Chamber and committees

We welcomed this report from the Care Inspectorate, which builds on our existing evidence base and highlights a number of positive findings in relation to fostering in Scotland. For example, the report states that the number of fostering households in Scotland has in fact increased during 2016. Although this is a slight overall increase from 2015, I acknowledge that the report highlights a need for more foster carers.

Local Authorities are responsible for recruiting sufficient foster families within their areas to meet the needs of children and young people who come into their care. The Scottish Government provides support funding through the Local Government Settlement and through the Children Young People and Families Early Intervention Fund we support The Fostering Network who run the annual 'Foster Care Fortnight' campaign to raise awareness about foster caring and recruit new carers.

The independent Care Review - being led by children with experience of care - is looking at Scotland’s underpinning legislation, practice and culture to identify where policies need to be improved. I would emphasise that foster care of the highest standard is provided Scotland-wide by 59 local authority and independent providers who are collectively responsible for recruiting and training sufficient foster carers to meet the needs of the children who come into their care.

Data is not centrally available.

The data held in the ISD CAMHs database is aggregated data and is not split by type of diagnosis. It is therefore not possible to provide a specific response regarding waiting time for children and young people with an eating disorder. The ISD CAMHs database also does not hold information on patients referred to the independent sector.

This data is not centrally held by ISD.

The Scottish Government has several strands of work underway to support children and young people who have experienced sexual abuse. The Chief Medical Officer chairs the Taskforce for improving services for adults and children who have experienced rape and sexual assault. The national leadership provided by this Taskforce brings together experts from health, justice, social work and the third sector. In respect of children, the remit of this Taskforce is focussed on developing the clinical pathway for children who have experienced a sexual assault. Child centred, trauma informed care is at the heart of the current paediatric services provided to children in Scotland who have experienced sexual abuse The 3 Managed Clinical Networks for services related to child protection and child abuse have developed standards for service delivery which have been issued to the executive leads in each Health Board to help ensure consistency across Scotland. The Cabinet Secretary for Justice recently announced the chair for the newly created Expert Group for Preventing Sexual Offending involving Children and Young People. This Group will bring together professional and academic expertise from across justice, education, child protection, health and the third sector to identify actions to better prevent sexual crime involving children and young people and mitigate the harm it causes. It will build on existing good work across Government and through partners.

A National Trauma Skills and Knowledge Framework and National Training Framework is being developed which will support the strategic planning and delivery of training for those who have contact with people affected by trauma across all parts of the Scottish Workforce. We have commissioned NHS Education Scotland to lead the development of a comprehensive National Trauma Skills and Knowledge Framework and National Training Framework for those working with people across the lifespan, including children and young people, who are affected by trauma and abuse in Scotland. The Framework is designed to support the recognition of learning and development needs in the workforce and support trainers and managers in meeting them. It details the knowledge and skills necessary to ensure that people affected by trauma can access services that understand and can respond to their needs.

Equally Safe is the Scottish Government’s strategy for preventing and eradicating violence against women and girls. It has promoted a concerted effort from relevant sectors to deliver a holistic response to tackling violence against women and girls.

We are developing a ten year Child and Adolescent Health and Wellbeing Action Plan which aims to take a cross-policy, rights based approach to improving the physical, mental and emotional health and wellbeing of children and young people within Scotland. The Action Plan will support this with emphasis on prevention, and intervention at the earliest possible stage to provide the level of support necessary to ensure the best outcomes for Scotland’s children and young people. Additionally, an increasing focus of our work going forward will consider the impact of adverse childhood experiences (ACEs), transitions and poverty. This involves working across Government and with partners in every part of Scottish society, so that we can learn what works best and put that learning into practice. We aim to launch the action plan during the Year of Young People in 2018.

The Centre for Youth and Criminal Justice, funded by the Scottish Government, published a research paper ‘Secure Care in Scotland: Young People’s Voices’ in October 2017. The paper presents key messages and calls for action about secure care from care experienced young people, most of whom were in secure care at the point that they talked about their lives and their care journeys. Mental and emotional wellbeing is one of the key areas explored and the research is informing the work of the Secure Care Strategic Board.

We are aware of the PWC research compiled by the Local Data Company and whilst we are concerned at the reported number of shop closures in Glasgow we welcome the news that retail closures are slowing down in Scotland, and that Paisley, Dundee and Falkirk have all witnessed a growth in the number of retail units.

The Scottish Government recognise that help is needed to re-invigorate our high streets which is why Scotland’s Town Centre First Principle, together with the range of measures in our Town Centre Action plan, is designed to tackle key issues such as empty shops, and to improve the vibrancy of our town centres.

We will continue to use all levers at our disposal to ensure Scotland remains an attractive place to do business. We are maintaining a competitive business rates package in Scotland including cutting the rates poundage, limiting the extent of the large business supplement and expanding the Small Business Bonus so that it lifts 100,000 properties out of rates altogether. We have also gone beyond the recent Barclay Review recommendations with new measures to drive investment. In addition to the growth accelerator, which will mean businesses pay no rates increases for the first year on new and improved properties, we will ensure every new build property does not pay a penny in rates until it is occupied for the first time. Further detail will be confirmed in the Draft Budget later this month.

We recognise the challenges faced by people living with all forms of diabetes. Through our Mental Health Strategy, which sets out our ambition for the next 10 years, we seek to improve access to psychological therapies and to prevent and treat mental health problems with the same commitment and drive as we do for physical health problems.

We are committed to expanding our focus on early intervention and prevention as key to minimising the life time impact of mental illness and aiding recovery.

The number of specialist eating disorder beds for adults is shown in the following table:

Source: Scottish Government

In other Board areas, NHS inpatient care is provided in general or adolescent psychiatry in mental health hospitals or in acute care, with specialist in-patient treatment also available through referral if appropriate to the independent sector.

Children and young people with an eating disorder will normally be referred to Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services (CAMHS) with only a very small number requiring treatment in an inpatient facility. Where hospital admission is appropriate, this would be to one of the 3 regional CAMHS inpatient units shown in the following table.

Source: Scottish Government

Suicide prevention training is provided by NHS Health Scotland which is fully funded by the Scottish Government. Data on suicide prevention training of NHS staff is not held centrally by the Scottish Government.