- Asked by: Alex Cole-Hamilton, MSP for Edinburgh Western, Scottish Liberal Democrats
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Date lodged: Friday, 26 July 2019
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Current Status:
Answered by Maree Todd on 23 August 2019
To ask the Scottish Government what plans it has to make the process for fostering and adoption easier and quicker, in light of the number of adoptions reportedly falling by 13% in 2018.
Answer
The Scottish Government is aware of the importance of making these processes easier and quicker where possible without detracting from the crucial safeguarding of children that these processes seek to ensure. The Scottish Government recognises that permanent, loving, nurturing relationships are what matter most to children, and that this is best delivered by giving them the legal certainty that their relationships are permanent. Since 2014 the Scottish Government has funded the Centre for Looked After Children (CELCIS) to deliver the Permanence and Care Excellence programme (PACE). PACE supports improvement projects in local authorities, designed to identify areas of blockages or difficulties in securing permanence for looked after children and to reduce delay where it is appropriate to do so. In line with the commitment in the Scottish Government’s Programme for Government 2018/19 all local authorities have now been offered support from the PACE programme.
Through the Children and Young People Act 2014, the Scottish Government has placed Scotland’s Adoption Register on a statutory footing. The Register provides opportunities for children to be matched with families across Scotland if they cannot be matched locally, and is now used by all local authorities to further reduce the delays in children being matched with adoptive families, and finding permanent homes.
- Asked by: Alex Cole-Hamilton, MSP for Edinburgh Western, Scottish Liberal Democrats
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Date lodged: Friday, 26 July 2019
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Current Status:
Answered by Maree Todd on 23 August 2019
To ask the Scottish Government what plans it has to reduce the length of time that children and young people wait to be adopted, in light of 22% reportedly having been waiting for over a year in 2018.
Answer
The Scottish Government is committed to working in partnership with the adoption sector to ensure that we improve the outcomes of adopted young people and their families. Adoptions are completed as quickly as is appropriate and possible, without detracting from the crucial safeguarding of children that these processes seek to ensure. The majority of adoptions happen within a year, however the complexities of some adoptions require additional time and such decisions are taken in the best interests of the child or children concerned to ensure the match with adopters meets their long term needs.
- Asked by: Alex Cole-Hamilton, MSP for Edinburgh Western, Scottish Liberal Democrats
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Date lodged: Friday, 26 July 2019
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Current Status:
Answered by Maree Todd on 23 August 2019
To ask the Scottish Government, in light of a recent YouGov poll, which found that the cost of childcare has risen on average by £720 a year since 2016 and that people are turning to family members to meet the financial burden, what plans it has to reduce the costs of early learning and childcare.
Answer
Funded entitlement to early learning and childcare is helping to reduce childcare costs for families. All 3 and 4 year olds and around a quarter of 2 year olds are currently entitled to up to 600 hours of funded early learning and childcare per year. From August 2020, children’s entitlement will almost double to up to 1140 hours per year. The average estimated saving to families from the entire expanded provision is about £4,500 per child a year.
Local authorities are starting to phase in the expanded offer. Almost 20,000 children were already benefitting from more than 600 hours of funded early learning and childcare as a result of phasing as at April 2019.
In addition to the funded entitlement to early learning and childcare, the Scottish Government funds specific projects aimed at reducing childcare costs, including the Social Innovation Partnership’s One Parent Families Scotland flexible childcare service in Dundee and TASK’s Family and Childcare service in the Gorbals. We also recently announced a £3 million Access to Childcare Fund to deliver accessible and affordable after school and holiday childcare to support families on low incomes.
- Asked by: Alex Cole-Hamilton, MSP for Edinburgh Western, Scottish Liberal Democrats
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 30 July 2019
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Current Status:
Answered by Joe FitzPatrick on 21 August 2019
To ask the Scottish Government what plans it has to implement the findings of its 2018 consultation regarding the promotion of junk food.
Answer
An analysis of responses to the Reducing Health Harms of Foods High in Fat, Sugar and Salt consultation will be published by the autumn.
The Scottish Government will reflect on the findings from the consultation in considering what actions to take going forward.
- Asked by: Alex Cole-Hamilton, MSP for Edinburgh Western, Scottish Liberal Democrats
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 24 July 2019
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Current Status:
Answered by Maree Todd on 21 August 2019
To ask the Scottish Government who will be on its working group to consider further raising the age of criminal responsibility, and on what date the group will first meet.
Answer
An Advisory Group will be established to consider the implementation of the Age of Criminal Responsibility (Scotland) Act 2019 and potential future ages of criminal responsibility, and invitations have been issued. The Group will meet for the first time on 26 August. Care and justice organisations represented previously on the 2015-16 Advisory Group have again been invited to contribute, with the addition of Children's Hearings Scotland and the Scottish Courts and Tribunals Service. At its first meeting, the Group will consider whether other experts, interests and organisations should be invited to join them.
