Chamber and committees

The Scottish Government has made clear its support for our indigenous languages, including Scots. It is essential that those that wish to use the Scots language are given every opportunity to use the language of their choice. For many, Scots is the language of home and community and its use in other areas of Scottish life should be encouraged.

The Scottish Government published its Scots Language Policy, https://beta.gov.scot/publications/scots-language-policy-scots-version/ , in 2015. This document sets out how we will promote and support Scots and encourage its respect and recognition. The Scottish Government, working with other partners in Scottish public and community life, will be guided by the aims below:

• to enhance the status of Scots in Scottish public and community life,
• to promote the acquisition, use and development of Scots in education, media, publishing and the arts,
• to encourage the increased use of Scots as a valid and visible means of communication in all aspects of Scottish life,

With these aims in mind recent activity to encourage the everyday use of the Scots language has included:

• Education Scotland published a new report Scots Language in Curriculum for Excellence: enhancing skills in literacy, developing successful learners and confident individuals which gathered evidence of the educational benefits of Scots when used in schools.
• The Open University in Scotland will soon launch a new Scots Language course via their platform OpenLearn Create. The aim of the course is to contribute to the CPD of teachers (and other tutors) and has been created in partnership with Education Scotland. The 10-hour course will be free to the public and will sit alongside the wider languages curriculum of the OU.
• The Scottish Government funded body, the Scots Language Centre launched their new site which features games that children and young people can play in Scots, as well as guidance for teachers using the resources in schools and information for parents: https://www.scotslanguage.com/learning .

The Scottish Government’s Strategic Framework for Action on Palliative and End of Life Care sets out a range of practical steps being taken to realise people’s wishes at the end of life. These steps include agreeing commissioning guidance, establishing a training framework, working with Health Scotland to improve the identification and care coordination of people nearing the end of life, and working on electronic means of sharing people’s plans.

These steps will help to ensure that people’s wishes are honoured.

There are no specific plans to review the care and support of terminally ill people, which under the Public Bodies (Joint Working) (Scotland) Act 2014, is a delegated function of Integration Authorities. The Ministerial Strategic Group for Health and Community Care has a key role in overseeing the progress of health and social care integration, including any required improvements in the provision of palliative care.

I have participated in three discussions during the past year with the Construction Industry Training Board regarding modern apprenticeships in construction crafts and have also engaged with members from both the Scottish Painting and Decorating Apprenticeship Council and the Scottish Building Apprenticeship and Training Council.

I refer the member to the answer to question S5W-17076 on 20 June 2018. All answers to written Parliamentary Questions are available on the Parliament's website, the search facility for which can be found at http://www.parliament.scot/parliamentarybusiness/28877.aspx .

NHS Boards have a legislative duty to give children and adults, across all care groups, who have lost their voice, cannot speak or who have difficulty speaking, a right to the provision of communication equipment and support in using that equipment.

To support the implementation of the legislative duty guidance on the Vision, Principles and Definition of Communication Equipment and Support in using that equipment has been developed in collaboration with stakeholders and is due to be published by June 2018.

NHS Boards have a legislative duty to give children and adults, across all care groups, who have lost their voice, cannot speak or who have difficulty speaking, a right to the provision of communication equipment and support in using that equipment.

It is for NHS Boards to determine the level of service they provide based on local priorities and clinical need.

NHS Scotland will be receiving record funding of £13.1 billion in 2018-19, an increase of over £400m, or 3.4%. As part of this uplift, frontline NHS Boards will receive £354.5 million (3.7%) of direct additional funding in 2018-19, of which
‎ £179.5 million is for a general allocation uplift and a further £175 million increase for investment in reform.

The role of the Scottish Government is to provide policies, frameworks and resources to NHS Boards to allow them to deliver services that meet the needs of their local populations. Within this context, the actual provision of healthcare services, including staffing, is the responsibility of local Boards, taking into account national guidance, local service needs and priorities for investment.

There are a number of professionals who can offer advice and treatment to help people with the condition to be as independent as possible, for example Physiotherapy; Podiatry & Occupational Therapy. Access to these services is dependent upon the individuals need and the Scottish Government expects people with Cerebral Palsy to be able to access these services as they require them.

Personalised and integrated services for adults with cerebral palsy were strengthened further with the implementation of the Social Care (Self-Directed Support) (Scotland) Act 2013 and the Public Bodies (Joint Working) (Scotland) Act 2014.

The Scottish Government is committed to supporting children and young people with autism, under which PDA is categorised, to enable the right support to be put in place early and reduce the longer term impact.

We acknowledge that the complexity of autism, and the multi-faceted nature of the needs of those with autism, poses particular challenges to professionals and commissioners. The Scottish Government wants to make sure that clinicians have the best possible knowledge and resources available for them to make recommendations on the care and management of autistic children and young people.

In the NHS, clinicians will diagnose autism in line with guidance. There are currently two major diagnostic classification systems in use: the International Classification of Diseases, version 10 (ICD-10) and the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders 5th edition (DSM-5). These systems are the ‘gold standard’ for autism diagnosis and neither of them recognises PDA. Since Scotland is committed to standards of best practice, and as stated in SIGN 145, Assessment, diagnosis and interventions for autism spectrum disorders: A national clinical guideline , all professionals involved in diagnosing Autism Spectrum Disorder in children, young people or adults should consider using either one of the current versions of these classification systems. SIGN guidance does not recognise PDA as a distinct category for diagnosis.