Seòmar agus comataidhean

The Scottish Government is committed to ensuring that there is a thriving music industry in Scotland and so provided £750,000 across 2021-22 and 2022-23 to enable Scotland on Tour to take place.

Scotland on Tour has facilitated new concerts in venues across Scotland at a time when the postponement of concerts, due to the pandemic, had left little room for new concerts to take place in 2022.

While there are no plans to reopen the fund, we will work with the culture sector to ensure our diverse and world class cultural scene continues to thrive.

Since 2020-21, the Scottish Government has provided funding for all Saltire Scholarship programme students; this consisted of 100% non-EU students in 2020-21 and for 2021-22 the breakdown was 88% EU students and 12% non-EU students.

Since 2020-21, the Scottish Government has allocated funding levels of £2,650,000 for all Saltire Scholarship programme students; this consisted of £200,000 in 2020-21 and £2,450,000 in 2021-22.

The values of non-domestic rates reliefs, broken down by local authority and relief, are available in Scottish Local Government Financial Statistics, at https://www.gov.scot/collections/local-government-finance-statistics/#scottishlocalgovernmentfinancialstatistics . The figures can be found in the respective annual publications, in Table 1.16a for 2017-18, and table 2.17a for 2018-19, 2019-20, and 2020-21. Transitional relief was introduced in the Non-Domestic Rates (Transitional Relief) (Scotland) Regulations 2017 and was therefore not available in 2015-16 and 2016-17.

The Autism and Learning Disability Team engages regularly with HSCP leads across Scotland on their strategic approaches and why it is so important for them to increase capacity for autism diagnostic services and to redesign services which are sustainable. We do this on an individual basis and also through the networks of Social Work Scotland.

HSCPs are aware of the actions identified in the current “Towards Transformation” plan for autism and learning disabilities. This includes action on post diagnostic support for adults and the piloting in 4 HSCP areas of a single adult neurodevelopmental pathway. We continue working with the National Autism Implementation Team (NAIT) who help build capacity and expertise, acting as a bridge between national strategy and its implementation at local level by providing a hub of professional autism support and information. The Scottish Government provide funding to a number of charities to provide post diagnostic support locally, linking with HSCP service leads.

HSCP leads are linked into our leadership and engagement framework in partnership with people with lived experience focusing on the topic of mental health. In addition, we will be working with HSCPs as we scope out the work towards a Bill to introduce a commissioner for Autism, learning disabilities and people with neurodivergence.

It is essential that care home staff and residents are comfortable in their environment and this includes mitigating against the effects of heat. Care providers including care homes are therefore expected to take steps to ensure that the environment is suitable for both staff and residents. This is outlined in the Health and Social Care Standards which set out what people should expect when using a Health or Social Care service in Scotland. Standard 5.21 requires care homes to “provide plenty of natural light and fresh air and that lighting, ventilation and heating can be properly adjusted”. The Care Inspectorate regularly assess a care home against their application of the Standards.

In view of the recent high temperatures, the Care Inspectorate issued advice to all care providers of adult services about steps that should be taken to maintain safe temperatures and mitigate the effects of heat. This included ensuring people are kept cool, well hydrated and drinking plenty of fluids and using cold compresses to keep people cool. The information provided also included a link to the recent UK Governments’ Department for Health and Social Care and Health Security updated heatwave advice for Health and Social Care staff. It includes advice both on caring for people most at risk during a heatwave, and on organising others who provide care. This advice is available here: www.gov.uk/government/publications/heatwave-plan-for-england/supporting-vulnerable-people-before-and-during-a-heatwave-for-health-and-social-care-professionals

Public Health Scotland’s COVID-19 - information and guidance for social, community and residential care settings, provides detailed advice on the importance of good ventilation in indoor spaces to reduce the risk of COVID-19 spreading. The guidance also sets out steps to safely maintain adequate room temperatures for the comfort of staff and residents. This includes maximising fresh air during hot weather, wherever possible through natural ventilation - opening windows, vents and doors (excluding fire doors). Where buildings have mechanical ventilation systems, these can maximise the amount of fresh air being introduced and minimise the recirculation of air in rooms and throughout buildings. This advice is available here: www.publichealthscotland.scot/publications/covid-19-information-and-guidance-for-social-community-and-residential-care-settings/covid-19-information-and-guidance-for-social-community-and-residential-care-settings-version-22/

The Health and Safety Executive ventilation in the workplace guidance also provides practical steps on improving ventilation. This advice is available here: www.hse.gov.uk/ventilation/overview.htm . The UK Health Security Agency recommends keeping room temperature to at least 18ºC as temperatures below this can affect health, especially in those who are 65 years or older, or have a long-term health condition and they published information ahead of the recent heatwave here: ukhsa.blog.gov.uk/2022/07/14/staying-safe-in-extreme-heat/

The Care Inspectorate has produced guidance for service providers around design, planning and construction considerations for new or converted care homes for adults. This guidance includes information on ventilation of adult care homes and is available here: Care Homes for Adults – The Design Guide.pdf (careinspectorate.com) .

The non-domestic rates income figures for each year, broken down by local authority, are available in Scottish Local Government Financial Statistics, at https://www.gov.scot/collections/local-government-finance-statistics/#scottishlocalgovernmentfinancialstatistics . The figures can be found in the respective annual publications, in Table 1.15 for 2016-17 and 2017-18, Table 1.14a for 2018-19 and 2019-20, and Table 2.14 for 2020-21.

At the time of the Scottish Budget, the Scottish Government estimated that up to 30,000 properties would potentially be eligible to claim the Retail, Hospitality, and Leisure relief in 2022-23, subject to a business-level cap on the value of relief.

The most recent figures, as of 1 June 2021, are available in Table 6 of the Non-Domestic Rates Relief Statistics 2021 publication, at https://www.gov.scot/publications/non-domestic-rates-relief-statistics-2021/ .

We have engaged extensively with people with neurological conditions, and organisations which represent them, throughout the development of Adult Disability Payment. Also, during the process of passing the Social Security (Scotland) Act 2018, it was decided that private sector health assessments would not take place in the devolved social security system. Social Security Scotland makes entitlement decisions based on the individual’s account of the impact of their disability or condition and other supporting information. This includes information from people’s wider support network, in order to understand the full range of needs someone with a neurological condition has over a period of time.

Social Security Scotland do not carry out any functional examinations because they do not provide reliable information, particularly in relation to neurological conditions as needs can fluctuate over time. Instead, consultations are a conversation between the practitioner and the client, starting from a position of trust.