Chamber and committees

The Scottish Government continues to update its data collection tools to include new psychoactive substances (NPS). We have commissioned a review of evidence and data available on NPS and this will inform improvements in collection and research. An integrated drug and alcohol information system is also under development.

The number and type of new psychoactive substances available, including their individual strengths and toxicity, is constantly growing and changing. This makes it difficult to identify levels and risks of use. However, work is underway to develop a national set of standards to guide toxicology.

As a result of a recommendation within the Learning With Care, HM Inspectorate of Education and Social Work Services Inspectorate report in 2001, local authorities took steps to identify a designated senior manager for looked after children and young people in each of their educational establishments.

The Scottish Government developed We Can and Must Do Better: Core tasks for Designated Managers in educational and residential establishments in Scotland Guidance (Sept 2008) with partners to clarify the role and responsibilities and to support local authorities and professionals carry this out. The guidance sits alongside a suit of materials aimed at improving the education of looked after children available on We Can and Must Do Better website.

The Scottish Government funded the Centre for Excellence for looked after children in Scotland in 2012-13 to provide training for designated managers to learn about the Core Tasks, and responsibilities set out in the guidance. Local seminars took place in six local authorities, which we well attended and represented a mix of mainstream schools, specialist residential education provision, and residential establishments.

The Designated Manager role is non-statutory and it is for local authorities to decide how best to implement this at the local level. The school’s ability to cater for the needs of looked after children and young people are measured in the context of the inspection regime. The Scottish Government also publish annually data on Educational Outcomes for Looked After Children.

The designated manager role will be enhanced by the introduction of the Corporate Parenting duties in the Children and Young People (Scotland) Act 2014.

Young people do not directly participate in the permanence and care excellence programme (PACE), but will benefit from the improved systems and decision making that PACE is expected to deliver.

No additional funding has been provided for the PACE programme. Support to PACE is being delivered by the Centre for Excellence for Looked After Children in Scotland and the Scottish Government, using existing staff resources. The cost of delivering this support is approximately £145,000 a year.

PACE is expected to last at least three years, with implementation in additional local authorities each year.

Evaluation of PACE is built into the programme through collecting data about each small-scale test of change and using that evidence to inform scaling up of improvements or to develop further tests of change.

The Scottish Government supported the development of five inter-authority literacy hubs in North Lanarkshire, Fife, Edinburgh, Highland and West Dunbartonshire, and six inter-authority numeracy hubs in Dumfries & Galloway, Glasgow, Midlothian, East Lothian, Angus and Moray. The literacy hubs were allocated a total of £495,997 from September 2012 to the end of June 2014; the numeracy hubs have thus far been allocated a total of £301,915 from October 2013 to the end of March 2015. Both the literacy and numeracy hubs continue to share with their partners successful approaches developed at local level to improve literacy or numeracy outcomes for children and young people.

It is a statutory requirement that local authorities only employ teachers who are registered with the General Teaching Council for Scotland (GTCS).

Any Teach First graduate can apply for registration. They will then be individually assessed against the relevant GTCS criteria.

Parentzone Scotland is currently being redeveloped. Users will be encouraged to subscribe to regular newsletters when the new site goes live from 24 September 2014 but at present there is no facility to become a subscribed user.

The local authorities currently involved in the Raising Attainment for All programme are Aberdeen City, Angus, Borders, Dumfries and Galloway, Dundee, East Ayrshire, Fife, North Ayrshire, North Lanarkshire, Renfrewshire, South Lanarkshire and Stirling and Clackmannanshire.

There are around 100 schools involved at the moment, although final numbers will not be finalised until later in the year. The list of local authorities and their participating schools will be made available on the Raising Attainment pages on the Scottish Government website in due course:

www.scotland.gov.uk/Topics/Education/Schools/Raisingeducationalattainment

The Scottish Government provides funding, via the Scottish Funding Council, to initiatives such as ‘Back on Course Scotland’ for the provision of advice and guidance for early leavers from higher education. The service is run by the Open University in Scotland.

In the 2015-16 letter of guidance to the Scottish Funding Council, the Cabinet Secretary for Education and Lifelong Learning emphasised the importance of retention and the need to ensure that the higher education sector makes more effective use of data to track student progress.

The Scottish Government also supports a wide range of programmes aimed at helping adults and young people into positive destinations. This includes 25,000 Modern Apprenticeships each year, the Opportunities for All guarantee of a place in employment or training for all 16-19 year olds, a commitment of £5 million in response to Developing the Young Workforce to support Scotland’s education system to connect young people to business more effectively and £88 million (over three years) to support small businesses create youth jobs.

NHS Lothian has never ran a full immunology service directly. A limited clinical service was provided in Lothian by the Scottish National Blood Transfusion Service (SNBTS) until the immunology consultant retired in 2009.

It is NHS Lothian’s ambition to transfer all of the immunology service from SNBTS over the next few months, and to provide a more robust clinical service for patients in Lothian and the wider region (in collaboration with neighbouring health boards), supported by a laboratory service. NHS Lothian has agreed to run the laboratory and has advertised for a Clinical Lead to manage the service. NHS Lothian is also currently recruiting a consultant immunologist.

In the meantime, NHS Lothian has approached the immunology service in Newcastle to discuss a short term visiting service to ensure that Lothian patients are seen by someone with the relevant expertise.