Tag: Health and Social Care Alliance Scotland

ALLIANCE responds to Adults with Incapacity Amendment Act

The Health and Social Care Alliance Scotland (the ALLIANCE) welcomes the opportunity to respond to the Adults with Incapacity Amendment Act (the AWI Amendment Act) consultation.

We consider this a valuable opportunity to comment on the proposals and the importance of reform to mental health legislation. It is positive that the proposals align with the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (UNCRPD) and incorporate some of the recommendations of the Scottish Mental Health Law Review (SMHLR).

However, whilst we acknowledge the fact that the Scottish Government have stated that this is an initial step towards longer term and larger changes in the law, we do not think that the proposed amendments go far enough to truly introduce positive change for people subject to the Act.

The ALLIANCE have concerns about the amendments approach being taken. Instead, we recommend that the Scottish Government legislate for a rights based system of supported decision making that will replace guardianship and which is in line with the UNCRPD.

We do not believe that the proposed new principles can be fully realised without a new supported decision-making framework that is robustly resourced, implemented and independently scrutinised to support them.

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Stretched to the Limit!

Following our 2022 report on the impact of the cost of living crisis on individuals, ‘Disabled people, unpaid carers and the cost of living crisis: Impacts, responses and long term solutions‘, the ALLIANCE have published a second report on how the crisis is affecting Scotland’s third sector.

‘Stretched to the Limit: Scotland’s Third Sector and the cost of living crisis‘ brings together findings from a survey of the ALLIANCE’s organisational membership in the spring, a detailed case study from one of our members, and a workshop at our annual conference. Taken together, these paint a picture of a sector which is under intense stress.

Amongst the findings of our survey were that 84% of member organisations responding had experienced increased demand for services, yet 61% reported reduction in funding via grants, 76% were facing higher bills, and 48% were unable to give their employees pay uplifts.

Despite these challenges the third sector continues to be a lifeline for many people across Scotland, responding flexibly to the changing needs of the people it supports.

With 88% of organisations saying that they would benefit from longer-term funding arrangements, and funding arising as the focus for discussion at our conference workshop, fair funding tops our list of recommendations, which include:

  • Progressing commitments to fair funding for the third sector, in line with the SCVO definition this link will take you away from The Alliance website
  • Ensuring the Fair Work agenda goes beyond funding the Real Living Wage, and instead to pay that is comparable to equivalent statutory sector roles
  • Tailored support for organisations operating in rural Scotland
  • Targeted support for energy bills, and in the longer term lower energy tariff arrangements for the third sector
  • Adopting a human rights based approach to procurement and grant funding
  • Investing in services that reduce demand for acute interventions from the public and third sectors

The HEALTH AND SOCIAL CARE ALLIANCE SCOTLAND is the national third sector intermediary for a range of health and social care organisations. We have a growing membership of over 3,000 national and local third sector organisations, associates in the statutory and private sectors, disabled people, people living with long term conditions and unpaid carers.

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