Seòmar agus comataidhean

The Scottish Government recognises the value and importance of providers in the private, third and childminding sectors in delivering 1140 hours of high quality funded Early Learning and Childcare.

That is why we have made the payment of sustainable rates - that reflect the cost of delivery and enable the payment of the Real Living Wage to those workers delivering funded ELC - by local authorities to services in the private, third and childminding sectors a central to our policy on Funding Follows the Child.

We also provide resources to support recruitment and retention to all parts of the sector. For example, we have invested over £11 million in creating over 1400 additional places on degree-level qualifications since 2017-18, offering opportunities for practitioners to train to fill manager-level positions.

However, it is important to recognise that the childcare market is a mixed economy and employers in the private and third sectors are responsible for making their own decisions about pay and conditions.

The Scottish Government continues to work closely with COSLA to find a way forward on the introduction of a Scottish Recommended Allowance for foster and kinship carers.

While the Scottish Government does not hold the information requested, we take seriously any concerns raised by or against police officers, and are clear that when things go wrong the police are held to account, lessons learned and improvements made.

We greatly value the vital role our police officers play and recognise the vast majority of officers carry out their duties with professionalism and integrity, while keeping our communities safe.

The recruitment and discipline of police officers is a matter for the Chief Constable, with oversight by the Scottish Police Authority.

Police Scotland applies a stringent vetting process for new recruits and where officers fall short of their professional standards the disciplinary system will hold them to account.

The most recent data from the 2019 Scottish Housing Condition Survey showed 45% of Scotland’s homes to be EPC C or better. To ensure all homes reach at least equivalent to Energy Performance Certificate (EPC) C, we are committed to introducing regulations from 2025. They will require Scotland’s homes to reach at least equivalent to EPC C at respective trigger points, where technically feasible and cost-effective to do so - with backstops of 2028 for the private rented sector and by 2033 for owner occupiers.

To enable this and a just transition, the Scottish Government have committed to investing at least £1.8 billion this parliamentary term to accelerate deployment of heat and energy efficiency measures. We intend to publish a consultation on the proposals for the Heat in Buildings Bill in the coming year.

In 2023-24 the Local Government finance settlement will provide over £13.2 billion to local authorities with a real terms increase in funding of £160.6 million or (1.3%).

Getting it right for every child (GIRFEC) commits to providing all children, young people and their families with the right support at the right time, and where extra help is needed this can include a personalised child’s plan, which might contain therapeutic support, depending on the circumstances.

This year, we have also initiated a Whole Family Wellbeing programme of activity to help transform the delivery of holistic family support. This includes investing £32 million through Children’s Services Planning Partnerships and supporting them in driving this work at the local level. This is to ensure that all families, including adoptive and foster care families, can access support based on their needs, where and when they need it.

All local authorities have a legal duty to provide support to meet the needs of people who have been adopted and their families. We provided £128,000 this year for specific therapeutic support, namely to Adoption UK Scotland for the TESSA programme which provides therapeutic input for adoptive families, and to Health in Mind to run a Trauma Support Service for people affected by historical adoption practices, as well as implementing peer support for both groups and individuals.

Scottish Government officials, in conjunction with the Chair of the National Bairns’ Hoose Governance Group, have carried out extensive engagement with key partners from across children’s services, health, justice, and the third sector. This includes Chief Officers’ Public Protection Groups (COGs), who will play a key role in the delivery of Bairns’ Hoose.

We are currently working with our partners to develop a phased approach to implementation of Bairns’ Hoose across Scotland, with a Pathfinder phase beginning in 2023. We will publish further information on our plans for delivery in the coming months.

The design and delivery of Bairns’ Hoose will be between partners at a local level and though local structures. It is anticipated that COGs will collaborate regionally, according to their needs and proximity to local resources, to identify the number of Bairns’ Hooses required in their area.

Bairns’ Hooses will build on the Scottish Child Interview Model for Joint Investigative Interviews, which is being introduced nationally from 2021 to 2024 and will be seen as the ‘justice room’ of the Bairns’ Hoose.

The latest available figure, as at 27 October 2022, there are 31,793 Power of Attorney (PoA) deeds awaiting registration.

For week commencing 6 September 2021 the Office of the Public Guardian in Scotland (OPG) were processing the following Power of Attorney applications:

• Electronic (EPOAR) submissions received on 12 March 2021
• Postal submissions received around 22 February 2021

For week commencing 19 December 2022, the Office of the Public Guardian in Scotland (OPG) were processing the following Power of Attorney applications:

• Electronic (EPOAR) submissions received on 19 May 2022
• Postal submissions received around 10 May 2022

There is an expedited system for more urgent applications.

Within the 2023-24 Budget, the Scottish Government has provided COVID recovery funding to the Scottish Courts and Tribunals Service (SCTS) totalling £26.8m which includes £0.3m for OPG recovery.

The Scottish Government has also provided additional capital funding to SCTS for 2023-24 including for the Office of the Public Guardian IT system

VoiceAbility has received a total of 673 referrals, leading to 463 people receiving the appropriate advocacy support when accessing and applying for Social Security Scotland benefits. Of those 673 referrals, 23 were directly referred by Social Security Scotland. This figure does not include support provided as a result of indirect referrals or signposting from Social Security Scotland, which cannot be quantified.

The advocacy service is independent from Scottish Government and Social Security Scotland. As such, VoiceAbility offer a number of direct referral routes including self-referral, being referred by a friend or family member or being referred by other support organisations.

The Scottish Government has had no discussions with the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) on the content of our consultation on restricting alcohol advertising and promotion.

Officials in the Alcohol Harm Prevention Team have met with the ASA at regular intervals to discuss alcohol marketing and ASA research.

I will meet with key stakeholders, including the ASA and other advertising bodies, during the consultation period to directly hear their views on the proposals and any potential impacts they may have.