Scottish Parliament e-Brief

Issue 22, 5^th June 2000

SECTION 1 - BUSINESS THIS WEEK

THE CHAMBER

Wednesday 7^th June

• Stage 3 of Standards in Scotland’s Schools Bill
• Members Business: Standard Life Mutuality (Margo Macdonald)

Thursday 8^th June

• 2 Ministerial Statements (Subjects to be confirmed.)
• Debate on a Motion from the Enterprise & Lifelong Learning Committee on Local Economic Development Services in Scotland.
• Question Time
• Debate on an Executive Motion on Learning Disability Review
• Members Business: Women’s Pay (Elaine Thomson)

For briefings on the main debates, please see section 3.

COMMITTEE BUSINESS

Only a small number of committee agendas have so far been published for next week. However, of the information which is available, the following may be of interest:

• Local Government considers a framework paper for its review of local government finance, and a draft Covenant between the Scottish Parliament and local government from COSLA.
• Subordinate Legislation takes evidence on the delegated powers in the Investigatory Powers Bill and the Bail & Judicial Appointments Bill.

SECTION 2 - NEWS

NEW RESEARCH WILL IMPROVE COMMUNITY-BASED PATIENT CARE

A major new initiative to develop high quality healthcare research in Scotland will deliver real improvements to patient services in the community, Health Minister Susan Deacon said last Friday.

The Minister launched the Scottish School of Primary Care with the announcement that it would receive £1.2m over three years from the Chief Scientist Office and the Scottish Higher Education Funding Council to fund community healthcare research programmes.

During the next two years, foundations are being laid for the establishment of the School with support from the Scottish Executive, the NHS and professional organisations.

When it begins work in January 2002, the School will link and build upon the activity of all those involved in community healthcare research in Scotland.

Launching the School, Ms Deacon said:

"Community healthcare is at the heart of the NHS in Scotland. Eighty six per cent of all health care takes place in GP surgeries, community health clinics and people's homes. Our frontline community health services are key to achieving better health for all Scots. An effective health service is not one which just gets better at treating more ill people in hospital - but gets better at helping people stay out of hospital.

"GPs, dentists, pharmacists and nurses have a crucial role in promoting good health, and giving the best available care when people are ill. And we need the best possible research to support them in that task. Not just doing more - but doing better.

"The vision of the Scottish School of Primary Care is to provide high quality research evidence to inform the decisions of patients, healthcare professionals, managers and policy makers. It also aims to increase research capacity and capability within Scotland through improving the accessibility of education and training in this field.

"I am greatly encouraged by this exciting development, with its obvious potential to deliver real improvement to how we deliver healthcare in the community."

Commenting on the work of the Scottish School of Primary Care, Foundation Director Dr Sally Wyke, said;

"The work of the School will be led by principles important to the NHS in Scotland. This means doing research that will lead to better health, greater ease of use, more equitable services, lower cost and higher quality for both patients and the NHS".

A strategic review, "Shaping the Future: a Primary Care Research and Development Strategy for Scotland", published a year ago, recommended the establishment of a Scottish School of Primary Care.

The School began its 2-year foundation phase on 1 January 2000, under its Foundation Director, Dr Sally Wyke. It is funded by the Chief Scientist Office (CSO) and Primary Care Division of the Scottish Executive Health Department and the Scottish Council for Postgraduate Medical and Dental Education. Support has come from the various professional Colleges - or their equivalent Societies - for each of the main primary care professions. For example, the Royal Pharmaceutical Society is providing accommodation.

It is intended that the School will continue to develop focused, co-ordinated programmes of research across Scotland involving academics and clinicians. The School is also expected to increase the accessibility of research, education and training throughout the country.

HENRY McLEISH POINTS WAY FORWARD FOR MANUFACTURING IN SCOTLAND

New and innovative ways of improving the image and development of manufacturing in Scotland will be driven forward by a Manufacturing Image Group launched by Minister for Enterprise and Lifelong Learning, Henry McLeish last Friday.

The group, which will be chaired by television presenter Kaye Adams, will also seek different ways of making manufacturing an attractive career choice for young people.

The Manufacturing Image Group was announced as part of the Scottish Executive's manufacturing report Created in Scotland launched in March. Members include representatives from industry, trade unions and business support groups.

Speaking at the group's first meeting, Mr McLeish said:

"Manufacturing matters. It is a vital sector in our economy and we must do all we can to ensure that it continues to play a full role in a vibrant knowledge-driven economy of the future.

"Our strongest asset is our people and we must continue to promote manufacturing as a worthwhile career opportunity. We need to get an early start, children and young people are our future talent and we must encourage them at an early stage.

