Chamber and committees

The Scottish Government is committed to supporting the social care workforce and as part of this we have engaged with both COSLA and Scottish Care on this matter. COSLA has informed us that they would expect those working in a local government setting will receive the full 45p per mile rate set by HMRC. We will continue to engage with partners on this emerging issue.

The National Flood Risk Assessment published by SEPA in 2018 provided Scotland with the knowledge and tools to assess the causes and consequences of river, coastal and surface water flooding, taking into account the effects of climate change. The Assessment considered the potential impacts of flooding on emergency services and healthcare facilities. The information from this Assessment was used to help identify those areas most at risk of significant flooding impacts.

NHS Scotland Chief Executives have made a commitment that all Health Boards will prepare a Climate Change Risk Assessment (CCRA) and Climate Change Adaptation Plan by the end of the 2021-22 financial year. This includes the identification of any sites at risk of flooding both now, and in the future with projected climate change.

https://www.sepa.org.uk/data-visualisation/nfra2018/ .

The Scottish Government is clear that bullying of any kind is unacceptable and must be addressed quickly whenever it arises.

Each local authority is responsible for the care, safety and welfare of pupils in school in the authority area. All adults who work in schools have a responsibility to ensure the mental, emotional, social and physical wellbeing of the children and young people in their care.

Headteachers, teachers, other school staff and local authorities are best placed to decide how to address bullying in their schools. Individual schools know their context and children and young people best and so it is essential they are able to implement their own anti-bullying policy, specific to the local needs and circumstances of the children and young people in their area.

Our national guidance ‘Respect for All’ provides the overarching framework for all adults working with children and young people to address all types of bullying. It makes clear that bullying is not just the responsibility of schools but all adults involved in the lives of children and young people who have a role in preventing and responding to bullying.

We continue to fully fund respectme, Scotland’s anti-bullying service to build confidence and capacity to address bullying effectively, aligned to ‘Respect for All’.

I refer the member to the answer to question S6W-06074 on 17 February 2022. All answers to written Parliamentary Questions are available on the Parliament's website, the search facility for which can be found at https://www.parliament.scot/chamber-and-committees/written-questions-and-answers .

We remain open to expanding the scope of materials to be included in Scotland’s Deposit Return Scheme (DRS), once the current core scheme is firmly established.

Table 1 – deaths from thrombosis-related conditions, 2008-2020

In recognition of the scale of the existing shock of the pandemic and of the need to consider existing models of funding, governance, collaboration and delivery, the Deputy First Minister and the then Minister for Further Education, Higher Education and Science commissioned the Scottish Funding Council (SFC) to undertake their Review of Coherent Provision and Sustainability on 3 June 2020.

The Cumberford-Little report was highlighted in the commissioning letter from Ministers as a key element of the evidence base to be drawn on in the SFC review.

Many of the recommendations first made in the Cumberford-Little report are reflected in the final recommendations of the SFC Review, published in June 2021, including the recommendation for government to set out a compelling narrative and purpose for the sector and the need for a transparent and accessible performance regime directly related to purpose.

The Scottish Government published its response to the SFC review on 26 October 2021, broadly accepting and agreeing with the recommendations. The response acknowledges the importance of the Cumberford-Little report in shaping those recommendations.

Work is underway to implement the recommendations in the SFC review both within Government and within the SFC. In addition, the recently published National Strategy for Economic Transformation with its clear focus on skills recognises the central role Scotland’s colleges have in supporting business growth and economic recovery. The delivery of the actions described in NSET will further support the ambitions and recommendations as envisaged in the Cumberford-Little report.

The report has not been shared with the Scottish Government, but children and young people living in this type of accommodation should receive the highest level and quality of care.

Officials have contacted the City of Edinburgh Council to offer support. We are assured that the findings and recommendations of the report are now being taken forward as part of a robust and detailed action plan to improve the quality of care.

The Scottish Government does not hold data on the level and nature of financial investment from China in universities in Scotland as they are autonomous bodies.

Long waiting times for treatment are unacceptable and we remain committed to meet the standard that 90% of patients begin treatment within 18 weeks of referral. This is why we have allocated £40 million to NHS Boards to improve CAMHS in the last financial year. £4.25m of that allocation was directly focussed on offering treatment to those already on CAMHS waiting lists, with a view to clearing all backlogs by March 2023. Whilst Boards continue to respond creatively to treat significant numbers of children and young people, their priority is to ensure that emergency and urgent cases are seen, and this has regrettably meant longer waits for some.

Waiting lists are managed locally by individual Health Boards. However, the Scottish Government has issued key principles for Health Boards to shape their policies for managing waiting lists. These set out our expectation that patients on the waiting list, and where appropriate their families, are kept informed of their situation; that those waiting the longest should be contacted first; and that support and personalised, meaningful signposting should also be provided to the patient and their families, with informed consent, to access other services within the children and young people's service network, in cases where families' needs are best met elsewhere.

Additionally, to enhance the support that is available, in the last financial year we provided local authorities with an additional £15 million to fund over 230 new and enhanced community-based mental health supports and services for children and young people. This financial year, we will issue a further £15 million to councils to fund the continuation of these supports.

This funding gives local authorities the flexibility to implement supports on the basis of local priorities and to make services available to children and young people who are awaiting CAMHS treatment or for whom CAMHS is not suitable. Councils have advised us that the community-based supports have started receiving referrals from CAMHS.

The services include mental health support for LGBTQI+ children and young people in Glasgow; family mediation and counselling services in Dundee; online self-directed support and counselling in Aberdeenshire and Bereavement and Loss support in the Scottish Borders. Establishing these services is a significant step forward in supporting the mental health of our children and young people, making sure they receive the help they need when they need it.