Fiona Hyslop

Answer · Maree Todd · 13 Jun 2023

In Scotland the Office of the Public Guardian (OPG) Scotland is responsible for registering all power of attorney documents. If an individual has experienced any issues involving the recognition of a Scottish power of attorney in other parts of the UK they can contact the OPG for assistance.
There is already legislation in place that provides recognition of Scottish powers of attorney in England and Wales. This is about ensuring that the institutions and organisations have awareness and are educated on the legal status of Scottish powers of attorney.
The Scottish Government will be working with third party organisations to raise awareness and publicity about the validity of Scottish powers of attorney in England and Wales.

Answer · Maree Todd · 13 Jun 2023

The Scottish Government is working closely with the Office of the Public Guardian (Scotland) (OPG) who have responsibility for registering powers of attorney in Scotland to highlight the concerns about recognition of these with UK financial institutions.
OPG have engaged directly with UK financial organisations when they have been made aware of common or recurring issues that require attention and on a case by case basis when needed.
OPG are planning a series of information based events later in 2023, aimed specifically at staff in UK financial organisations, with the aim of raising awareness of OPG’s role and of the financial provisions of the Adults with Incapacity legislation. The feedback will be raised at a meeting OPG is attending with Scottish banking representatives in August 2023.
OPG is also currently working in collaboration with colleagues from OPG England and similar departments in Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland, with the intention of delivering or preparing cross border training to highlight key differences in process and terminology across the jurisdictions as well as raising awareness of recognition issues. The aim of these efforts is to lead to a more cohesive and collaborative approach with the banks.

Answer · Maree Todd · 13 Jun 2023

Scottish Government has not had any recent direct engagement with the UK Government regarding cross-border recognition of powers of attorney granted in Scotland.
However, in previous meetings both parties have agreed the existing legislation allows for automatic recognition of powers of attorney in both jurisdictions. Difficulty in recognition is an issue of the training and knowledge of those being presented with a power of attorney from a different jurisdiction.

Answer · Siobhian Brown · 7 Jun 2023

Scottish Government has contacted NHS Lothian, which has confirmed the Youth Hospital Navigator pilot at both hospitals was funded only for a fixed term of two years which ends this month. The pilot was included in an external evaluation of all youth work provision commissioned by NHS Lothian.
NHS Lothian is considering this evaluation and its next steps over the next 6 months which includes designing a youth work model, based on learning and key findings from the evaluation and developing a business case to support this. Health Inequalities and Children’s Rights Impact Assessments will be commissioned as part of this process.

Answer · Kevin Stewart · 11 May 2023

The Scottish Government is committed, in conjunction with bus operators and local authorities, to looking at ways of improving services to ensure that everyone has accessible public transport. We have increased the tools available to local authorities to revitalise bus networks, through Transport (Scotland) Act 2019, in addition to their existing powers to subsidise services that are not provided on a commercial basis. Transport Scotland discuss bus matters with COSLA on a monthly basis at regular bus stakeholder meetings. In addition, COSLA are members of the Bus Taskforce.

Answer · Neil Gray · 27 Apr 2023

I am absolutely delighted that today, Japan based cable manufacturer Sumitomo has announced plans to establish a manufacturing plant in Scotland to supply the country’s growing renewable energy sector. This is a real statement of intent that demonstrates the strength of confidence that investors have in our vision for a net zero economy.
Sumitomo have a proven track record in renewables technology which will be invaluable to supporting Scotland’s rapidly expanding offshore wind sector and the Scottish Government, together with our partners, will continue to work closely with Sumitomo to foster this important partnership and unlock the opportunities the global renewables revolution presents.

Answer · Kevin Stewart · 28 Apr 2023

Transport Scotland provides an annual subsidy through the Network Support Grant (NSG) to the bus industry, the aim of which is to keep fares more affordable and support bus operators to run services that might not otherwise be commercially viable.
Transport Scotland are supporting more services to be commercially viable with extra funding for a marketing campaign from Scottish Government, to encourage people back to bus. Scotland also encourages bus use with the most generous concessionary scheme in the UK, with over 2.3 million people, including everyone under 22 and over 60, and disabled people and companions, eligible for free bus travel. This complements our broad package of long-term investment in bus, including addressing congestion through bus priority infrastructure.