Tag: engagement

‘Strong support’ for National Care Service, says Scottish Government

Analysis of consultation responses published

A consultation has revealed strong support for proposals to establish a National Care Service accountable to Scottish ministers.

More than three-quarters (77%) of people who responded to the official consultation thought the main benefit of the proposed change would be more consistent outcomes for people accessing care and support across Scotland.

Meanwhile more than two-thirds (72%) of those responding agreed that the Scottish Government should be accountable for the delivery of social care through a National Care Service.

There were over 1200 responses to the consultation.

An analysis of responses from individuals and organisations on plans was published yesterday, following publication of the individual responses last week. The responses also highlight the risks which could emerge from such significant reform, but the need for change in the immediate and longer term is a key theme.  

The consultation process represents the first phase of engagement for the National Care Service programme.

Social Care Minister Kevin Stewart said: “We will consider all views expressed in the consultation very carefully and I would like to thank all those who took part. It is clear that there is a real appetite for change.

“We will continue to engage with people with lived experience of the service whether they are people accessing care and support, their families, care workers or providers.

“The final scope of the National Care Service has not yet been concluded.  Over the coming weeks, we will have the opportunity to reflect on these views of the public. We will then be in a position to bring forward the detailed plans for improvement to be undertaken over the course of this Parliament. 

“However we are not waiting to act to enhance Scotland’s social care services that’s why we invested £300 million to help deal with winter pressures, and we’re determined to go further.

“We are committed to acting now to improve things for people. I am therefore delighted to announce today that we will develop and publish a standalone Carer’s Strategy with a focus on Covid recovery and improving carer support in a meaningful and sustainable way. We will engage with unpaid carers about its scope and purpose in the coming months to inform its development.

“Our aim will be to draw on the knowledge and lived experience of unpaid carers so that the strategy is shaped by those who best understand the many challenges faced.

“We will seek to publish the strategy by late spring to provide a clear vision for how we will respond to the challenges faced by so many carers.”                                   

 National Care Service Consultation: Analysis of responses was published by the Scottish Government on Thursday, following the publication of the responses themselves last week.

Published responses for A National Care Service for Scotland – Scottish Government – Citizen Space (consult.gov.scot)

The public consultation attracted nearly 1,300 responses, from around 703 individuals and just over 575 organisations. A significant proportion of the responses came from individuals with lived experience, or bodies that represent them.

The social care workforce are also well represented in the responses, along with providers

Actions taken to support immediate improvements on social care include:

  • Investing £300 million of winter pressures funding in October, to maximise the capacity of the NHS and social care system this winter and in particular to bolster the caring workforce by increasing their numbers, providing them with additional support
  • Making additional funding of up to £48 million available to enable employers to provide an uplift to the hourly rate of pay for staff offering direct care within Adult Social Care to a minimum £10.02 per hour from the 1 December 2021
  • An additional £4 million to expand support for unpaid carers this winter, including to enable them to take breaks from caring
  • Developing options to remove non-residential charging as soon as possible

SYP by-election Northern and Leith

The Scottish Youth Parliament (SYP) represents Scotland’s young people.

Democratically elected members listen to and recognise the issues that are most important to young people, ensuring that their voices are heard by decision-makers.  All young people aged between 14 and 25 years old can stand for election to the SYP. 

Following on from last year’s successful SYP elections in Edinburgh, one seat remains unfilled in Northern and Leith.  SYP rules state that the vacancy should be filled.

Where a seat is vacant, it can be filled through existing youth structures.  

We are therefore asking young people involved in pupil/student councils or other youth structures such as participation groups in youth work agencies if they are interested in becoming a Member of the Scottish Youth Parliament for Northern and Leith.

Interested young people must live, study (i.e. go to school or college) or work in the constituency.

More information on becoming an MSYP is available at https://syp.org.uk/get-involved/have-your-voice-heard/

Any interested young people can contact Andy Welsh (andrew.welsh@ea.edin.sch.uk) if they are interested by Friday 11 February. 

Full training and support is provided.

Conversations with the Social Action Inquiry

The Social Action Inquiry was set-up to explore what helps and what hinders Social Action in Scotland.

Our first steps are a series of participatory and thought-provoking conversations to connect people taking practical, socially driven action in the service of others, our shared spaces and our natural environments.

The conversation is two hours long and divided into 3 parts. Each part will invite participation from attendees to contribute through dialogue, written words and images.

The structure of the conversation will:

  • Provide space to share the stories of social action that need heard
  • Begin to develop the network of allies involved in social action
  • Explain the intention and life cycle of the Inquiry
  • Identify who else we need to speak to
  • Shape the next steps of the Inquiry

At the end of the sessions there will be information and offers from the Inquiry Team of how people can stay connected with the Inquiry.

Dates and Times of Conversations

Thursday the 24th of November 7-9p.m

Tuesday the 30th of November 4-6p.m

Tuesday the 7th of December 2-4p.m

Wednesday the 8th of December 7-9p.m

Book your place here and select your preferred Date and Time.

These conversations will take place on the Zoom platform. Once you have registered, we will send you the Zoom link and materials that you can use during the session.

For more information about the event you can email us at hello@socialaction.scot

I wanted to drop you a message to update you on our engagement activities for this phase of the Social Action Inquiry (writes DARRYL).

We are hosting 3 weeks of Conversations with the Social Action Inquiry.

Tickets can be reserved through Eventbrite here. We have scheduled BSL interpreters for the event on the 7th of December (7-9 p.m.).

We have also scheduled additional conversations with allied initiatives and organisations such as #Iwill21 and Inspirealba.  

