Alex Rowley

14 Apr 2023 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government how many people in Scotland had been assessed for social care and were waiting for a care package to be delivered on 1 January 2023.

Answer · Maree Todd: On 2 January 2023, the number of people waiting for social care support assessment was 5,440. The latest data published by Public Health Scotland (PHS) shows that there were 4,122 waiting for a social care support assessment on 17 April 2023. Please note:Sco…

14 Apr 2023 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what the eligibility criteria are for receiving social care in Scotland.

Answer · Maree Todd: The Scottish Government wants to ensure the quality, fairness and consistency of social care support provision regardless of where people live in Scotland. Framework guidance on National Eligibility Criteria and Waiting times for the Personal and Nursing Care…

14 Apr 2023 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what the social care staff vacancy rate is in each local authority area across Scotland.

Answer · Maree Todd: I refer the member to the answer to question S6O-02113 on 19 April 2023 and can be found at: Meeting of the Parliament: 19/04/2023 | Scottish Parliament Website . The Scottish Government does not hold this data, however it is collected by the Scottish Soci…

14 Apr 2023 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what the social care staff vacancy rate is in the (a) public, (b) private and (c) third sector.

Answer · Maree Todd: I refer the member to the answer to question S6O-02113 on 19 April 2023 and can be found: Meeting of the Parliament: 19/04/2023 | Scottish Parliament Website . The Scottish Government does not hold this data, however it is collected by the Scottish Social …

14 Apr 2023 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what the level of any unmet need for social care is in each local authority area across Scotland.

Answer · Maree Todd: Information published by Public Health Scotland ( Social care – Demand for Care at Home services ) provides the number of people waiting for a social care assessment, as well as the number of people who have been assessed and are waiting for a package of c…

14 Apr 2023 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government how many people in Scotland were waiting to be assessed for social care on 1 January 2023.

Answer · Maree Todd: On 2 January 2023, the number of people waiting for social care support assessment was 7,143. The latest data published by Public Health Scotland (PHS) shows that there were 6,706 waiting for a social care support assessment on 17 April 2023. Please note:The…

14 Apr 2023 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what the social care staff vacancy rate is across Scotland.

Answer · Maree Todd: I refer the member to the answer to question S6O-02113 on 19 April 2023 The answer to the oral parliamentary question is available on the Parliaments website, the Official report can be viewed at: Meeting of the Parliament: 19/04/2023 | Scottish Parliament W…

14 Apr 2023 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government how many social care staff are currently employed in Scotland.

Answer · Maree Todd: The Scottish Social Services Council, as the regulator of social care services, publishes an annual report on the social services workforce which can be found on their website here: Scottish Social Service Sector: Report on 2021 Workforce Data (sssc.uk.com) …

14 Apr 2023 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what data is available to help potential users of social care services to understand waiting times for service provision.

Answer · Maree Todd: Information on Social Care Eligibility and Waiting times is collected and published by the Scottish Government. This is publicly available via the following link: Social Care Eligibility Criteria And Waiting Times, Scotland, 2020-21 - gov.scot (www.gov.scot)…

14 Apr 2023 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government how many people living in Scotland were receiving social care services in each year since 2007, also broken down by age.

Answer · Maree Todd: Information on the number of people receiving social care support has been collected by Public Health Scotland (PHS) and published as part of their Insights In Social Care publication since 2018. Prior to this, data was collected by Scottish Government throug…

14 Apr 2023 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what the average pay is for care assistants employed in the (a) private, (b) public and (c) third sector.

Answer · Maree Todd: The Scottish Government does not hold information on the average pay rates for care assistants across the private, public and third sector. From April 2023, adult social care workers delivering direct care in commissioned services will see their pay increase…

14 Apr 2023 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what the average pay is for social care staff employed in the (a) private, (b) public and (c) third sector.

Answer · Maree Todd: The Scottish Government does not hold information on the average pay rates for social care staff across the private, public and third sector. From April 2023, adult social care workers delivering direct care in commissioned services will see their pay increa…

14 Apr 2023 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what its assessment is of how many social care staff are required to meet demand.

Answer · Maree Todd: There are more than 1,200 social care providers across Scotland, with local authorities responsible for providing or commissioning services. Local authorities and Health and Social Care Partnerships will wish to ensure that, in providing a range of services, …

14 Apr 2023 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government how many people over 65 were in receipt of care (a) home and (b) at home services in each year since 2007.

Answer · Maree Todd: a) Information on care home residents is reported on through the Care Home Census, published by Public Health Scotland (PHS). Information is published on a rolling 10-year basis; therefore, the figures below have been sourced from multiple Care Home Census pu…

11 Apr 2023 · Portfolio Question

To ask the Scottish Government how many social care posts remain unfilled across Scotland.

5 Apr 2023 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what amount the average council tax bill in Scotland would have risen by, by 2021, had the council tax freeze not been introduced in 2007 and, instead, the tax increased in line with (a) inflation and (b) the average annual increases in England, and, in each scenario, what the average co…

Answer · Tom Arthur: Councils agreed to freeze Council Tax from 2008-9 when the average Band D charge in Scotland was £1,149. In 2021-22, we estimate this figure would have increased by £399 had the CPI inflation measure applied and by £502 had the average Council Tax increases i…

5 Apr 2023 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what the average real terms spending, based on current prices, was for a Scotland-domiciled student in receipt of (a) a young students' bursary, (b) an independent students' bursary, (c) a care experienced students' bursary, (d) a lone parents' grant, (e) a dependants' grant, (f) a care …

Answer · Graeme Dey: Tables 1 and 2 reflect the relevant bursaries and grants since 1997-98 when consistent data recording started. The types of relevant bursaries and grants that were available each year varied. Bursaries and grants available to students depended on their circum…

5 Apr 2023 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government, for each devolved benefit administered by Social Security Scotland, what the total amount paid to recipients was in each year since its introduction.

