- Asked by: Alex Cole-Hamilton, MSP for Edinburgh Western, Scottish Liberal Democrats
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Date lodged: Monday, 07 November 2016
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Current Status:
Answered by Shona Robison on 21 November 2016
To ask the Scottish Government what action it is taking to address child dental health inequality, in light of the results in the National Dental Inspection Programme (NDIP) 2016.
Answer
The NDIP 2016 Report shows a reduction in oral health inequalities in primary 1 children across a range of inequality measures.
The Scottish Government is committed to continuing to tackle oral health inequalities in children. This is why in the recently published Fairer Scotland Action Plan, we have included a commitment to extend supervised toothbrushing and fluoride varnish application for nursery and primary 1 and 2 children in even more comparatively deprived communities. Currently this preventive treatment is available under our flagship Childsmile programme to the 20 per cent most deprived communities within each NHS Board area. This will now be extended to those communities who fall within the most 20 per cent deprived measured on a Scotland-wide basis.
- Asked by: Alex Cole-Hamilton, MSP for Edinburgh Western, Scottish Liberal Democrats
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Date lodged: Monday, 07 November 2016
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Current Status:
Answered by Shona Robison on 21 November 2016
To ask the Scottish Government how it plans to review and evaluate the impact of health and social care integration on people using care services.
Answer
Each of the Health and Social Care Partnerships will publish an annual Performance Report for 2016-17 by the end of July 2017. These reports will set out an assessment of performance in relation to the National Health and Wellbeing Outcomes, which focus on the experiences and quality of services for people using those services, carers and their families. The Scottish Government will work closely with Partnerships to learn from the findings of these reports and how this can be shared more widely.
- Asked by: Alex Cole-Hamilton, MSP for Edinburgh Western, Scottish Liberal Democrats
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Date lodged: Monday, 07 November 2016
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Current Status:
Answered by Aileen Campbell on 17 November 2016
To ask the Scottish Government what steps it is taking to identify people who are infected with hepatitis C but who remain undiagnosed.
Answer
Through the Sexual Health and Blood Borne Virus networks, the Scottish Government has regular discussions with Health Protection Scotland, NHS boards and Hepatitis Scotland to help promote best practice and information sharing in relation to identifying people who remain undiagnosed.
- Asked by: Alex Cole-Hamilton, MSP for Edinburgh Western, Scottish Liberal Democrats
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Date lodged: Monday, 07 November 2016
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Current Status:
Answered by Aileen Campbell on 17 November 2016
To ask the Scottish Government what action it is taking to increase public awareness of hearing loss.
Answer
The Scottish Government is committed to improving the services, support and care available to people with hearing loss through its long term strategy ‘See Hear’. Awareness raising and training were identified as one of the recommendations in the strategy. The strategy was jointly endorsed by COSLA and is being implemented through local partnerships. Local leads have been identified to drive progress across priority areas.
- Asked by: Alex Cole-Hamilton, MSP for Edinburgh Western, Scottish Liberal Democrats
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Date lodged: Monday, 07 November 2016
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Current Status:
Answered by Aileen Campbell on 17 November 2016
To ask the Scottish Government how many prisoners have been (a) tested and (b) treated for hepatitis C since 2013.
Answer
Health Protection Scotland collects data on Hepatitis C tests from the West of Scotland Specialist Virology Centre, East of Scotland Specialist Virology Centre, Department of Medical Microbiology at Aberdeen Royal Infirmary and Ninewells Hospital and Medical School. These specialist laboratories receive positive samples from the 14 Hepatitis C testing laboratories in Scotland in order to carry out PCR testing for confirmation. Negative tests are generally not sent to these specialist laboratories. Therefore, for accuracy, the testing database only includes tests from Boards where there is complete data (negative and positive samples). This means that Hepatitis C test data is only available for prisons within NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde, Grampian, Lothian and Tayside board areas. Between 2013-2015, 3,964 people were tested for hepatitis C antibody in the prison setting in these four board areas.
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Year
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2012-13
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2013-14
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2014-15
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2015-16
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Hepatitis C treatment initiates from a prison setting
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117
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141
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141
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128 (provisional)
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- Asked by: Alex Cole-Hamilton, MSP for Edinburgh Western, Scottish Liberal Democrats
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Date lodged: Thursday, 03 November 2016
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Current Status:
Answered by Kevin Stewart on 16 November 2016
To ask the Scottish Government what assessment it has made of the growth in demand for supported accommodation and, if no assessment has been made, whether it will consider doing so and in what timescale.
