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As part of the 2023-24 budget we have provided SCTS with £4.7m in additional capital funding, on top of their £8m baseline capital allocation. The additional £4.7m was identified within the Justice portfolio budget to support a number of priority SCTS capital projects, including towards the costs in 2023-24 of the replacement of the Office of the Public Guardian IT system, as part of wider modernisation and improvement in the work of the OPG. Work on the new OPG IT system is progressing as planned.

The Scottish Government is investing across a number of areas to ensure that those experiencing bereavement are able to access the support they need. We will continue to engage with our bereavement sector partners and work with them to take forward priorities.

The Scottish Government encourages all employers to be sensitive to the needs and feelings of their workers, and to be considerate of their wellbeing. We expect employers to make every effort to put in place reasonable adjustments and support workers on their return to work as they continue to deal with the impacts of bereavement. We also welcome the work being led by bereavement sector partners to help employers support their staff when experiencing a bereavement, and the Bereavement Charter for Scotland is an example of the sector’s work to support improved practices. The charter recognises that bereavement can impact all aspects of a person’s life, including work, and employers may want to consider the charter and how it can be used to support staff.

The Scottish Government, in partnership with Public Health Scotland, developed the ‘ digital platform to help employers in Scotland actively support and promote mental health at work. It signposts employers to a wide range of free mental health and wellbeing resources and information. It also includes contact details for wider support services that can help to support mental wellbeing in the workplace, including bereavement support services.

To ensure that Social Security Scotland benefits are accessible to everyone, they have all been designed so that they can be accessed online, by paper or telephone to suit individual preference. Where clients want further support, an appointment can be booked with our Local Delivery service. This service has a locally based team in each of the 32 Local Authority areas across Scotland, including the more remote and rural communities, providing a local, accessible service to the citizens of that area.

Local Delivery teams can provide clients with support to claim Social Security Scotland benefits, with gathering and providing supporting information, reporting change of circumstances or by providing general benefit advice. We can arrange appointments for clients in their home, in local outreach venues or by video or telephone, ensuring that the service is as accessible as possible and meets the needs of the clients that want to use it.

To raise awareness and encourage take-up of Social Security Scotland benefits, we have an ongoing plan of targeted communication activities that not only raises awareness of our new benefits but keeps information on our existing benefits in the public eye. This is done through a variety of channels such as national TV, radio and social media to ensure the messages are as visible and accessible as possible. This is supplemented by a monthly National Stakeholder newsletter that provides the latest information to stakeholders.

Within local communities, our Local Delivery teams are members of local Community Planning Partnership and Financial Inclusion groups ensuring that our benefits and service are part of local plans and initiatives to maximise families' incomes.Through these local networks we can signpost clients to the appropriate help to ensure that clients receive all of the support available to them.

To further maximise our reach, we hold ‘drop in’ sessions and attend local community groups and events, speaking face to face to citizens so they can hear first-hand about our benefits and get the opportunity to ask any questions directly to our specially trained Advisers.

Part of the package of the 2022-23 pay deal, agreed by the SJC Local Government workers, and requested by the SJC unions in their pay claim, Scottish Social Services Council (SSSC) fees will no longer be paid by SJC local government employees who require them for work.

Social Security Scotland works with individuals and supporting organisations to design services so that everyone who may be eligible for benefits understands how they can apply for and receive them.

Clients can apply in ways that suit them best either by paper or online application, by telephone or they can receive application support from our Local Delivery team who can arrange a face-to-face appointment in a client’s home, a community setting or video or phone call.

Social Security Scotland has processes in place to ensure telephone calls are answered, paper applications are processed and Local Delivery face to face appointments are made within reasonable timescales to ensure anyone applying for benefits or contacting Social Security Scotland is not disadvantaged, regardless of the method they choose to contact.

The Scottish Government recognises the vital role organisations across the third sector play in improving outcomes for disabled children and is providing core funding to a number of third sector organisations which provide services for disabled children and their families.

Despite facing one of the most challenging fiscal environments since devolution, we are maintaining the level of funding through the Children, Young People and Families Early Intervention and Adult Learning and Empowering Communities Fund (CYPFEI & ALEC). All organisations in receipt of these funds received a 5% uplift in 2022-23. This has been continued in 2023-24 and committed to in 2024-25.

The Children, Young People, Families and Adult Learners (CYPFAL) third sector fund is also providing core funding to a number of organisations which support disabled children and their families.

Despite facing one of the most challenging fiscal environments since devolution, the Scottish Government has extended funding under the Children, Young People and Families Early Intervention fund. All organisations in receipt of these funds received a 5% uplift in 2022-23. This has been continued in 2023-24 and committed to in 2024-25.

The Scottish Government places great importance on the range of services Arms Length External Organisations (ALEOs) provide and believes everyone should have access to these services. While there are no limits set by the Scottish or UK Government on the amount a Scottish local authority, and by extension ALEOs can borrow, local authorities are under a statutory duty to determine and keep under review the maximum amount which it can afford to allocate to capital expenditure, including associated borrowing levels.

The Scottish Government for our part have provided local authorities with nearly £13.5 billion in 2023-24, a cash increase in local government day to day spending of over £793 million which represents a real terms increase of £376 million or 3 per cent.

Since independent hospice representatives met with Ministers in March 2023, SG officials have had a number of meetings with Health and Social Care Partnerships from April through to July to discuss the independent hospice sector’s calls for a national framework for hospice funding, and this engagement is continuing.

Following searches by Scottish Government officials on the corporate system, 5 complaints have been identified which relate to ‘medical’ or ‘medical devices’ and ‘power. However it should be noted that complaints of this nature are more likely to be directed to health boards as providers of such devices.