Tag: letter to First Minister

Pause The Bill

Common Weal and STUC call for pause to National Care Service legislation

Scottish think tank Common Weal, along with the Scottish Trade Union Congress, has launched a joint letter to the First Minister calling for the National Care Service Bill to be paused (writes NICK KEMPE).

Since Common Weal supported calls from the Trade Unions to pause the bill at the beginning of December many other organisations have done the same. Until now, however, smaller organisations have had a limited opportunity to make their views known and there has been very little joint action. The idea behind the letter, which you can read here, is to change that and to show the Scottish Government the degree of concern across Scotland.

The NCS Bill has now been considered by various Committees of the Scottish Parliament and MSPs should now be aware that there is very little enthusiasm or support for it in its current form. The hearings of the Finance and Public Administration Committee received a large amount of media coverage, not least because SNP MSP Michelle Thomson broke ranks and made some scathing comments.

The Committee’s report on the Financial Memorandum accompanying the bill, published at the beginning of December, was highly critical about the absence of costings. It highlighted the absence of costs for the creation of the new service, including VAT liability, transfer of assets and staff and the creation of a health and social care record, as well as the proposal to introduce major policies “via secondary legislation or business cases which cannot be subject to the same in-depth and formal financial scrutiny as Financial Memorandums to bills”.

It called on the Scottish Government to provide the necessary financial details at least two weeks prior to the Stage 1 consideration of the bill in March – giving very little time for any outside organisation to comment/brief MSPs

The majority report published last Friday here from the Delegated Powers and Law Reform Committee – don’t be put off by the name – added to the concerns about the lack of information and that the Scottish Government is “setting a dangerous precedent, undermining the role of the parliament.” Its reason for concluding this (the two SNP MSPs on the Committee dissented) was:

“The Committee is concerned there is insufficient detail on the face of the Bill and within the Bill documents to allow for meaningful parliamentary scrutiny. Given the far-reaching nature of the proposed reforms the Committee is mindful there is a real risk of letting down those the Bill is intended to help by allowing Scottish Government ministers to use delegated powers instead of primary legislation to introduce core and as yet unknown provisions. The Committee believes the current approach significantly reduces the threshold for parliamentary approval and prevents MSPs from bringing forward detailed amendments”.

Far from increasing democratic control over care services, as we advocated in Caring for All, the NCS Bill is now threatening to undermine democracy, whether at the local level by removing control from local authorities, or at the national level by handing unprecedented powers to Scottish Ministers.

The Scottish Government needs to have a fundamental re-think about what it is proposing and how its engaging with civic society while at the same time secretly working with KPMG to design the Target Operating Model for the NCS. If you are part of an organisation which has a stake in the future of social work and social care in Scotland, please ask them to support the letter. As an individual, please also consider contacting your MSPs asking them to support the call for a pause.

Nick Kempe – Common Weal Care Reform Group

COSLA’s Health and Social Care Spokesperson, @cllrpaulkelly, commented following the release of the letter from @ScottishTUC and signed by a number of organisations which has called for Scottish Government to pause the National Care Service Bill:

Council funding crisis: Leaders write to First Minister over budget ‘cut’

Scotland’s Council Leaders have written to the First Minister expressing their collective deep concern about the impacts of the financial settlement that Scottish Government has proposed for Local Government as part of this year’s Scottish Budget.

At a special meeting of Leaders on Monday 16th December, it was unanimously agreed that the budget settlement as it stands means another real terms cut to Councils’ core funding, at a time when many in our communities are struggling with the impact of rocketing prices across fuel, food and other bills, and facing unprecedented levels of poverty in a modern era, in an era where Local Government continues to provide the targeted and ongoing support deemed so vital to those most in need.

Council Leaders feel that this budget settlement will have a detrimental impact on vital local services, on our ability to focus the necessary resources and supports to our communities and on those who are already impacted by this cost-of-living crisis.

Leaders added that significantly, it will lead to the loss of jobs, both within Local Authorities and within the local companies who supply goods and services to councils and are reliant on their contracts to employ local people.

In the letter Leaders did acknowledge the impact of inflation, the UK Government’s mini-budget and global economic factors that are continuing to weigh heavily on the Scottish Government’s budgets and spending plans.

Given the pressures facing Councils, Leaders are keen this year to meet with Ministers so they can hear concerns first-hand, look at possible solutions and to work collaboratively with Government to enable Local Government to continue to deliver vital services to our communities.

Poverty Alliance: Ask your MSP to support the doubling of the Scottish Child Payment now

The Poverty Alliance have launched our new campaigning tool to allow you to easily email your constituency and regional MSPs urging them to push for the doubling of the Scottish Child Payment now. Children growing up in the grip of poverty can’t wait.

Email your MSP in less than 30 seconds using our new tool

Our e-action comes after over 120 anti-poverty organisations, children’s charities, community groups, think tanks, trade unions, faith leaders – including the Moderator of the Church of Scotland – and academics wrote to the First Minister urging her to “do the right thing” by using the upcoming Programme for Government to commit to doubling the Scottish Child Payment in this year’s budget, the £10 per week per child benefit for low income families.

The letter – coordinated by members of the End Child Poverty coalition in Scotland – states that doubling the payment now would “signal that ending child poverty will be a defining priority for this Scottish Government and Scottish Parliament.”  

