- Asked by: Neil Bibby, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Monday, 19 March 2018
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Current Status:
Answered by Annabelle Ewing on 29 March 2018
To ask the Scottish Government what its strategy is for supporting law centres.
Answer
Scotland has maintained wide access to legal aid for both criminal and civil justice matters, with those who are eligible able to access public funding for legal representation and advice. The Legal Aid budget allocation for 2017-18 amounts to £126.1million and remains unchanged from the 2016-17 settlement. The Scottish Government will continue to work with the legal profession and others to identify measures to improve and reform Scotland’s Legal Aid system.
Law Centres provide a vital role in providing access to Justice by empowering people and communities to exercise their rights and responsibilities, to resolve disputes and other civil justice problems at the earliest opportunity.
Law Centres are independent of Government and are managed and controlled by users working within communities. Any decision to close or reduce service delivery is a matter for the individual Law Centre and the Scottish Government has no locus to intervene in that decision.
Law Centres often obtain grant support from local and central Government, and other funding sources such as Citizens Advice Scotland and Charitable Trusts. The Scottish Law Centre Association’s view, submitted to the Independent Review of Legal Aid, indicates that many of their most successful cases have been financed by Legal Aid, and this mix of funding is essential to ensure that Law Centres have flexibility and the ability to take on those cases which are onerous and time consuming.
- Asked by: Neil Bibby, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Monday, 19 March 2018
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Current Status:
Answered by Annabelle Ewing on 29 March 2018
To ask the Scottish Government what action it is taking to stop reported reductions in services provided by law centres.
Answer
- Asked by: Neil Bibby, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Monday, 19 March 2018
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Current Status:
Answered by Annabelle Ewing on 29 March 2018
To ask the Scottish Government what its strategy is for widening access to support in the justice system for people and communities living in poverty.
Answer
The Scottish Government’s believes in a safe, just and resilient Scotland. We want to provide a justice system that is fair and equitable for everyone in Scotland.
Widening access to justice for individuals and communities, such as those living in poverty, includes improving information and advice services, giving people greater options to resolve disputes without court action wherever possible, having a flourishing legal services market and, where necessary, providing legal aid for court proceedings.
The Scottish Government is widening access to justice by:
- encouraging the use of resolution services such as mediation and arbitration which can be cheaper and less time consuming than going to court
- reforming the system of legal aid so that it focuses on those who need it most
- simplifying Scotland’s tribunals system to ensure it is user-friendly and independent
- working to introduce alternative business structures in the legal services market to improve customer choice
- using IT innovation to improve data management, ensuring that people working in the justice system can access the right information at the right time, benefiting the people who rely on the system
- making sure that high quality legal advice and general advice and information is available to ensure people can avoid problems or resolve disputes as quickly as possible
- The Civil Litigation (Expenses and Group Proceedings) (Scotland) Bill, currently before the Scottish Parliament, will increase access to justice by creating a more accessible, affordable and equitable civil justice system for Scotland that:
- makes the costs of civil action more predictable,
- increases the funding options for pursuers of civil actions; and
- introduces a greater level of equality to the funding relationship between claimants and defenders in personal injury actions.
The Scottish Government is reviewing our support for advice services across Scotland to ensure advice is available and accessible to all who need it.
We are considering how existing resources can be best used to deliver improved reach, quality and impact, including exploring the opportunities new technology could provide to offer more accessible and efficient advice services for some people.
We will work closely with Local Authorities to ensure we offer a joined up approach to public funding of advice services.
Demand for advice services across Scotland is growing, particularly due to the impact of UK Welfare changes. We have increased our welfare advice services budget from £3.1 million in 2017-18 to £3.6 million in 2018-19 to enable us to improve our support for advice, informed by key recommendations emerging from the advice services review.
- Asked by: Neil Bibby, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 28 February 2018
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Current Status:
Answered by Shirley-Anne Somerville on 7 March 2018
To ask the Scottish Government what its response is to the industrial action by the University and College Union regarding staff pensions.
Answer
I recognise the serious implications for all concerned in this dispute – universities, staff and students – and welcome the news that the University and College Union and Universities UK have agreed to return to the negotiating table and work towards a resolution of this issue.
- Asked by: Neil Bibby, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Monday, 29 January 2018
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Current Status:
Answered by Shona Robison on 20 February 2018
To ask the Scottish Government how many beds there at the (a) Royal Hospital for Children, Glasgow and (b) Children's Ward at the Royal Alexandra Hospital.