"The group will draw up a campaign to show that manufacturing is exciting, challenging and has a strong role to play in our future. It will also outline ways of driving forward the future development of manufacturing throughout Scotland"

Kaye Adams said:

"I'm passionate about Scotland and I'm proud to have been asked to chair this group. We have a great deal of work behind us to build on.

"The Manufacturing Steering Group published Created in Scotland in March this year and the Pathfinders to the Parliament exercise reported last year. The group will be focusing on developing a media campaign involving industry, the Executive, and other bodies. My media background will be helpful in ensuring the campaign makes sense to the general public."

The Manufacturing Image Group was formed as a result of the Scottish Executive's response to the recommendations made to it by the Scottish Manufacturing Steering Group, established by Mr McLeish in November 1999. These recommendations and the Executive's response were set out in full in Created in Scotland: The Way Forward for Scottish Manufacturing in the 21^st Century, published in March 2000.

The image of, and attitudes towards, the manufacturing sector were studied by a sub-group of the steering group. They reported that the education system has scope for action to improve the image of manufacturing, and the Manufacturing Image Group will therefore study this area closely.

SECTION 3 - NOTES ON THIS WEEK’S DEBATES

THE LEARNING DISABILITY REVIEW

This debate concerns The same as you?, the recently published review of services for people with learning disabilities.

The review began in December 1998, and was completed in December 1999. The report is the first review of such services for over 20 years and aims to improve the quality of life enjoyed by people with learning disabilities. The main focus of the review was social care and health services but it also recognised the importance of housing, education, employment and leisure if people with learning disabilities are to lead a full life.

It is now widely acknowledged that improved outcomes are possible by using better the considerable sums already spent on learning disabilities and by enabling people with learning disabilities to access mainstream activities and services.

Facts and figures

• Learning disability is what was formerly known as learning difficulty, and earlier still as mental handicap. Some people with learning disabilities have Down’s Syndrome.
• The definition used in the review is ‘a significant, lifelong condition that started before adulthood, that affected their development and which means they need help to: understand information; learn skills; and cope independently.’
• The report estimates that 120,000 people in Scotland have a learning disability, of whom 30,000 are in contact with local authority or health services.
• Learning disability is the second biggest spend in the community care field – around £275m per year. Spending on vulnerable older people is by far the biggest. But spending on learning disability is well above that for mental health or physical disability, the next largest areas.
• The numbers of people with learning disability continue to increase. There is a particular and under-recognised problem for people with Downs Syndrome who are liable to early onset dementia.
• Spending on learning disability in Scotland is lower than in Wales or England. There is also greater reliance on hospitals: although the number of people with learning disability in hospital fell from 6,500 to 2,450 between 1980 and 1998, we still spend 37% of the learning disability budget on hospital care, compared to just 15% in England. The percentage going to local authorities is correspondingly reduced.

Key recommendations of the Review

We have already implemented one of the Review’s key recommendations. The new Scottish Centre for Learning Disabilities was announced on 10^th May. The centre will provide a resource to support users, carers and agencies, and to promote public awareness.

Other proposals include the following:

• Setting up a new managed network for autism.
• Appointing local area co-ordinators to support people innovatively in the community.
• Strengthening people's entitlement to direct payments.
• Direct payments allow people to choose their own services and have responsibility for them, rather than their benefits being paid directly by the DSS to the service provider. It can even include people choosing the staff who will work with them.
• Modernising day services, and focusing on personal development and employment.
• Introducing 'partnership in practice' agreements to provide a clear focus for local authorities and health boards to work together to develop services.
• Introducing personal life plans for everyone with a learning disability who wants one.
• This is an extension of the Care Programme Approach which is part of community care. Rather than a snapshot assessment of need, the whole of a person’s life is taken into consideration. Organisations representing people with learning disabilities are pleased with this recommendation.
• Providing more help and support through short breaks. (i.e. Respite care.)
• Shifting the balance of care to the community and closing long-stay hospitals by 2005.
• creating a change fund to help local authorities move quickly towards the vision for people with learning disabilities.

Further information

The full report is on the Scottish Executive’s website: http://www.scotland.gov.uk/ldsr/docs/tsay-00.asp

LOCAL ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT SERVICES IN SCOTLAND

There will be a Committee debate on the morning of Thursday 8^th June on the Enterprise and Lifelong Learning Committee’s report on the delivery of local economic services in Scotland.

The Committee began its inquiry into the delivery of local economic development services on 15^th September 1999, with the Final Report being published on 12^th May.

Economic Framework for Scotland

Enterprise Minister, Henry McLeish, launched the construction of an Economic Framework for Scotland in January 2000. The Framework looks at factors that can accelerate economic progress and examines the ways economic development impacts on the key issues of social justice and environmental sustainability.

