Chamber and committees

Questions and answers

Parliamentary questions can be asked by any MSP to the Scottish Government or the Scottish Parliamentary Corporate Body. The questions provide a means for MSPs to get factual and statistical information.

Written questions must be answered within 10 working days (20 working days during recess)
Other questions such as Topical, Portfolio, General and First Minister's Question Times are taken in the Chamber

Urgent Questions aren't included in the Question and Answers search. There is a SPICe fact sheet listing Urgent and emergency questions.

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Question reference: S6W-17287

Asked by: Alex Rowley, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 19 April 2023
Current Status: Answered by Maree Todd on 2 May 2023

To ask the Scottish Government what the average pay is for care assistants employed in the (a) private, (b) public and (c) third sector.

The Scottish Government does not hold information on the average pay rates for care assistants across the private, public and third sector.

From April 2023, adult social care workers delivering direct care in commissioned services will see their pay increase to a minimum of £10.90 per hour; in line with the Real Living Wage rate for the 2023-24 Financial Year.

These are the minimum rates of pay for these workers and many providers choose to pay more than these minimums.

Question reference: S6W-17289

Asked by: Alex Rowley, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 20 April 2023
Current Status: Answered by Maree Todd on 2 May 2023

To ask the Scottish Government what the eligibility criteria are for receiving social care in Scotland.

The Scottish Government wants to ensure the quality, fairness and consistency of social care support provision regardless of where people live in Scotland. Framework guidance on National Eligibility Criteria and Waiting times for the Personal and Nursing Care of Older People was issued jointly by the Scottish Government and COSLA for use by local authorities on 28 September 2009.

Four eligibility categories - Critical, Substantial, Moderate and Low Risk are defined in the framework. In addition, the category of "No Risk" is used for people who are assessed as not coming under any of the four eligibility categories, and "Not available" is used when the eligibility category is not known. The eligibility criteria consider both the severity of the risks and the urgency for intervention to respond to the risks.

The national framework recognised that local authorities should set eligibility criteria that indicate what level of need they and their partners recognise as requiring services. In setting criteria, local authorities consider a range of factors including the overall level of resources available to meet need, the cost of service provision and ensuring equity in their service decisions. These criteria are not required by statute, but most local authorities have relied on them for the allocation of limited resources.

Eligibility criteria can be a barrier to accessing social care support. We want the focus to be on people getting the support they need when they need it, not on eligibility. The Scottish Government and COSLA are committed to "the overhaul of the current mechanism of eligibility criteria to ensure an approach to social care support that is based upon human rights and needs" (Joint Statement of Intent and Next Steps for Adult Social Care, December 2022), and are working together with partners and stakeholders on the development of alternative approaches.

Question reference: S6W-17281

Asked by: Alex Rowley, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 19 April 2023
Current Status: Answered by Maree Todd on 2 May 2023

To ask the Scottish Government how many people over 65 were in receipt of care (a) home and (b) at home services in each year since 2007.

a) Information on care home residents is reported on through the Care Home Census, published by Public Health Scotland (PHS). Information is published on a rolling 10-year basis; therefore, the figures below have been sourced from multiple Care Home Census publications. This includes historic extracts of publications from NHS Information Services Division, prior to the creation of Public Health Scotland. The Care Home Census was not run in 2020 due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

Table 1: The estimated number of care home residents aged 65+ years, 2007 – 2022

Year	Estimated Number of Care Home Residents aged 65+ years
2007	31,522
2008	30,954
2009	31,378
2010	31,384
2011	31,653
2012	31,295
2013	30,985
2014	31,354
2015	30,768
2016	31,197
2017	30,570
2018	29,654
2019	30,419
2020	n/a
2021	28,602
2022	28,647

b) Information on the number of people aged 65+ years who receive care at home services has been collected by Public Health Scotland and published as part of their Insights In Social Care publication since 2018. Prior to this, data was collected by Scottish Government through the Social Care Survey from 2013 – 2017 and the Home Care Census prior to 2013. Therefore, changes between years should be interpreted with caution due to the differences between data sources, particularly between 2016/17 and 2017/18.

Table 2: The estimated number of people aged 65+ years receiving care at home services, 2006/07 – 2021/22

Year	Estimated number of people aged 65+ years receiving care at home services
2006/07	56,700
2007/08	55,340
2008/09	54,720
2009/10	53,660
2010/11	51,730
2011/12	51,120
2012/13	50,370
2013/14	50,440
2014/15	50,160
2015/16	48,920
2016/17	48,800
2017/18	46,610
2018/19	48,590
2019/20	47,065
2020/21	47,465
2021/22	44,640

Question reference: S6W-17345

Asked by: Alex Rowley, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 20 April 2023
Current Status: Answered by Kevin Stewart on 25 April 2023

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on progress on the construction of a new grade-separated junction on the A720 at Sheriffhall.

