Chamber and committees

The Independent Review of Complaints Handling, Investigations and Misconduct Issues in Relation to Policing, commissioned by the Lord Advocate and previous Cabinet Secretary, and led by Dame Elish Angiolini, is ongoing.

Dame Elish published a detailed preliminary report containing 30 recommendations on 21 June and we are working closely with key partners and stakeholders to fully consider her findings.

Dame Elish will be continuing her engagement during the second phase of the Review with a view to producing a final report and further recommendations later in 2020.

Our policy is that the current immigration detention system is inhumane and needs to be overhauled.

Scottish Government Ministers have offered to explore the feasibility of undertaking a pilot on alternatives to immigration detention in Scotland on a number of occasions. To date, the Scottish Government has not received a response from the Home Office on the possibility of Scotland being a location for implementing alternatives to immigration detention or taken up our offer to discuss further.

I refer the member to the answer to question S5W-25265 on 24 September 2019. 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 .

I wrote to the former Minister of State for Immigration about immigration detention issues, including the need for a time limit and community-based alternatives, on 1 April 2019. Following changes in Ministerial responsibilities, it is not yet clear who leads on this for the UK Government, so I wrote again on this issue to the new Home Secretary this month.

Attendance Allowance for self-funders in care homes in Scotland was withdrawn by UK Government when Scotland introduced free personal care in 2002. This is because UK Government determined that personal care payments to those residing in care homes were a contribution towards the resident’s care, accommodation and living costs. This was regardless of whether the personal care payment was made directly to the individual or to the care home

Therefore, currently it is not possible to receive both a payment for free personal care and Attendance Allowance if you are a self-funder in a care home in Scotland. This is regardless of how the payment is made – whether to the care home directly or to the individual.

When the decision was made to withdraw Attendance Allowance for self-funders in care homes, the then Scottish Executive increased the size of personal care payments for care home residents to compensate for this loss. This ensured self-funding residents continued to receive financial support.

Personal and Nursing Care payments in 2019-20 are £177 for personal care and £80 for nursing care per week. Attendance Allowance rates in 2019-20 are £58.70 (lower rate) and £87.65 (higher rate) per week.

There is no reason why an individual would be better off receiving Attendance Allowance rather than free personal care, whether they receive the payment directly or it is paid to the care home. The rate for free personal care payments is higher than the Attendance Allowance rate at both low and high level.

We have no immediate plans to change the process of free personal and nursing care payments to self-funders living in care homes.

The Scottish Government welcomes the recent submission by Novartis Pharmaceuticals UK to the Scottish Medicines Consortium (SMC) for Voretigene Neparvovec (Luxturna ® ), for the treatment of adult and paediatric patients with vision loss due to RPE65-mediated inherited retinal dystrophy, through the new ultra-orphan pathway. The ultra-orphan pathway, which was introduced in October 2018, allows medicines for extremely rare conditions to be available on the NHS in Scotland for up to three years after initial consideration by SMC, while further evidence on their clinical effectiveness is generated.

We expect the SMC to consider Luxturna ® towards the end of 2019.

Whilst it is the role of the Scottish Government to provide the policies, frameworks and resources for high quality healthcare in Scotland, it is for each NHS Board to plan services to meet the needs of its population. This includes how best to utilise funding, facilities and staff, while taking account of national and local priorities.

We expect NHS Boards to plan their workforce to deliver these services and to have robust processes in place to ensure services are delivered by the right professional at the right time - including the provision of infant feeding advisors and/or peer support coordinators to provide support to mothers.

Maternity and Community services across NHS Scotland are now fully accredited by Unicef UK as Baby Friendly. All Midwives, Health Visitors, Family Nurses and support staff have been trained and are competent to provide high quality feeding and relationship building care for mothers and babies in all their infant feeding decisions.

We are monitoring the implementation of this legislation and while the legislation was passed in 2014 most of its provisions did not come into effect until 2016. This was to align implementation of the Procurement Reform (Scotland) Act 2014 with the last changes to the European public procurement rules. While the full impact and the benefits of the recent changes in public procurement are yet to be realised there are signs that these changes are positively influencing practice and securing wider benefits. The first annual report on procurement activity in Scotland was laid before the Scottish Parliament on 4 April 2019 and a copy can be found in the Parliament’s Reference Centre (SPICe). The report can also be accessed on the Scottish Government website at: https://www.gov.scot/publications/annual-report-procurement-activity-scotland-2019/ . We have committed to a post implementation review of the legislation and this is set out in the final Business and Regulatory Impact Assessment (BRIA) that accompanied the legislation. A copy of the BRIA can be found at: https://www2.gov.scot/Resource/0043/00435515.pdf .

In response to Alison Johnstone MSP’s previous question (S5O-03432 on 26 June 2019), I announced my intention to carry out an internal review of our empty home policy to ensure we maximise the numbers brought back into use. We consider the work of the Partnership to be a strong success, but it is right that we review progress to date.

In doing so, I will carefully consider the evidence gathered by the Local Government and Communities Committee during their Empty Homes Inquiry and any recommendations they wish to make. The review will include the work of the Scottish Empty Homes Partnership, funds that support empty homes work, the use of the council tax levy for long-term empty homes, data collection, and work undertaken internationally to bring homes back into use. I therefore have no immediate plans to extend the work of the Partnership whilst the review is taking place.

The answer to oral parliamentary question is available on the Parliaments website, the Official Report can be viewed at: http://www.parliament.scot/parliamentarybusiness/report.aspx?r=12208&i=110280

The Scottish Government welcomes non-UK citizens from all over the world, not only for their contribution to our economy and society, but for the diversity they bring to our communities. Scotland is stronger for our multi-culturalism and non-UK citizens are an important part of Scotland's future.

The Scottish Government launched the Stay in Scotland campaign in April 2019 to raise awareness of the UK Government's EU Settlement Scheme and encourage EU citizens who have made Scotland home to stay. The Stay in Scotland campaign provides practical information and support.

The EU Settlement Scheme is open to EU, EEA and Swiss citizens and close family members living in the UK. Turkish citizens are not eligible to apply to the scheme and will continue to follow separate immigration routes through the UK Government's transitional agreement if the UK leaves the EU. The UK Government have stated in relation to Turkish citizens that:

"as a transitional agreement, the UK will seek to replicate the effect of the European Communities Association Agreement (ECAA) arrangements for the resident Turkish population. Allowing resident ECAA workers and ECAA business persons and their family members to apply for further leave with similar eligibility requirements as they have now, and apply to settle in the UK."

The Scottish Government therefore currently has no plans to extend the Stay in Scotland campaign to Turkish citizens living in Scotland, as this resource provides information and support for those directly affected by the EU Settlement Scheme. However, we will keep this situation under review.