Each conversation is two hours in length and are designed with liberating structures in mind, enabling attendees to contribute regularly and evenly to the conversations. The conversations are divided into three parts and the aims for these sessions are to:

  • Provide space to share the stories of social action that need heard
  • Begin to develop the network of allies involved in social action
  • Explain the intention and life cycle of the Inquiry
  • Identify who else we need to speak to
  • Shape the next steps of the Inquiry

We would be grateful if you could share information about these events through your networks ,social media, and perhaps more importantly, nudge one or two people that spring to mind that need to know about these conversations.

We find that the personal touch often has the greatest influence.

You can find us on Twitter and Instagram we invite you to follow us, both platforms have embedded a short animation describing the events which can be shared.

Finally, please do get in touch if you would like to connect. Alternatively if you would like to be removed from our mailing list please let us know as well.

Best wishes

Darryl

Social Action Inquiry Scotland

Phone: 07867 181 040

Website: www.socialaction.scot

Twitter: @Soc_Act_Scot

Instagram: @Social_Action_Scotland

Scottish Government: planning to reach net zero

Creating more town centre homes and local services to help fight climate change

Planning applications will have to show how they help meet Scotland’s ambitious targets to cut emissions to net zero by 2045 to get approval under new proposals.

Applications that create more town centre homes or help reuse vacant and derelict land will be more likely to succeed, under the draft fourth National Planning Framework which has been published for consultation today.

These proposals promote the creation of 20-minute neighbourhoods, where services are easily accessible on foot or by bicycle, across cities and towns. Tighter restrictions will be imposed on out-of-town retail development.

The Framework will support developments which contribute to nature restoration, drive population growth in rural Scotland, create more homes to meet local needs and encourage green investment.

Proposals for renewable energy, including increasing the power of existing wind farms, will be supported by planners – helping make Scotland an energy exporter.

It proposes 18 national developments including:

  • a national walking, wheeling and cycling network promoting active travel
  • mass and rapid transit networks for cities to significantly reduce congestion and reliance on the car
  • sustainable drainage and water management solutions to protect cities from future flood risk
  • master planned regeneration and investment along the Clyde and waterfronts in Dundee, Edinburgh and Stranraer
  • supporting transition of key industrial sites to net zero as well as helping to sustain rural and island communities in transitioning to a net zero society
  • pumped hydroelectric storage, large scale renewable energy generation and investment in the electricity grid.

Planning Minister Tom Arthur said yesterday: “As COP26 delegates debate the future of our planet, we are proudly publishing our new draft National Planning Framework that proposes planners will have to consider the impact of applications on climate change and our natural environment.

“This plan for Scotland in 2045 aims to transform places so more of us live in well-designed and energy efficient homes, located within walking distance of local services and green space, and puts planning at the heart of delivering green, inclusive and long‑term sustainable development.

“This is a turning point for planning in Scotland. Our proposals will help us achieve our just transition to net zero emissions by helping to deliver more renewable energy, protecting our natural environment and creating better, healthier places to live.”

Today’s theme at COP26 is Cities, Regions and the Built Environment. 

Climate Action Towns project: Empowering communities

Seven towns have been chosen to help tackle the impact of climate change and secure a just transition to net zero.

The Climate Action Towns programme will empower communities to come together and engage in collective climate action, taking account of the unique challenges and opportunities each town faces. That might include looking at what action can be taken on switching to more sustainable food or renewable energy.

Communities in the seven towns will be offered support to find ways of making changes at a local level that will help tackle the crisis, giving them a voice and engaging those that may not have previously engaged in climate action.

The programme will be delivered by design agency Architecture and Design Scotland, with funding of £146,000 from the Scottish Government.

The seven towns chosen are:

  • Alness, Highlands
  • Annan, Dumfries & Galloway
  • Blackburn, West Lothian
  • Campbeltown, Argyll & Bute
  • Holytown, North Lanarkshire
  • Invergordon, Highlands
  • Stevenston, North Ayrshire

The project will be driven by collaboration between local people and agencies, and their collective vision of what their Climate Action Town looks like. The outcome of the work with the towns will be used to outline learning for climate action on a town scale that can then be applied across Scotland and beyond.

The announcement came during the Scottish Government’s Just Transition themed weekend during COP26.

The start of the process to collaborate and co-design the Scottish Government’s refreshed Energy Strategy was outlined on Friday. It was also announced that Scotland’s first Just Transition Plan, to be published in spring 2022, will be focussed on the energy sector.

The Scottish Government will provide £100,000 to establish a Just Transition Alliance within the Under2 Coalition, a network of more than 200 devolved and local governments driving climate action across the world, so that members can access the resources, support and information necessary to deliver a just transition in cities and towns across the world.

Just Transition Minister Richard Lochhead said: “It is clear that we must decarbonise industry and society in order to mitigate the worst effects of climate change, but we must do so in a way that is fair for everyone and leaves no one behind.

“Scotland was at the forefront of the Industrial Revolution, so we see it as only right that Scotland is at the forefront of this green revolution.

“We have a once-in-a-generation opportunity to make changes in a way that will be good for our people, our communities, our economy and our planet – we must seize it.

“Tackling the climate crisis requires all of us, at every level, to get involved. We can all make a difference. The Climate Action Towns project aims to support and empower communities to have a say on how their local areas should change as part of a fair and just transition to net zero.

“I look forward to seeing how the towns that are taking part rise to the challenge and find ways that will not only make a difference locally but to Scotland and indeed the world.”

Architecture and Design Scotland Chief Executive Jim MacDonald said: “The climate emergency demands urgent action from us all. For Scotland to adapt to the impacts of climate change, we are all going to need to work together to adapt the ways we live, work, play and move in our cities, towns and villages.

“Considering that half of Scotland’s population live in towns, it is vital towns are a key focus in the fight against climate change.”