The Scottish Government is committed to delivering the grade separation of Sheriffhall roundabout, as part of its £300 million commitment to the Edinburgh and South East Scotland City Region Deal.

Following publication of the draft Orders and Environmental Statement, Transport Scotland received a significant number of objections to the proposed scheme. Although Transport Scotland engaged widely with objectors, it was unable to resolve all objections. In view of this, a Public Local Inquiry was held from 31 January to 8 February 2023. As with all trunk road projects this is the appropriate statutory forum for considering objections received and not withdrawn. The independent Reporter is now giving detailed consideration to all evidence before making recommendations to the Scottish Ministers for a decision.

Construction of the proposed scheme can only commence if it is approved under the relevant statutory authorisation process and thereafter a timetable for its progress can be set.

Question reference: S6O-02113

Asked by: Alex Rowley, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 12 April 2023
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 19 April 2023

To ask the Scottish Government how many social care posts remain unfilled across Scotland.

Question reference: S6W-15713

Asked by: Alex Rowley, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 07 March 2023
Current Status: Answered by Shona Robison on 20 March 2023

To ask the Scottish Government what the administration cost has been to date of delivering the (a) Social Security Scotland agency and (b) Scottish Child Payment.

Social Security Scotland’s administration costs are published in our Annual Report and Accounts . This document is laid before the Scottish Parliament annually.

Since 2018 our Annual Report and Accounts have recorded administration costs of:

2018-2019 - £12.8 million (part year)

2019-2020 - £36.0 million

2020-2021 - £130.3 million

2021-2022 - £194.9 million

These figures are the total cost of the organisation, which includes the cost of administering the Scottish Child Payment.

As Social Security Scotland staff and systems are organised to provide more than one form of assistance, it is not possible to separately identify the cost of Scottish Child Payment administration.

Question reference: S6W-15714

Asked by: Alex Rowley, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 07 March 2023
Current Status: Answered by Shona Robison on 20 March 2023

To ask the Scottish Government what the average administration cost per payment of the Scottish Child Payment has been to date, including both start-up costs and ongoing costs of administration.

As Social Security Scotland staff and systems are organised to provide more than one form of assistance, it is not possible to separately identify the cost of Scottish Child Payment administration.

In November 2022 the Scottish Child Payment was increased from £20 to £25 and extended to under 16s providing support to thousands of low income households.

The Scottish Government expect to spend £442 million on directly tackling child poverty through the Scottish Child Payment during 2023-24, this is significantly more than the £226 million expected to be spent in 2022-23.

Question reference: S6W-15715

Asked by: Alex Rowley, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 07 March 2023
Current Status: Answered by Ben Macpherson on 20 March 2023

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on what the anticipated date is for the completion of the full roll-out of the Scottish Child Payment.

Question reference: S6T-01247

Asked by: Alex Rowley, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 13 March 2023
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 14 March 2023

To ask the Scottish Government, in light of the EIS vote to accept the latest pay offer, what assessment is being undertaken to understand any impact of days lost as a result of industrial action on children’s education and the school environment.

Question reference: S6W-15224

Asked by: Alex Rowley, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 21 February 2023
Current Status: Answered by Keith Brown on 6 March 2023

To ask the Scottish Government how many of the recommendations contained within the report of the Independent Review of the Response to Deaths in Prison Custody have been (a) implemented and (b) introduced into the system, broken down by each of the five themes.

A follow up report detailing progress on implementation of the recommendations of the Independent Review of the Response to Deaths in Prison Custody was published in December 2022. This is available at: Independent Review of the Response to Deaths in Prison Custody: progress report - follow up .

Gillian Imery was appointed as an external chair to provide strategic leadership and oversight of the implementation in April last year and reported on progress.

The progress report outlined that three recommendations have been implemented and introduced into the system and another recommendation has been partially implemented and introduced into the system. Broken down by theme these are:

Theme 1: Family contact with the prison and involvement in care

(a) and (b) 1 (recommendation 1.4)

Theme 2: Policies and processes after a death

(a) and (b) 1, partially implemented (recommendation 2.2)

Theme 3: Family contact and support following a death

(a) and (b) 1 (recommendation 3.1)

Theme 4: Support for staff and other people held in prison after a death

(a) and (b) 0

Theme 5: SPS and NHS documentation concerning a death

(a) and (b) 1 (recommendation 5.4)

The progress report recognises that some of the issues are complex and will take some time to resolve and implement. The Scottish Government will continue to work closely with the other agencies responsible for delivery including the Scottish Prison Service and NHS to continue to develop compassionate and robust processes that meet the needs of those in custody and their families.

A further report on progress will be prepared by Gillian Imery which is expected to be published later this year.