- Asked by: Alex Cole-Hamilton, MSP for Edinburgh Western, Scottish Liberal Democrats
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Date lodged: Friday, 02 August 2019
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Current Status:
Answered by Michael Matheson on 20 August 2019
To ask the Scottish Government what proof of residency in Scotland is required when applying for the free bus pass offered to older people.
Answer
Anyone applying for a National Entitlement Card (NEC) is required to provide original documentation to confirm their residency in Scotland and verify their personal details. This includes name, address, date of birth and proof of entitlement.
A list of the acceptable proofs to confirm residency entitlement can be found on the NEC website - https://www.entitlementcard.org.uk/how-get-your-nec
- Asked by: Alex Cole-Hamilton, MSP for Edinburgh Western, Scottish Liberal Democrats
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 30 July 2019
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Current Status:
Answered by Jeane Freeman on 20 August 2019
To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S5W-23848 by Jeane Freeman on 5 July 2019, what it is doing to mitigate the effects on local communities of contracts being handed back.
Answer
Local authorities have the statutory responsibility to provide social care services that meet the local needs of their population, as per the direction and ambition provided within their partner Integration Authority’s Strategic Commissioning Plan. If a contract is handed back, it is the duty of the local authority to seek alternative arrangements.
The Scottish Government and COSLA have recently launched a national programme to support local reform of social care to ensure social care is sustainable for the future. Part of this programme relates to improving commissioning and procurement practices. Scotland Excel is currently developing a national framework agreement for care at home services which will increase consistency in the way this support is commissioned, purchased and delivered, as well as strengthening the focus on person centred and outcomes-focused practice and fair work practices.
- Asked by: Alex Cole-Hamilton, MSP for Edinburgh Western, Scottish Liberal Democrats
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Date lodged: Friday, 26 July 2019
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Current Status:
Answered by Joe FitzPatrick on 20 August 2019
To ask the Scottish Government whether it plans to introduce the National Child Measurement Programme in Scotland, which was introduced in England in 2005, in order to tackle childhood obesity.
Answer
In Scotland, as part of the wider Child Health Programme , a system is in place for collecting and reporting on obesity levels in children.The most recent report ‘Body Mass Index of Primary 1 Children in Scotland’ is available here .
The purpose and key components of the Scottish programme are similar to that of the National Child Measurement Programme in England: to inform local planning and delivery of services for children; gather population-level data to allow analysis of trends in growth patterns and obesity; increase public and professional understanding of the importance of healthy weight in children and be a vehicle for engaging with children and families about healthy lifestyles and weight issues.
Consistent with action 3.11 of the Diet and Healthy Weight Delivery Plan , we are exploring options for an additional measurement point to improve data and support beyond primary 1. This includes providing more support to parents and the frontline practitioners who work with them, to have effective conversations about their child’s weight, in a way that is non-stigmatising. We will take learning from the National Child Measurement Programme in England, and practice further afield, to inform our decisions.
- Asked by: Alex Cole-Hamilton, MSP for Edinburgh Western, Scottish Liberal Democrats
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 31 July 2019
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Current Status:
Answered by Jeane Freeman on 16 August 2019
To ask the Scottish Government what information it has on what the suicide rate within the veterinary profession has been in (a) 2016, (b) 2017, (c) 2018 and (d) 2019.
Answer
The Scottish Government holds no information on the suicide rates within the veterinary profession for the years 2016 – 2019 as the annual published statistics do not include a breakdown by individual occupation. The Scottish Suicide Information Database publication shows that for the period 2011 - 2017 the total number of people aged 16-64 years old and in a professional occupation is 315 - this will include those in the veterinary profession.
- Asked by: Alex Cole-Hamilton, MSP for Edinburgh Western, Scottish Liberal Democrats
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Date lodged: Monday, 22 July 2019
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Current Status:
Answered by Jeane Freeman on 14 August 2019
To ask the Scottish Government what analysis it has carried out of the role that emerging technologies can play in helping people live independently for longer.
Answer
The Scottish Government recognise the benefit of evidence based implementation of technology. For example, in the latest social care statistics published, 132,000 people are already using telecare to manage their health and wellbeing and this continues to grow. Scotland's Digital Health and Care Strategy also identified the need to ensure we monitor the role that emerging technologies can play within health and social care and we will continue to review any developments. There have been a number of commissioned reviews to look at this. These include:
The Scottish Government's partner, The Digital Health and Care Institute (DHI) also undertake a number of studies. These include:
The Scottish Government's Technology Enabled Care Programme have also recently commissioned Alzheimer Scotland to look at what every day technologies (mobile phones, voice recognition technology etc) can do to support people to live longer healthier lives at home and we are awaiting the final report from that.
