Question
We continue to have acute workforce pressures in social care in Scotland, which often leaves people stranded in hospital when they are fit to go home. What conversations has the Home Secretary had with the Scottish Government about the need for robust workforce planning, which has been absent for so long, to ensure that existing skills gaps are not exacerbated by these changes?
Answer
My hon. Friend raises an important point. She will know that the Home Office is not responsible for workforce planning, but Ministers in the Department of Health and Social Care are working carefully on a workforce response, and I am sure that they are discussing these matters with their counterparts in the devolved Administrations.
Verdict: RED (18/100)
The reply mostly passes the question to the Department of Health and Social Care, saying the Home Office does not handle workforce planning. Its only point on engagement is a general statement that health ministers are talking to devolved counterparts, which does not say what the Home Secretary has done with the Scottish Government or how the Home Office's changes relate to existing skills gaps. The question is only partly addressed and mainly hedged, so the person who asked would likely need to ask again for specifics.
How we got there
| Question item | Coverage | Specificity | Rationale |
|---|---|---|---|
| What is the nature of the Home Secretary's engagement with the Scottish Government on social care workforce planning, including how the department's changes are considered in relation to existing skills gaps. | Partially Addressed | Hedged | The reply mainly refers the question to the Department of Health and Social Care, saying the Home Office does not handle workforce planning. Its only substantive point on engagement is an unsupported assertion that DHSC ministers are discussing matters with devolved counterparts, which says nothing concrete about the Home Secretary's own engagement with the Scottish Government or about how the Home Office's changes relate to existing skills gaps. |