Read coverage of the letter in the Daily Record or read our press release below:

‘Do the right thing and double the Scottish Child Payment now’ civil society coalition tells First Minister

A coalition of over 100 anti-poverty organisations, children’s charities, community groups, think tanks, trade unions, faith leaders – including the Moderator of the Church of Scotland – and academics have today written to the First Minister urging her to “do the right thing” by using the upcoming Programme for Government to commit to doubling the Scottish Child Payment in this year’s budget, the £10 per week per child benefit for low income families.

The letter – coordinated by members of the End Child Poverty coalition in Scotland – states that doubling the payment now would “signal that ending child poverty will be a defining priority for this Scottish Government and Scottish Parliament.” It has been sent after the Scottish Government – despite all of Scotland’s five main political parties committing to the move at May’s Holyrood elections – have so far failed to set a timescale for the doubling of the payment, stating only that it will take place by the end of the parliamentary term in 2026.  The campaigners say the increase is needed now to help families recover from the pandemic and to meet the government’s own statutory 2023/24 interim child poverty targets.

The coalition has issued the plea at a time of growing concern over the numbers of people across the country – particularly women, disabled people and Black and minority ethnic people – being pulled into hardship and with analysis showing that, on current trends, the Scottish Government will fail to meet its child poverty reduction targets.

The letter issues the stark warning that if Scottish ministers fail to double the payment now then “more and more children will be pulled into poverty and the opportunity to meet the interim child poverty targets will be missed.”

Polly Jones (Head of Scotland, Trussell Trust), said: “Food bank use has rocketed by 63% over the last five years because people can’t afford the basics. Over the last year, families have struggled more than most.  We have the powers and we have the cross-party consensus to double the Scottish Child Payment now. If Scottish ministers are serious about making ending child poverty a ‘national mission’ then we must not delay.”

Eilidh Dickson (Policy and Parliamentary Manager, Engender) said: “Child poverty and women’s poverty are inextricably linked. Women continue to provide the majority of care for children, are more likely to work in underpaid and undervalued roles, and to work part time or rely on precarious contracts. Women are also twice as likely as men to rely on social security for all or part of their income, even when aspects, for example the two-child limit, mean it fails to meet their needs.

Doubling the Scottish Child Payment is an urgently needed response to supporting children and their caregivers. The Scottish Government must implement this now as part of its mission to eradicate child poverty, while also looking to the gender pay gap action plan and other reforms to social security. The pandemic only adds further urgency to this call as inequality and poverty deepen.”

Professor John McKendrick (Co-Director, Scottish Poverty and Inequality Research Unit, Glasgow Caledonian University) said: “Poverty in Scotland can be solved, and we should not accept it. The Scottish Child Payment is a bold and progressive development that has the potential to lift many children out of poverty. But, with a rising tide of child poverty threatening to overwhelm, communities across Scotland, this potential needs to be realised now. If we are serious about tackling child poverty, doubling the payment now is the right thing for the Scottish Government to do.”

Larry Flanagan (General Secretary, EIS) said: “The EIS unequivocally supports the call for the Scottish Government to act decisively against child poverty and double the Child Payment now rather than delaying when there is urgent need. Levels of poverty experienced by families in Scotland continue to be unacceptably high, worsened by the economic ravages of the pandemic.

The real risk that poverty poses to the educational outcomes and life chances of large numbers of children is one that Scotland as a country simply should not be taking as we look to emergence from the pandemic and education recovery.”

The letter – along with the full list of signatories – can be read here: 

Letter to First Minister – Scottish Child Payment.

EIS Makes Direct Plea to First Minister: ‘Do More on School Safety’

The EIS has made a direct plea to First Minister Nicola Sturgeon, urging her to do more to make schools safe from the risk of COVID-19.

In an unusual step, the EIS has written directly to the First Minister pointing out clear inconsistencies in COVID safety policy outwith and within schools, and urging the Scottish Government to do more to protect pupils, staff and school communities from the risk of COVID infection.

In the letter, EIS General Secretary Larry Flanagan says, “Standing alongside you at Monday’s daily briefing, (National Clinical Director) Jason Leitch stated that there were concerns around people meeting outside schools in large groups.

“He went on to say, ‘This includes parents gathering at school gates; young people meeting friends without following the guidance on physical distances.’ He concluded, ‘To remind you, the maximum permitted is eight people from three households, including your own, indoors, and 15 people from five households outdoors.’

‘Crucially, everyone 12 and over must physically distance from everyone outside their own household. People are running the risk of spreading the virus to each other, their families and their loved ones.’ May I ask, then, why the Scottish Government thinks that it is acceptable that inside schools these rules don’t apply, where up to 33 pupils may be in a closed confined area, i.e. a classroom, with as many different households as there are people?”

The letter continues, “We need the Scottish Government to fund the hiring of the 3,500 teachers identified by the GTCS as willing to aid Education recovery, so that we can reduce class sizes and make possible physical distancing.

“We also need stronger advice on face coverings, where physical distancing is not possible. You cannot visit a museum without one but again schools are different?”

Mr Flanagan adds, “EIS members supported the decision to reopen schools as we understand the importance of Education to our young people – that does not mean the very real concerns of teachers about school safety should be set aside. I urge you and your Government to do more.”

#KidsCantWait: First Minister urged to speed up child poverty benefit

More than 70 leaders and organisations from across Scottish society have joined together to call on the First Minister to speed up the introduction of a new income supplement to tackle child poverty. Continue reading #KidsCantWait: First Minister urged to speed up child poverty benefit