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The Social Care (Self-directed Support) Act 2013 is founded on the principles of dignity, empowerment and collaboration. It places firm duties on local authorities to offer a range of options for how social care support is delivered and to give individuals the support and information required to enable them to make informed choices.

Since 2011 the Scottish Government has invested £28.5 million in local authorities to support system and culture change, with a further £3.52 million committed for the financial year 2016-17. We continue to work with local authorities directly and through COSLA to support them to implement self-directed support in line with the legislation and in the spirit of the guidance.

<>Local authorities have a duty under the Social Work (Scotland) Act 1968 to assess a person’s care needs. The statutory guidance accompanying the Social Care (Self-directed Support) (Scotland) Act 2013 makes it clear that any assessment, communication or provision of support must be made in accordance with the statutory principles and values: participation, dignity, involvement, informed choice, and collaboration and respect a person's human rights.

The Scottish Government would always expect social care assessments to be carried out as timeously as possible. For those who are assessed as being at critical or substantial risk there is a maximum waiting time of six weeks, from confirmation of need to the delivery of free personal and nursing care services.

The Forth Crossing Bridge Constructor risk register and Transport Scotland risk register for the Forth Replacement Crossing Project will not be placed in the Scottish Parliament Information Centre (SPICe) because disclosure of this particular information would, or would be likely to, prejudice substantially the commercial management of an on-going contract between Scottish Ministers and Forth Crossing Bridge Constructors.

The revised Forth Crossing Bridge Constructor’s programme I referred to on 8 June 2016 is held by Forth Crossing Bridge Constructor’s. The Forth Crossing Bridge Constructor’s programme will not be placed in the Scottish Parliament Information Centre (SPICe) because disclosure of this particular information would, or would be likely to, prejudice substantially the commercial management of an on-going contract between Scottish Ministers and Forth Crossing Bridge Constructors.

Forth Crossing Bridge Constructor's (FCBC) workforce, which comprises direct employees, agency staff and subcontracted staff, fluctuates in order to meet the demands of the project. FCBC estimate that since the beginning of 2016 their overall workforce has increased by up to 100 beyond the numbers anticipated.

FCBC working hours are subject to change and can vary across the site in order to meet the demands of the project. These are subject to continuous review throughout the project and FCBC estimate that since the beginning of 2016 the overall hours worked has increased compared to the overall hours anticipated to be worked in this period.

As confirmed by Forth Crossing Bridge Constructor’s (FCBC) and Transport Scotland at the Forth Replacement Crossing Project Technical Briefing you attended on Friday 10 June 2016, Forth Crossing Bridge Constructor’s and Transport Scotland have robust risk registers for the Forth Replacement Crossing Project which are reviewed internally by each organisation on a regular basis and together with other information, these form the basis of reporting to ministers. Ministers receive fortnightly updates on projects which provide details on construction progress, progress against programme and budget position.

The Scottish Government has no current plans to change the legislation in this area.

In relation to flatted properties, section 17 of the Tenements (Scotland) Act 2004 gives homeowners reasonable access for maintenance and other purposes through the property of other owners. Section 17 is available at:-

There is no equivalent legislation for non-flatted properties. In some cases title deeds, servitude rights over neighbouring land or the common law may provide the necessary access rights. Access to neighbouring land might also be permitted by way of a private arrangement between individuals. Where parties are in dispute, mediation can sometimes provide assistance. However, if the member has evidence that a change in the law would be helpful, I would be happy to consider the issue further.

A property owner who does not have access rights written into their title deeds, and those of their neighbour(s), to carry out repairs could seek to obtain the consent of their neighbour(s) to obtain such rights. A solicitor could provide advice and arrange for any necessary agreements to be drawn up. Once the documents were agreed, the changes could be registered in the property registers held by registers of Scotland.

The Scottish Government does not hold this information.

Children and young people referred to child and adolescent mental health services (CAMHS) will generally be treated in the community. There may be times when it is necessary to admit them to hospital for specialist mental health treatment; should this be the case they would be admitted to one of the three regional CAMHS inpatient units, or the national unit for under 12s.

Requests may come from outwith the region because, while the three units work on a regional basis, each unit will also consider requests from the other regions. Children and young people may initially be admitted to one unit and then transferred to another; they may also be admitted to a non-NHS facility or a non-specialist NHS facility and then transfer to Dudhope, or be discharged to the community, or complete their treatment in that facility. Reasons for this may include bed availability, a clinical decision, or the preference of a young person and their family.

Over the period May 2015 to May 2016, there were 21 occasions when a young person could not be admitted to Dudhope young persons unit (YPU) due to the unavailability of a bed. On two occasions the request was for a bed for a young person who resided outside the north of Scotland region, whilst the remaining 19 occasions were requests to admit young people residing in the north of Scotland region.

The reason for beds being unavailable is either due to the unit being at full capacity (no physical beds available) or high patient dependency, making it clinically unsafe to admit any further patients.

Table 1 shows where patients were admitted to on the 19 occasions when a bed was not available at Dudhope young persons unit.

Table 1 – North of Scotland admissions to other YPU or adult facilities (May 2015 – May 2016)

Number of patients not admitted to Dudhope YPU due to bed unavailability	Admitted to other Scottish NHS Mental Health/YPU Facility	Admitted to Huntercombe (private YPU facility)
19	14	Ìý 5 Ìý

NB. NHS Tayside are unable to advise what happened on the two occasions that a bed was requested from outwith the north of Scotland region.