated by the Student Awards Agency Scotland (SAAS) and is administered by the institutions themselves. Similarly to in colleges, the LPCG is an entitlement payment of up to £1,215 per year, while universities have discretion over the level of awards made from the Discretionary Childcare Fund.

In 2018-19, a total of £4.8 million has been allocated to universities for the LPCG and Discretionary Childcare Fund.

All 3 and 4 year olds and eligible 2 year olds are currently entitled to 600 hours per year of funded early learning and childcare. The entitlement will increase to 1140 hours a year from August 2020. Discretionary support is also available to students who are parents through their individual colleges and universities. Where assistance is provided for childcare costs from a college or university this may be given in the form of a direct payment to the student or to a nominated third party, for example, a childcare provider.

All childcare providers, by law, must register with the Care Inspectorate before they can operate. The Care Inspectorate’s registration process will determine whether a setting is fit to deliver a daycare of children service. Newly registered settings will then receive a full inspection from the Care Inspectorate within 12 months of being registered.

As part of the Funding Follows the Child approach, from August 2020 a new National Standard for all providers will be introduced. All settings delivering the funded early learning and childcare entitlement will have to meet the National Standard. Under this approach providers will receive a sustainable rate from local authorities, which will enable them to pay the real Living Wage to all childcare workers delivering the funded entitlement from August 2020.

Employers who pay the real Living Wage can, if they wish, seek to become Living Wage accredited. There are already a number of Living Wage accredited private and third sector employers operating in the ELC sector, including Enterprise Childcare in Greenock. Whilst the Scottish Government encourages more providers to become Living Wage accredited, it is not required to the criteria in the new National Standard to be introduced in August 2020.

More information on Living Wage accredited employers in the sector can be found at: https://scottishlivingwage.org/accredited .

There are also other private and voluntary sector providers in the sector who are paying at least the real Living Wage, but have not sought accreditation.

The United Nations Decade of Ocean Science for Sustainable Development (2021-2030) is currently in the development phase. Professor Colin Moffat, Chief Scientific Advisor Marine for the Scottish Government is fully engaged in that process, specifically he:

• contributed to the Multi-stakeholder dialogue and capacity-building partnership event at the UN in New York in January 2019;
• is actively engaged in the production of the World Ocean Assessment 2, the underlying report which will be published in 2020;
• is working with Professor Ed Hill from the National Oceanographic Network and UK lead to the UNESCO International Oceanographic Commission, with respect to delivering a planning workshop on 9 May 2019;
• will attend the 1 st Global Planning Meeting which will be convened 13-15 May 2019, in Copenhagen.

Following each event, updates are provided to the Scottish Government and the wider scientific community.

The Scottish Government set up the world leading Technology Enabled Care (TEC) Programme to improve healthy and safe living using technology, including wearables.

The upcoming shift from analogue to digital telephony systems also offers significant opportunity to re-design the existing telecare delivery model to move from an existing model that is largely reactive to one that is more predictive, using wearables and sensor technology in homes, while not compromising on the vital safety net that telecare offers.