Answer
No assessment has been made by the Scottish Government on the likely growth in demand for supported accommodation. The UK Government has undertaken a substantial body of research on the provision of supported accommodation across Great Britain which we understand will shortly be published along with a consultation paper. When it is published we will consider this research carefully, and consider whether the Scottish Government needs to undertake further research or analysis.
Local authorities are required by law to prepare a local housing strategy (LHS) supported by an assessment of housing need and demand. SG guidance on the LHS notes that the strategy has to clearly set out: the current need for specialist provision (accommodation and care/support services) that will help to support people to live independently; the likely requirement for this provision over the next 5 years; how current needs are being met using a range of accommodation types and what more is planned to meet future need.
- Asked by: Alex Cole-Hamilton, MSP for Edinburgh Western, Scottish Liberal Democrats
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Date lodged: Thursday, 03 November 2016
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Current Status:
Answered by Kevin Stewart on 16 November 2016
To ask the Scottish Government what impact a local authority housing allowance rate cap will have on people at risk of requiring supported accommodation.
Answer
No assessment has been made on the impact of local housing allowance changes to groups of recipients in supported accommodation. The Scottish Government made clear it was concerned about the potential impact, and welcomed the announcement that funding for supported accommodation would be maintained at current levels. The Scottish Government does not currently collect data on people in supported accommodation, however Scottish Government are currently in the process of implementing a data collection which will provide some data on this.
The Scottish Government intends to protect the wide variety of tenants in supported accommodation and to use devolved funding to ensure that the supported accommodation sector is put onto a secure and sustainable footing. We will work with a broad range of stakeholders to achieve this.
- Asked by: Alex Cole-Hamilton, MSP for Edinburgh Western, Scottish Liberal Democrats
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Date lodged: Thursday, 03 November 2016
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Current Status:
Answered by Kevin Stewart on 16 November 2016
To ask the Scottish Government what assessment it has made of whether the planned cap on local housing allowance for supported accommodation would (a) deter investment in this area prior to its implementation, and (b) reduce the supply thereafter, and, if no assessment has been made, whether it will consider doing so and in what timescale.
Answer
No assessment has been made on the impact of local housing allowance changes to investment. The Scottish Government made clear it was concerned about the potential impact, and welcomed the announcement that funding for supported accommodation would be maintained at current levels.
The Scottish Government intends to use devolved funding to ensure that the supported accommodation sector is put onto a secure and sustainable footing. We will work with a broad range of stakeholders to achieve this.
- Asked by: Alex Cole-Hamilton, MSP for Edinburgh Western, Scottish Liberal Democrats
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Date lodged: Thursday, 03 November 2016
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Current Status:
Answered by Kevin Stewart on 16 November 2016
To ask the Scottish Government whether it has received any indication from the UK Government of how much funding it will receive for costs above the level of the local authority housing allowance rate cap, and how this will be calculated.
Answer
The UK Government has not begun discussions with the Scottish Government on the calculation of funding which will be devolved. We expect the UK Government to provide overall funding sufficient to fund supported accommodation at current levels, and we will work with the sector to ensure that the devolved funding reflects this.
Such discussions will be informed by the DWPs own research. When it is published we will consider this research carefully, and consider whether the Scottish Government needs to undertake further research or analysis to support our discussions with the UK Government.
- Asked by: Alex Cole-Hamilton, MSP for Edinburgh Western, Scottish Liberal Democrats
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Date lodged: Thursday, 03 November 2016
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Current Status:
Answered by Kevin Stewart on 16 November 2016
To ask the Scottish Government what assessment it has made of the extent to which recipients of local housing allowance residing in supported accommodation may be worse off (a) in total, and (b) on average should the planned cap be introduced and, if no assessment has been made, whether it will consider doing so and in what timescale.
Answer
No assessment has been made on the impact of local housing allowance changes to groups of recipients in supported accommodation. The UK Government has undertaken a substantial body of research on the provision of supported accommodation across Great Britain which we understand will shortly be published along with a consultation paper. When it is published we will consider this research carefully, and consider whether the Scottish Government needs to undertake further research or analysis.
The Scottish Government does not currently collect data on people in supported accommodation, however Scottish Government are currently in the process of implementing a data collection which will provide some data on this.
