Questions and answers

Question reference: S6W-02950

Asked by: Miles Briggs, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 14 September 2021
Current Status: Answered by Kevin Stewart on 23 September 2021

To ask the Scottish Government how many people in each local authority area have applied for self-directed support each year, also broken down by how many applications were rejected.

Self-directed Support (SDS) is Scotland’s mainstream approach to social care. Under the Social Care (Self-directed Support) (Scotland) Act 2013 , all people in Scotland who are assessed as being in need of social care support have a right to choice, control and flexibility to meet their personal outcomes.

SDS is therefore not something that is applied for or denied. Local Authorities are required to ensure that people are offered a range of choices on how they receive their social care support.

Self-directed Support can be provided using one of four different options. Public Health Scotland statistics from 2018-19 indicate that 102,805 people in Scotland were involved in choosing and controlling their support through one of more of the self-directed support options.

Question reference: S6W-02602

Asked by: Miles Briggs, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 02 September 2021
Current Status: Answered by Kevin Stewart on 23 September 2021

To ask the Scottish Government how many social workers have been employed by each local authority in each year since 1999.

The information requested by Mr Briggs MSP is readily available on the SSSC website, and a detailed breakdown by local authority can be obtained directly from the official source.

Every year in August, the Scottish Social Services Council (SSSC) publishes the ‘Scottish Social Service Sector: Report on 2020 Workforce Data’. This year's edition was the 10th set of official statistics. Official figures, therefore, only go back to 2011.

According to the most recent data, published in August this year, as of December 2020, there were 6,049 social workers employed in local authorities, the highest number recorded, representing a 1.5% increase since the previous year, 2019, or a 6% increase since 2011.

Question reference: S6W-02941

Asked by: Miles Briggs, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 14 September 2021
Current Status: Answered by Ben Macpherson on 22 September 2021

To ask the Scottish Government how many community centres there have been in each local authority area in each year since 1999.

Question reference: S6W-02958

Asked by: Miles Briggs, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 14 September 2021
Current Status: Answered by Tom Arthur on 21 September 2021

To ask the Scottish Government how much has been paid out in legal fees by each local authority in each year since 1999.

Local authorities are independent corporate bodies with their own powers and responsibilities, separate from the Scottish Government. As such, the information requested is not held by the Scottish Government and would have to be obtained directly from individual local authorities or from COSLA.

Scottish Local Government Financial Statistics is an annual publication providing a comprehensive overview of financial activity of Scottish local authorities in 2019-20 based on authorities' audited accounts.

Question reference: S6W-02959

Asked by: Miles Briggs, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 14 September 2021
Current Status: Answered by Tom Arthur on 21 September 2021

To ask the Scottish Government how much has been paid out in compensation by each local authority in each year since 1999.

Local authorities are independent corporate bodies with their own powers and responsibilities, separate from the Scottish Government. As such, the information requested is not held by the Scottish Government and would have to be obtained directly from individual local authorities or from COSLA.

Scottish Local Government Financial Statistics is an annual publication providing a comprehensive overview of financial activity of Scottish local authorities in 2019-20 based on authorities' audited accounts.

Question reference: S6W-02933

Asked by: Miles Briggs, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 14 September 2021
Current Status: Answered by Tom Arthur on 21 September 2021

To ask the Scottish Government how much has been paid by each local authority to arms-length external organisations in each year since 2007.

Local authorities are independent corporate bodies with their own powers and responsibilities, separate from the Scottish Government. As such, the information requested is not held by the Scottish Government and would have to be obtained directly from individual local authorities or from COSLA.

Scottish Local Government Financial Statistics is an annual publication providing a comprehensive overview of financial activity of Scottish local authorities in 2019-20 based on authorities' audited accounts.

Question reference: S6W-02870

Asked by: Miles Briggs, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 09 September 2021
Current Status: Answered by Maree Todd on 21 September 2021

To ask the Scottish Government whether chronic pain patient representatives and other stakeholders will be given advance sight of papers relating to the content of a proposed draft Framework for Chronic Pain Service Delivery.

A public consultation on the draft Framework for Chronic Pain Service Delivery is expected to begin this Autumn. We are grateful for the input provided to date by people with lived experience, clinical, third-sector and other stakeholders in helping us to shape this draft and welcome further feedback as part of the public consultation in order to help us improve services and support for people with chronic pain in Scotland.

Question reference: S6W-02871

Asked by: Miles Briggs, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 09 September 2021
Current Status: Answered by Maree Todd on 21 September 2021

To ask the Scottish Government what training has been provided to staff in its Clinical Priorities Unit in relation to engaging with people on issues such as disabilities, equality measures, fairness and human rights, including with people with long-term conditions, and when any such training was provided.

The Scottish Government is committed to ensuring that all our staff have the necessary training/skills to fulfil our commitments to equalities and diversity and dealing with specific groups of stakeholders. Diversity and inclusion capability building, including learning and development, for Scottish Government staff is set out in our Mainstreaming Equality Outcomes Report 2021. In July 2021, we launched new mandatory diversity and inclusion training. This aims to ensure everyone working within the Scottish Government develops and maintains a foundational level of knowledge about inclusion and supports individual self-reflection and personal development.

Question reference: S6W-02593

Asked by: Miles Briggs, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 02 September 2021
Current Status: Answered by Humza Yousaf on 21 September 2021

To ask the Scottish Government how many cases of deep vein thrombosis (DVT) there have been since the start of the pandemic where the patient had previously tested positive for COVID-19, broken down by NHS board.

Question reference: S6W-02609

Asked by: Miles Briggs, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 02 September 2021
Current Status: Answered by Humza Yousaf on 21 September 2021

To ask the Scottish Government what post-operative guidance and information on venous thromboembolism (VTE) prevention was provided to patients, or their carers, as part of the discharge process following orthopaedic surgery in (a) 2010, (b) 2015 and (c) 2020.

Chamber and committees