Answer
NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde has confirmed that there are 211 inpatient beds at the Royal Hospital for Children and 16 inpatient beds on the paediatric ward (Ward 15) at the Royal Alexandra Hospital. The Board advise that for the year 2016-17 Ward 15 only had an average occupancy of 50%.
- Asked by: Neil Bibby, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Monday, 29 January 2018
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Current Status:
Answered by Shona Robison on 12 February 2018
To ask the Scottish Government how many beds there will be at the Royal Hospital for Children, Glasgow, when the Children's Ward at the Royal Alexandra Hospital is closed.
Answer
There is no planned change to the inpatient bed complement at the Royal Hospital for Children (RHC) as a result of the closure of Ward 15 at the Royal Alexandra Hospital (RAH). NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde has provided assurances that there is adequate bed capacity at the RHC to accommodate the demand following the closure of Ward 15. For context, the RHC had a provisional bed occupancy of 69% in 2016-17. In the same period, Ward 15 at the RAH had an average bed occupancy of around 50%; i.e. there was consistent local demand for around 8 inpatient beds with an available capacity at the RHC many times that number. The Health Board has further confirmed that in the most recent period of activity (October - December, 2017) the inpatient bed occupancy at Ward 15 was only 37%.
- Asked by: Neil Bibby, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 24 January 2018
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Current Status:
Answered by Shona Robison on 1 February 2018
To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S5W-13949 by Shona Robison on 19 January 2018, which local clinicians she listened to in making her decision to close the Children's Ward at the Royal Alexandra Hospital, and which clinicians were consulted prior to a decision being taken.
Answer
As set out in my response to question S5W-13949 and the Statement I delivered to Parliament on 23 January 2017, I carefully considered all the available information and representations before coming to a final decision.
The proposals attracted overwhelming clinical support and were consistent with national policy, modern clinical standards and best practice. The clinical view was clear that the proposals were in the best interests of local children and that they would result in better clinical outcomes. This was the view of the paediatric clinicians at both Ward 15 and the Royal Hospital for Children whom I met when I visited those facilities on 5 July 2017 and 29 September 2017, respectively, as part of my consideration of the proposals. Following my decision, these views were reiterated in a letter received from the lead paediatric clinicians and the chief nurse for paediatrics at Ward 15 and the Royal Hospital for Children.
- Asked by: Neil Bibby, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 16 January 2018
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Current Status:
Answered by Maree Todd on 26 January 2018
To ask the Scottish Government whether it holds records regarding how many disabled children and young people there are and, if not, how it will ensure that there is an adequate provision of services.
Answer
The Scottish Health Survey provides annual estimates of the proportion of children with limiting long-term conditions. Figures at a local level are available from the Census every ten years.
Children’s services are planned and commissioned locally. Part 3 of the Children and Young People (Scotland) Act 2014 places a duty on each local authority and relevant health board to jointly prepare a children's services plan covering a 3 year period. A range of other relevant national and local bodies, including the third sector, are expected to be either consulted with, or obliged to participate, at various stages of the development of the plan.
- Asked by: Neil Bibby, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 16 January 2018
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Current Status:
Answered by Maree Todd on 26 January 2018
To ask the Scottish Government how the National Framework for Families with Disabled Children and Young People will support parents in (a) accessing services and (b) tackling loneliness and social isolation.
Answer
(a) The Framework was developed to address ambitious outcomes for the families of disabled children and young people, the second being: “Access to support and services will be easier and more efficient as families are more aware of what their entitlements are and what support is available to them.” The Framework will signpost to a variety of entitlements and support underpinned by a holistic definition of needs which goes beyond medical or financial support. The Framework seeks to improve access through empowering families with the knowledge of entitlements, where to find more local information, and how to seek advocacy when they feel that their rights are not being realised.
(b) Social isolation and loneliness can affect anyone at any age or stage of their life and parents of children and young people with disabilities are at particular risk. We recognise the important role that many support services and organisations play in linking families of disabled children and providing valuable community networks. By improving awareness of, and access to, these services the Supporting Disabled Children, Young People and their Families Framework will seek to reduce social isolation for disabled children, young people and their families.
- Asked by: Neil Bibby, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 16 January 2018
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Current Status:
Answered by Maree Todd on 26 January 2018
To ask the Scottish Government when the consultation on the National Framework for Families with Disabled Children and Young People will open.
Answer
The Supporting Disabled Children, Young People and their Families consultation will launch in March 2018.
