Seòmar agus comataidhean

I refer the member to the answer to question S6W-11301 answered on 21 October 2022. 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 .

Applicants have six months from receipt of offer of payment to accept or decline the offer. As of 31 October 2022 payments totalling £8,570,168 have been made to survivors or their next of kin.

The most recently available data for payment breakdown, as of 30 September 2022, shows that redress payments of £3,464,900 have been attributed to organisations contributing to the scheme. The NHS boards contribution is included in this figure, however, for survivor data privacy reasons further breakdown of the data to the level of individual organisations would not be appropriate at this time.

There are 16 contributors, with potential contributions agreed reaching £122m. The live list has been published online since 8 December 2021.

Scotland’s Redress Scheme is committed to providing a swifter and less adversarial option than court action for survivors of abuse in care. We are aware that, for some applicants, the process is taking longer than they have expected, and officials are working to ensure opportunities for improving the service are identified and acted upon.

Recent improvements include the recruitment of additional case workers. There are currently 17 case workers in post, and by the middle of November 2022 this will rise to 23.

It is not possible to give an average or target time from receipt of an application through to issuing of a redress payment and apology. Applications progress at differing rates depending on how complete they are when submitted, the availability of information, evidence and records, and the extent of verification checks required. Priority is given to applicants with a terminal illness and those over 68 years of age.

The New Scots refugee integration strategy is built on partnership and collaboration, led by the Scottish Government, COSLA and the Scottish Refugee Council, and involves a wide range of partners across different sectors.

The New Scots Core Group brings together key stakeholders and is responsible for monitoring and reviewing progress against the overarching outcomes of the strategy. The Core Group is chaired by Professor Alison Phipps, UNESCO Chair in Refugee Integration through Languages and the Arts at the University of Glasgow.

The Core Group usually meets four times per year. This year, the group undertook a two-part workshop in January and February, as part of the New Scots Refugee Integration Delivery Project. The Core Group then met in June and in October, with the final meeting of the year set to take place in December.

We will publish the minutes from the October meeting in December, once cleared by Core Group at the next meeting. We will also publish minutes of the Group’s other meetings from 2022.

The Scottish Government does not hold all data on the current average waiting time for a care home place, therefore no assessment can be made.

The Scottish Government does not hold data on the current average waiting time for a care home place.

Information on the number of delayed hospital discharges by reason for delay (including care home placement) and length of delay is available on the Public Health Scotland website (See Excel download for standard delays, tab 4) :

Delayed discharges in NHSScotland monthly - Figures for September 2022 - Delayed discharges in NHSScotland monthly - Publications - Public Health Scotland

However, this will not include those awaiting a care home placement who are in the community, nor those awaiting a placement for whom their discharge is not delayed.

The Scottish Government remains committed to supporting all survivors of childhood abuse. We are currently considering the evidence, findings and recommendations which have come out of the Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse in England and Wales, and will do the same for the Scottish Child Abuse Inquiry when it reports the outcome of its investigations in due course. The Scottish Child Abuse Inquiry continues to investigate the abuse of children in care in Scotland.

On 26 October 2022 16 case workers were employed, working to 15.4 full time equivalent (FTE).

From the 14 November 2022, 23 case workers are expected to be in post, with a FTE of 22.2.

We have made 18 payments so far to 15 buildings, with 10 currently under assessment with a partial payment and 5 with full payment and assessment having concluded. All buildings with cladding concerns have and will continue to be offered fully funded assessments.

16 buildings are now in delivery stage with a further 11 buildings finalising applications. We have expanded the pilot to 27 buildings in order to capture an additional building attached to an original pilot building.