Chamber and committees

I refer the member to the answer to question S5W-12747 on 24 November 2017. 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.

The Scottish Government is taking a range of actions to help increase the number of student teachers.

We have:

• committed £88m this year to make sure every school has access to the right number of teachers with the right skills;

• provided support to universities in developing new innovative routes into teaching;

• recently announced STEM bursaries of £20,000 for career changers to train to become teachers of priority STEM subjects, which includes maths, starting in August 2018;

• launched the second phase of our “Teaching Makes People” recruitment campaign on 30 August and

• created a new route into teaching specifically designed to attract high quality graduates in priority areas and subjects. The tender exercise for this closed on 16 November and the evaluation process will commence shortly.

Student teacher numbers have risen by 7.5 per cent overall from 3,591 in 2016 to 3,861 in 2017. With these measures now in place we expect to see the number of people training as teachers continuing to rise.

The Scottish Government welcomes this report, which builds on our existing fostering and adoption evidence base in Scotland. In relation to your enquiry, the Care Inspectorate report states that in 2016 20% of sibling groups placed in either local authority or independent foster placements were separated. Although this is a slight overall improvement from 2015 (24%) we remain absolutely clear that secure attachments, such as children have with their siblings, are central to healthy development and wellbeing.

At this time we are considering the findings in the Care Inspectorate report. However, I acknowledge that the report highlights a need to make sure the best interests of the child are at the heart of all decisions and the complexities faced by professionals involved in each case to work together to find the best immediate and long-term outcome for each child. Separation of sibling groups occurs as a result of a number of considerations; all undoubtedly difficult, and we would always encourage Local Authorities to place siblings together when it is in the best interests of all siblings concerned.

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.

The Borders Health and Social Care Partnership is responsible for tackling delayed discharges from hospital. The Scottish Government provides the partnership in Borders with £640,000 per year specifically to deal with this issue.

It is clear that to eradicate child poverty, we must tackle a range of social and economic drivers. Income, however, is the key underlying factor. That’s why the Scottish Parliament unanimously passed the Child Poverty (Scotland) Bill on 8 November, setting in statute four ambitious income-based targets for 2030.

To reach these targets will require a range of action to be taken across government portfolios, and we will publish our proposals for this within the first action plan due by April 2018.

I refer the member to the answer to question S5W-12312 on 20 November 2017. 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.asp

The Scottish Government agrees that a new GP contract is critical to delivering more care in the community. Scottish Government and the BMA have negotiated a new contract (published 13 November), details of the contract offer can be found at http://www.gov.scot/Topics/Health/Services/Primary-Care/GP-Contract

The new GP contract which has now been agreed between the Scottish Government and the Scottish General Practitioners' committee (SGPC) is a critical part of our plans to transform primary care services in Scotland. The new contract aims to reinvigorate general practice and turn it into a positive career choice for existing and future GPs. GPs will have the opportunity to vote on the new contract at a special SLMC Conference in December.

The proposals include reducing GP workload through the expansion of the primary care multidisciplinary team and allowing GPs to focus on their role as expert medical generalists. This will give GPs a more fulfilling role, with more time to see and treat the patients that need them most.

There will be new investment in expanded teams of health professionals in practices, which may includes pharmacists, nurses, physiotherapists, paramedics, community mental health workers and non-clinical support workers for example community links workers.

More detail on the primary care workforce will be provided in the National Health and Social Care Workforce Plan: Part 3 Primary Care in 2018.

The new GP contract can be accessed here - http://www.gov.scot/Publications/2017/11/1343

As part of the existing approach to planning and identifying savings, NHS Boards focus on delivering recurring savings.

To ensure that public resources are used as effectively as possible and to help meet increasing demand and deliver reform, the Scottish Government has established a Sustainability and Value Programme to maximise the benefit from efficiency and productivity savings.

This Programme supports NHS Boards in identifying recurring savings which are then retained for local reinvestment. Savings plans are continually developed throughout the year, to deliver better services, better care and better value.

The new GP contract which has now been agreed between the Scottish Government and the Scottish General Practitioners' committee (SGPC) is a critical part of our plans to transform primary care services in Scotland. GPs will have the opportunity to vote on the new contract at a special SLMC Conference in December.

The proposals include reducing GP workload through the expansion of the primary care multidisciplinary team and allowing GPs to focus on their role as expert medical generalists. This will give GPs a more fulfilling role, with more time to see and treat the patients that need them most.

There will be new investment in expanded teams of health professionals in practices, which may include pharmacists, nurses, physiotherapists, paramedics, community mental health workers and non-clinical support workers for example community links workers.

More detail on the primary care workforce will be provided in the National Health and Social Care Workforce Plan: Part 3 Primary Care in 2018.

The new GP contract can be accessed here - http://www.gov.scot/Publications/2017/11/1343

Midlothian health and Social Care partnership have recently completed a significant piece of work to review and redraw the Practice boundaries to better reflect existing (and potential) list size capacity and planned house building within Midlothian. These changes were developed and agreed by all Practices.