Chamber and committees

The figures quoted relate to spend per household. Comparing spend per household between Scotland and the UK can be misleading, as Scotland has on average fewer people in each household. On a per person basis, the latest figures show that on average Scots spend a similar amount to the UK as a whole, at £222 per person compared to £227 for the UK.

As set out in the response to question S5W-13592 on 11 January 2018, income tax is paid by individuals on the basis of their earnings, whereas Council Tax liabilities apply to the occupants of a domestic dwelling and depend on the tax rate set by the local authority, the property’s banding and the composition and circumstances of the household. There is therefore no direct link between the income tax and council tax an individual pays. 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 2018-19 Draft Budget process has seen the independent Scottish Fiscal Commission (SFC) produce their first NSND income tax forecast. Paragraphs 3.14 to 3.17 of their report outline the approach they have taken to incorporations, and why it has changed from the Scottish Government’s February 2017 estimate - which drew on information provided by the OBR and were deemed reasonable by the SFC at the time. Since then, improved modelling and new information has been made available by HMRC which suggests that trends in incorporations in Scotland may be more pronounced than previously thought. The SFC’s report can be found here: http://www.fiscalcommission.scot/media/1196/scotlands-economic-fiscal-forecasts-publication.pdf

Ministers and officials regularly meet representatives of all Scottish local authorities to discuss a range of issues as part of our commitment to working in partnership with local government to improve outcomes for the people of Scotland.

It is the responsibility of individual local authorities to allocate the resources available to them on the basis of local needs and priorities, including any provision for adverse weather. Scottish Ministers can make additional support available to local authorities to assist with the immediate, and unforeseen costs in dealing with the aftermath of emergency incidents through the Bellwin Scheme. The key criterion of the Scheme is to safeguard life and property, and prevent suffering or severe inconvenience in a local authority’s area or among its inhabitants. Any local authority wishing to make a claim should inform the Government of an emergency incident, which it considers meets the criteria of the Scheme, within one week of the incident. To date no local authority has registered the need to make a claim in response to the most recent severe winter weather.

As set out in the response to question S5W-13859, HMRC have estimated annual running costs of up to a total of £5m for a distinct Scottish income tax system. Total implementation costs are estimated at between £20m and £25m for the Scottish Rate of Income Tax with a further £2.6m for powers under the Scotland Act 2016 and these costs include being able to implement additional tax bands. A detailed cost analysis for implementing and operating the new system will be provided by HMRC after the Scottish Rates Resolution has been passed by Parliament and will be audited by the National Audit Office in due course.

The Scottish Government holds data on the annual usage of the NHS self-help guide mobile app which offers patients information and advice on some of the most common symptoms and directs patients to the most appropriate care for their condition.

Since its development the self-help guide mobile app has had 6,093 IOS installs and 3,882 Android installs. There has also been 141,332 views of the app on the IOS app store.

The Scottish Government does not hold data on usage of NHS Inform or the Know Who to Turn To services centrally. However, NHS 24 has provided the following usage data for each of these services for the calendar year 2017:

Based on total NHS procurement expenditure of £2.4 billion for 2016-17, 59% of procurement spend was through national arrangements and 41% was procured locally by individual NHS Boards. National contracts include commodities such as pharmaceuticals, medical devices, food and catering and vehicle purchase, lease and management. The areas principally procured through local contracts include construction, specific items of capital equipment and facilities management contracts.

The Scottish Government is committed to improving the lives of autistic people. We recognise that some autistic people are not able to live and work independently and that not everyone has access to family carers.

Local authorities have a duty to assess an individual’s social care needs and arrange appropriate social care support in a person-centred way. For those with autism and complex needs any provision of care and support should be person-centred and take account of the individual’s choices so they can meet their personal outcomes. For those individuals without capacity Local authorities would have a duty to support the individual to make any decisions. Where on-going support is required this would be reviewed as the individuals circumstances change. Local authorities can apply to appoint the Chief Social Work Officer as welfare guardian where necessary and a professional, such as a solicitor, as financial guardian.

The Scottish Government is currently carrying out a review of the Adults with Incapacity legislation. This will involve enhancing the current principles of the legislation to make them more robust and to ensure compliance with the UNCRPD. This means that every support should be given to disabled people to be able to exercise their legal capacity to make decisions about their care and support.

The income tax measures set out in the Draft Budget are forecast to raise an additional £366 million to support the Scottish Budget in 2018-19. This additional revenue will be spent on a range of measures to support our public services, reverse UK Government cuts and grow the Scottish economy.

As I mentioned in my response to question S5W-13144 we have invested more than £8 million to support improvements at NHS Grampian. This funding is supporting a significant number of improvement actions across NHS Grampian, for example:

• Physio led clinics

• Virtual Outpatient Clinics

• Pharmacy led Outpatient Clinics

• Club Foot Clinics

• See and Treat Cataracts

• Additional Theatre time

• Additional staff recruited to manage waiting lists (including out patient return waiting lists)

• Recruitment of medical / nurse staff (plastic surgery)

• Enhanced Ear, Nose and Throat Clinics

• Additional Neurology Clinics

This is just an example of the many actions that the Scottish Government is supporting NHS Grampian to deliver. The delivery of the planned activity work is being monitored by officials on a regular basis. We have officials working closely with the local teams at NHS Grampian to support the service to deliver waiting times performance.

This programme of work will support the delivery of the 18-week referral to treatment standard.