Questions and answers

Question reference: S6O-02090

Asked by: Bob Doris, MSP for Glasgow Maryhill and Springburn, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 22 March 2023
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 30 March 2023

To ask the Scottish Government what steps it is taking to address any poverty-related issues in schools.

Question reference: S6W-15835

Asked by: Bob Doris, MSP for Glasgow Maryhill and Springburn, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Monday, 13 March 2023
Current Status: Answered by Kevin Stewart on 21 March 2023

To ask the Scottish Government what plans it has to address the recommendation of the UK Commission on Bereavement in its 2022 report, Bereavement is everyone’s business, that governments in each UK nation must invest 79p annually per person in the population for transforming bereavement services over the next five years, with a particular focus on better supporting minority groups.

The Scottish Government welcomes The UK Commission on Bereavement’s report and the focus it brings to improving the experience of people affected by grief. Bereavement affects many aspects of our lives and we recognise that getting the right care and support following a bereavement is crucial for our health and wellbeing.

We are already taking forward a broad programme of work to improve the practical support, care and advice that is available for people who have been bereaved. That includes: prioritising bereavement support within our £15 million Communities Mental Health and Wellbeing Fund; investing directly in bereavement support services - including for families and workplaces affected by suicide; providing wellbeing advice on the Mind 2 Mind website; widening eligibility for the Funeral Support Payment; and, uprating the Funeral Support Payment annually.

We are also exploring ways to further improve bereavement support through our new Mental Health and Wellbeing Strategy, the new Palliative and End of Life Strategy, and through the creation of the National Care Service. This will include a focus on meeting the needs of minority groups.

Finally, we will continue to engage and listen to bereavement sector partners as we take forward our bereavement work, and will draw on the UK Commission’s findings.

Question reference: S6W-15838

Asked by: Bob Doris, MSP for Glasgow Maryhill and Springburn, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Monday, 13 March 2023
Current Status: Answered by Kevin Stewart on 21 March 2023

To ask the Scottish Government whether it supports the core recommendations of the UK Commission on Bereavement in its 2022 report, Bereavement is everyone’s business, and whether it plans to implement the recommendations, and, if so, within what timescale.

The Scottish Government welcomes The UK Commission on Bereavement’s report and the focus it brings to improving the experience of people affected by grief. Bereavement affects many aspects of our lives and we recognise that getting the right care and support following a bereavement is crucial for our health and wellbeing.

As set out in the answers to questions S6W-15835 and S6W-15839 on 21 March 2023, we are already taking forward a broad programme of work to improve the practical support, care and advice that is available for people who have been bereaved. We are also taking forward specific work which implements a number of UK Commission’s recommendations. This includes: improving access to advice and information for people affected by bereavement; ensuring people are sensitively supported during a bereavement; and, adopting public health approaches to create more open-ness in our communities to talking about dying and death. We have also introduced practical changes to ensure processes for registering a death are as straightforward as possible.

We are also exploring ways to further improve bereavement support through our new Mental Health and Wellbeing Strategy, the new Palliative and End of Life Strategy, and through the creation of the National Care Service. This includes focussing on the needs of minority groups.

Finally, we will continue our engagement with the bereavement sector as we take forward our work to improve support for people affected by bereavement, drawing on the UK Commission’s findings.

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

Question reference: S6W-15837

Asked by: Bob Doris, MSP for Glasgow Maryhill and Springburn, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Monday, 13 March 2023
Current Status: Answered by Kevin Stewart on 21 March 2023

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide further details of the wide package of bereavement support as referenced in the letter from the Minister for Mental Wellbeing and Social Care to the Chair and Scotland’s Commissioners of the UK Commission on Bereavement, dated 28 December 2022.

As set out in the answers to questions S6W-15835 and S6W-15839 on 21 March 2023 the Scottish Government is already taking forward a broad programme of work to improve the practical support, care and advice that is available for people who have been bereaved.

We are also working to implement some of the UK Commission’s recommendations, for example, improving access to advice and information for people affected by bereavement, ensuring people are sensitively supported during a bereavement, and adopting public health approaches to create more open-ness in talking about dying and death. We have already introduced practical changes to ensure processes for registering a death are as straightforward as possible.

We will continue to engage and listen to bereavement sector partners as we take forward our bereavement work, and will draw on the UK Commission’s findings.

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

Question reference: S6W-15839

Asked by: Bob Doris, MSP for Glasgow Maryhill and Springburn, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Monday, 13 March 2023
Current Status: Answered by Kevin Stewart on 21 March 2023

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will commit to developing a new, cross-departmental bereavement strategy that recognises support following bereavement as a human right.

The Scottish Government welcomes The UK Commission on Bereavement’s report and the focus it brings to improving the experience of people affected by grief. We value the holistic approach taken by the UK Commission on Bereavement which recognises that bereavement touches many aspects of our lives, including emotional wellbeing and health, school and work life, finances, and housing.

Our programme of bereavement work sits across Ministerial portfolios, reflecting the wide range of impacts bereavement has on people’s lives. We have already taken steps to progress and align our cross-Government programme of work to ensure we adopt the holistic approach advocated by the UK Commission.

Question reference: S6O-02034

Asked by: Bob Doris, MSP for Glasgow Maryhill and Springburn, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 15 March 2023
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 22 March 2023

To ask the Scottish Government how its culture policies can help celebrate Scotland's rich social history.

Question reference: S6W-15718

Asked by: Bob Doris, MSP for Glasgow Maryhill and Springburn, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Monday, 06 March 2023
Current Status: Initiated by the Scottish Government. Answered by Jamie Hepburn on 7 March 2023

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on the implementation of the Career Review recommendations.

Today the Career Review Programme Board, chaired by Grahame Smith, have published the Career Review: Final Report, titled 'Skills and experiences to grow and succeed in a rapidly changing world' . This report concludes a comprehensive review of Scotland's career services and provides detail on how the ten recommendations that the Scottish Government accepted in February 2022 will be taken forward.

The report is available at www.careerreview.scot

Question reference: S6O-01967

Asked by: Bob Doris, MSP for Glasgow Maryhill and Springburn, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 01 March 2023
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 8 March 2023

To ask the Scottish Government what steps it is taking to increase voter turnout in both Scottish parliamentary and local government elections.

Question reference: S6W-13228

Asked by: Bob Doris, MSP for Glasgow Maryhill and Springburn, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 13 December 2022
Current Status: Initiated by the Scottish Government. Answered by George Adam on 14 December 2022

To ask the Scottish Government when its proposed consultation on electoral reform will be published.

Question reference: S6W-12347

Asked by: Bob Doris, MSP for Glasgow Maryhill and Springburn, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Friday, 18 November 2022
Current Status: Answered by Humza Yousaf on 5 December 2022

To ask the Scottish Government (a) what proportion of and (b) how the £600 million of funding set out in the Health and Social Care Winter Resilience Overview will support community nursing and palliative care teams to care for terminally ill people in the community over winter 2022.

The £600 million funding set out in the Health and Social Care Winter Resilience Overview 2022-23 includes investment of £170 million for multi-disciplinary teams and £124 million to enhance care at home, supporting people to be treated in the community where clinically appropriate.

We have appointed a National Clinical Lead to drive and support the development and delivery of a new Strategy on Palliative and End of Life Care, supported by a small advisory group and a newly established strategy steering group, both of which include representatives of community and specialist palliative care nurses.

Nurses, amongst many multi-disciplinary staff, are crucial to the delivery of palliative and end of life care within the community.

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