At the time of the launch, Henry McLeish said:

"Our economic development efforts must be set in the context of an overall Economic Framework, and that is why I am inviting consultation on the work that the Scottish Executive is doing on a Framework under the direction of the Chief Economic Adviser.

"The Framework will address a range of questions relating to Scotland’s economic development. It will provide a framework within which all our thinking on economic development will be focused. It will look carefully at the full range of factors that can accelerate economic progress and at how the work across the Executive contributes to this effort.’

The consultation process for the new Framework was completed in March and the launch of the document is expected before the Parliamentary recess.

The Enterprise and Lifelong Learning Committee said that the evidence from their Inquiry ‘very much support the need for such a framework, and its creation is very much welcomed’.

The Enterprise Network

The route in which the economic development policies of the Executive are delivered is through the Scottish Enterprise Network and Highlands and Islands Enterprise, and their numerous local enterprise companies.

On December 6^th 1999, Henry McLeish announced a review of the Enterprise Network in Scotland, he said:

"We must grasp the opportunity to examine the responsiveness of our Enterprise Networks. Against the backdrop of their success, we must examine every appropriate model from across the world to see how best our institutional frameworks evolve to meet the needs of the 21st century. The creation of the new economy requires that we meet the need for a new flexibility in the support we deliver to businesses in Scotland.

"To achieve this we must work to change the culture of the relationships between Government, businesses and the Enterprise network. We must change our attitudes. We will not change them just by spending money or government help – although these will remain important and part of our agenda."

On Friday 2^nd June, Henry McLeish made an additional announcement on the progress of the Review of the Enterprise Network. The Review’s consultation period ended on 5 May. The Executive is now considering the consultation responses and will make an interim announcement on the conclusions of the review before the Parliamentary recess.

The Minister said:

"The messages we have received from the consultation and I want now to act on are:

• More strategic clarity in our policy framework
• Better clarity in the roles and responsibilities of the key players in Scotland’s economic delivery
• Better partnership working

"Our Framework for Economic Development and the outcome of the Review will address these issues.

"I also share the ELL Committee’s diagnosis of the problem of local economic development. We should embrace their proposed solution which is the Local Economic Forum.

"This will require change and a clearer focus at national and local level. I am now, along with a group of Independent Advisers, looking at how we ensure that the Enterprise Network remains relevant, effective and dynamic, driving the Scottish economy forward and ensuring that a learning culture is firmly at the centre of our economic development efforts."

The Enterprise and Lifelong Learning Committee Report

The Inquiry into the delivery of local economic development services began on 15^th September last year. The remit of the Inquiry included:

• The delivery of economic development, post-school vocational education and training (excluding higher education) and business support services
• An examination of the roles of LEC’s, local authorities, enterprise trusts, training providers and FE colleges
• Focussing on the co-ordination of services already provided and assessing any degree of overlap
• Assess the provision of lifelong learning opportunities.

The announcements by the Scottish Executive on the Economic Framework for Scotland and the Review of the Enterprise Networks were made following the interim report from the Enterprise and Lifelong Learning Committee.

The Conclusions

The fundamental conclusion that the Committee came to relates to the level of congestion within the field of local economic development in Scotland. They state "there is confusion, overlap, duplication and even active competition between the many agencies involved"

The Committee recommends that the Executive take a leading role in ensuring the rationalisation and co-ordination of local economic development services, and should penalise publicly-funded bodies who do not co-operate.

The central recommendation from the committee is to restructure the way in which economic development services are delivered and create ‘Local Economic Forums’ for each LEC area, comprising the local authority, the LEC, the chamber of commerce, the area tourist board(s) and representatives from further and higher education institutions. The Committee believed that agencies must act in partnership and recommends that the Executive should penalise those who fail to act in partnership.

A new business support service should be introduced that merges the services of existing providers and provides them though a nationally branded service. This will be a one-stop shop for business support, aiming to provide better services to more businesses over a longer period of time.

On Local Enterprise Companies, the Committee believes that their status should change from a private company to a public body. An enterprise ombudsman should also be appointed to investigate complaints against LECs.

The area of lifelong learning is also considered to be congested and the Committee believe that more co-ordination and less competition is required, as well as more leadership. There should also be a greater emphasis on the quality of training provided via LECs as opposed to just the sheer numbers going through vocational training schemes.

The Committee have 37 conclusions in total, the details of which are available from their report, the hyperlink is given at then end of this document.

Further Information

The Enterprise and Lifelong Learning Committee Report: http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/official_report/cttee/enter-00/elr00-01v1-01.htm

An Economic Framework for Scotland, Consultation Paper: http://www.scotland.gov.uk/library2/doc09/framedev.asp

The Scottish Executive Press Release launching the consultation on the Economic Framework for Scotland: http://www.scotland.gov.uk/news/2000/02/se0346.asp

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