Answer · Shirley-Anne Somerville: Information on benefits administered by Social Security Scotland is routinely published as part of official statistics releases. Excel tables released as part of these publications include information on the value of payments issued for each benefit since lau…

5 Apr 2023 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government how much in real terms, based on current prices, its policy on (a) free prescriptions, (b) concessionary travel and (c) free personal and nursing care has cost in each year since its introduction, also broken down by the average annual real terms spending for a recipient of each scheme.

Answer · Tom Arthur: a) Prescription charges were removed in Scotland in financial year 2011-12, with £57m being baselined into territorial board budgets. The prescription charge for a single item in 2007-08 was £6.85. In England, where prescription charges were not abolished, th…

5 Apr 2023 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what the average real terms spending, based on current prices, was for a Scotland-domiciled student attending a Scottish further education college, in each year since 2007.

Answer · Graeme Dey: Table 1 below provides the gross teaching funding allocations per Full-Time Equivalent (FTE) place in college in cash and real terms (2022-23 prices), since 2007-08. Please note that data between the periods of 2007-08 to 2012-13 and 2013-14 to 2022-23 are no…

5 Apr 2023 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what the average amount of student loan debt was for a Scotland-domiciled undergraduate student upon completing their course at a Scottish university, in each year since 2007.

Answer · Graeme Dey: Information on average student loan debt is published, in table 5, by the Student Loans Company. Student Loans in Scotland: 2021 to 2022 - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)

5 Apr 2023 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what the average real terms spending, based on current prices, was for (a) a primary, (b) a secondary and (c) an additional support needs pupil, in each year since 2007.

Answer · Jenny Gilruth: Table 1 provides real terms spend per primary, secondary, and Additional Support for Learning pupil based on 2021-22 prices, to align with the most recent Local Government Financial Returns. Data is provided from 2007-08 for primary and secondary spend. Addit…

5 Apr 2023 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government how much in (a) cash and (b) real terms, based on current prices, its policy of free university tuition has cost in each year since its introduction.

Answer · Graeme Dey: The following table shows the amount of tuition fees paid out by the Student Award Agency Scotland (SAAS) in cash and real terms (in 2021-22 prices) since 2007-08. In addition to providing free tuition through SAAS, the Scottish Government also provides a b…

5 Apr 2023 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government how many participants completed a (a) modern, (b) graduate and (c) foundation apprenticeship programme, in each year since the scheme was introduced.

Answer · Graeme Dey: Modern Apprenticeship statistics are published on the Skills Development Scotland (SDS) website at Modern Apprenticeships | Skills Development Scotland . Year-end statistics for 2022/23 are expected to be published in May 2023. The proportion of individual…

5 Apr 2023 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what assessment it has made of how much the Scottish Child Payment would need to be equal to in order to meet the (a) interim child poverty target for 2023-24 and (b) child poverty target for 2030-31.

Answer · Shirley-Anne Somerville: With limited powers and a constrained budget the Scottish Government has already increased Scottish Child Payment by 150% in less than 8 months over 2022. Since its extension to under 16s in November 2022, 385,000 children are now eligible for the benefit. A…

5 Apr 2023 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what the average real terms spending, based on current prices, was for a Scotland-domiciled student attending a Scottish university and in receipt of a (a) bursary and (b) grant, in each year since 2007.

Answer · Graeme Dey: The following table reflects the various bursaries and grants that existed since 2007. The types of bursaries and grants that were available each year varied and some replaced others. The bursaries and grants available to students depended on their circumstan…

5 Apr 2023 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government how much revenue was raised under each income tax band, and what proportion each amount represents of the total income tax take, broken down by each financial year since the introduction of the Scottish Rate of Income Tax to 2022-23.

Answer · Tom Arthur: Control over the rates and bands of non-savings non-dividends income tax has been devolved to the Scottish Parliament since 2017-18. His Majesty’s Revenue and Customs (HMRC) publish Outturn statistics annually, showing the revenue raised from Scottish Income…

5 Apr 2023 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what the average real terms spending, based on current prices, was for a participant undertaking a (a) modern, (b) graduate and (c) foundation apprenticeship programme, in each year since the scheme was introduced.

Answer · Graeme Dey: The detailed information requested is currently being collated by Skills Development Scotland and I will write to the member as soon as this data is available and a copy will be placed in the Parliament's Reference Centre (Bib number 64175).

5 Apr 2023 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what the withdrawal rate was for participants undertaking a (a) modern, (b) graduate, and (c) foundation apprenticeship programme, in each year since the scheme was introduced.

Answer · Graeme Dey: Modern Apprenticeship statistics are published on the Skills Development Scotland (SDS) website at Modern Apprenticeships | Skills Development Scotland . Year-end statistics for 2022-23 are expected to be published in May 2023. The proportion of individual…

5 Apr 2023 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what the real terms spending, based on current prices, was on Scottish schools, in each year since 2007.

Answer · Jenny Gilruth: Table 1 provides real terms expenditure based on 2021-22 prices for Scottish schools in each year since 2007. Real terms expenditure is broken down by primary, secondary, and special education. Table 1: Real terms expenditure, 2007-08 to 2021-22 (£000) Fina…