Question reference: S5W-31432
- Asked by: Monica Lennon, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
- Date lodged: 26 August 2020
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Current status: Answered by Jeane Freeman on 10 September 2020
Question
To ask the Scottish Government for what reason it has reportedly reduced its funding to the Scottish Personal Assistant Employers Network (SPAEN), which supports the employers of social care personal assistants, and what equality impact assessment it carried out before reaching this decision.
Answer
The financial settlement in the 2020-21 budget was very tight and tough decisions were made across all parts of the health and social care portfolio. The majority of projects in the self-directed support and social care portfolio experienced reduced levels of funding.
Despite this, the total amount of funding from Scottish Government to SPAEN in 2020-21, is in line with previous years, it is made up of social care funding and specific support related to COVID-19.
It is good practice to regularly review grant funding arrangements to ensure alignment with policy aims and sustainability. As an organisation SPAEN has received Scottish Government funding for over a decade and some of its work is self-sustaining. Funding arrangements for 2020-21 followed the completion of a business review and receipt of SPAEN’s own funding application for 2020-21.
We are fully committed to the provision of independent advice and advocacy including advice on employment of personal assistants and as well as funding SPAEN we fund other organisations through the Support in the Right Direction programme (SiRD).
We did not complete an EQIA for this specific funding decision, however we did work with Self-directed Support Scotland (SDSS), a membership body representing disabled people’s organisations, in order to understand the impact of our funding to independent support organisations as part of the consultation and fund development of SiRD. A planned EQIA on reform of adult social care has been delayed due to COVID.