Chamber and committees

The Scottish Government welcomes the valuable work that Red Cross and COOP are undertaking in tackling these issues. We note the recommendations within the report and will consider these further as we take forward the implementation of ‘A Connected Scotland’ our strategy to tackle social isolation and loneliness and build social connections.

In December 2017 we published the Race Equality Action Plan outlining more than 120 actions we will take over the course of this Parliament to secure better outcomes for ethnic minorities in Scotland. The plan seeks to address some of the factors that may lead to social isolation and loneliness for minority ethnic communities, including poverty, housing, and community cohesion.

People with recurring and long term mental illness require good primary and secondary mental health care and treatment. This is the responsibility of local providers including NHS Boards and HSCPs, and the Scottish Government expects that anyone with recurring psychosis will continue to receive the right treatment at the right time.

Our Vision paper lays the groundwork for a nationwide improvement in EI Psychosis services, and all patients experiencing psychosis (including those with recurring psychosis) will further benefit from this improvement work as it moves forward.

Early intervention is defined as the commencement of any necessary treatment as soon as possible after diagnosis. The Scottish Government’s Quality Indicator profile includes a measure of the percentage of first presentation psychosis patients that start SIGN or NICE guideline evidence based treatment within 14 calendar days of referral to specialist mental health services.

The improvement work, as articulated in our Vision, will ensure that people presenting for the first time with psychosis anywhere in Scotland will have timely access to effective care and treatment, with early intervention and a focus on recovery.

Official published statistics for the Affordable Housing Supply Programme (AHSP) show that for the three year period to 31st March 2019, a total of 16,419 homes for social rent have been delivered. Over the same period, a total of 19,943 homes for social rent have started on site.

The next set of quarterly official statistics on AHSP approvals, site starts and completions to end June 2019 are due to be published in September 2019.

Our commitment to improving Early Intervention Psychosis (EIP) services is reflected in Action 26 of the Mental Health Strategy, as well as in the Children and Young People’s Mental Health Taskforce Delivery Plan. The allocation of additional funding reflects that EIP is a policy priority for the Scottish Government, and our Vision to Improve Early Intervention in Psychosis in Scotland provides detail of how these commitments will be taken forward.

The first stage of our two-stage process, as outlined in our Vision, involves an EIP Improvement Network carrying out a national needs assessment, and conducting dedicated improvement work with two NHS Boards. The second phase of the process will be guided by the EIP Improvement Network's recommendations, and will involve the phased implementation of better EIP services and support across Scotland.

More generally, there are powerful arguments for improving EIP services. These are articulated in our Vision paper, including perspectives from people with lived experience. Psychosis can be an acutely serious mental health condition with potentially life-changing consequences. It is therefore vital that we provide the right help for people presenting for the first time with psychosis. There is also a volume of evidence showing that EIP is a highly effective approach, both in terms of clinical outcomes and cost effectiveness.

The Scottish Government’s Quality Indicator (QI) profile includes a specific measure (Quality Indicator T5) of the percentage of first presentation psychosis patients starting evidence-based treatment within 2 weeks.

Several of the other QIs are directly relevant in terms of providing better data about the care and treatment of people with recurring and long term mental health conditions, including psychosis. QIs that will provide relevant data include:

• E3 - % people with severe and enduring mental illness and / or learning disability who have had their BMI measured and recorded in the last 12 months. ‎
• E4 - % of people seen for at least 1 month that show improvement in functioning using any clinical outcome measurement over the previous month. ‎
• E5 - % of people seen for at least 1 month that show improvement in symptom severity using any clinical outcome measurement over the previous month. ‎
• Eq5 - % of caseload with an active anticipatory care plan. ‎
• P5 - % of people in mental health services seen for at least 1 month that show improvement in any personal outcome measurement over the previous month.

The QI profile is currently in the process of being rolled out across Scotland. Further information on the QIs can be found here:

https://www.gov.scot/publications/mental-health-quality-indicators-background-secondary-definitions/ .

Healthcare Improvement Scotland (HIS) completed a diagnostic exercise with NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde’s ESTEEM service (in January 2019) and NHS Highland’s Argyle and Bute Mental Health team (in February 2019). The aim of the exercise was to collect data to inform HIS’s Short Life Working Group on Early Intervention Psychosis (EIP) of the current early intervention service provision in an urban and rural environment.

The diagnostic exercise collected data on the current implementation of available evidence and guidelines, the current levels of demand, referral sources, clinical pathways, workforce, staff competencies (actual and required), and potential future developments that could be supported by a national action plan.

The results have been used to inform our Vision paper, which lays the groundwork for a nationwide improvement in EI Psychosis services in urban, semi-urban and rural settings.

Official published statistics for the Affordable Housing Supply Programme (AHSP) show that for the three year period to 31st March 2019, there were a total of 30,749 homes recorded as affordable housing starts. The official statistics can be found using the following link: https://www2.gov.scot/Topics/Statistics/Browse/Housing-Regeneration/HSfS/NewBuild/AHSPtables ;

It should be noted that whilst the majority of homes delivered through the AHSP will be new build, the programme also includes rehabilitation projects, off-the-shelf purchases and homes for low-cost home ownership from existing housing stock.

The next set of official statistics in respect of the AHSP are due to be published in September.

We are making excellent progress towards our target of delivering 50,000, affordable homes, 35,000 of which will be for social rent, backed by a record investment of £3.3 billion.

The most recently published Quarterly Housing Statistics show that since April 2016 to end March 2019, we have delivered 25,405 affordable homes, 16,419 of which are for social rent – keeping us well on track to deliver our ambitious target over the course of this Parliament.

This government can be very proud of its record on affordable housing having now delivered more than 86,000 affordable homes since 2007.

The Scottish House Condition Survey Key Findings Report 2017 estimated that 50% of homes in Scotland have some disrepair to critical elements of the house, equivalent to around 1.2 million homes. The presence of disrepair to critical elements does not mean that a home is not actually wind and watertight, and includes fairly minor and non-urgent disrepairs. The Report estimates that around 58,000 homes suffer some water penetration due to a defect in the building fabric, and that around 7,000 homes are below the Tolerable Standard due to a fabric defect or a defective or missing damp proof course.

Local authorities are required to have a strategy for ensuring that homes which do not meet the Tolerable Standard are closed, demolished or brought up to standard in a reasonable period, and they have broad discretionary powers to assist home owners with work needed to meet the standard. Landlords of both private and social rented housing are required to carry out any work needed to ensure that homes they let are wind and watertight.