Various questions on Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs) agenda: FOI release

Information requested

A. The amount the Scottish Government has spent promoting the ACEs agenda including (but not limited to) staff salaries; meetings; event costs; research; training and development and the development of associated resources and materials.

B. An itemised account of existing and planned Scottish Government payments relating specifically to the commissioning of private sector consultants and businesses to work on the ACEs agenda.

C. All correspondence with NHS Scotland, Education Scotland, Police Scotland and local authorities relating to existing or planned spending on the ACEs agenda.

D. All correspondence between The Scottish Government and the Annie E Casey Foundation, Kaiser Permanente and/ or Dartington Social Research Unit on the subject of ACEs / childhood trauma.

E. All correspondence relating to the participation of First Minister Nicola Sturgeon and / or DFM John Swinney at the ACE Aware Conference in Glasgow in September 2018.

F. All correspondence between the Scottish Government and the Annie E Casey Foundation relating to First Minister Nicola Sturgeon's two recent official visits to the United States (2017 & 2019).

Response

Consideration has been given to all of the information held by the Scottish Government that may be relevant to your enquiry and information is provided where possible. The answer to your question is:

A. The amount the Scottish Government has spent promoting the ACEs agenda including (but not limited to) staff salaries; meetings; event costs; research; training and development and the development of associated resources and materials.

Staff Salaries: Table 1 below details the timings and grade of the Scottish Government posts with responsibility for promoting the ACEs agenda as part of their remit. The pay scales for each Scottish Government grade are detailed in Table 2.

Table 1: Posts with ACEs remit- grades and timings

Timing of post	Grade of Post	Full time or FTE
July 2017 to August 2018	C1	1.0
November 2017 to present	B3	0.8
April 2018 to present	B3	0.7
April 2018 to present	B1	1.0
September 2018 to present	C2	1.0
January 2019 to present	C1	0.8

Table 2: Scottish Government Pay Ranges From 1 April 2018

	A3	A4	B1	B2	B3	BF	C1	C2	C3
Max-4
Max-3			24580	28891	36328	28654	46889	60379	69790
Max-2	18392	21769	25559	30292	37847	31356	50427	63068	70586
Max-1	19562	22589	26538	31693	40305	33164	53965	65862	71381
Max	20732	23409	27515	33094	43923	35420	57503	69690	72177

 

Events:

• “Recognising and Responding to Adverse Childhood Experiences and Trauma” Workshop at City of Edinburgh Methodist Church (Edinburgh) on 30 November 2017: £868.40 (VAT included)
• Event report: http://www.healthscotland.scot/publications/recognising-and-responding-to-adverse-child-experiences-and-trauma-workshop-event-summary
• Catering for a screening of the ‘Resilience’ documentary with the Deputy First Minister, senior officials and stakeholders at St Andrews House in November 2017: £187.50 (VAT included)
• Ministerial Event on Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs) with stakeholders at Bellahouston Academy (Glasgow) on 26 March 2018: £1,195.30 (VAT included)
• Event report: https://www.gov.scot/publications/adverse-childhood-experiences-aces-ministerial-event/

Publication:

• Briefing paper titled “What have ACEs got to do with Justice?” published on the Scottish Government website: £181.91 (VAT included) Publication: https://www.gov.scot/publications/understanding-childhood-adversity-resilience-crime/

Research:

• The Growing Up in Scotland Survey has asked questions which are relevant to ACEs and the Scottish Health Survey 2019 will include questions on ACEs. Neither survey has incurred additional costs for the inclusion of these questions as they have been met within the existing budgets for running the surveys.

Pilot Project:

• Scottish Government funding to NHS Health Scotland to undertake a pilot project of routine enquiry of childhood adversity with adults across six GP practices: £50,000

Young People’s Participation:

• Scottish Government funding for Year of Young People Ambassadors and Scottish Youth Parliament members to participate in the “Making Scotland the first ACE Aware Nation” events on 25-26 September 2018: £1,450
• Scottish Government payment to Scottish Youth Parliament to enable Members of the Scottish Youth Parliament to lead a strategic session on ACEs for the Scottish Government Executive Team and senior leaders in December 2018 and a follow-up meeting with the Executive Team in March 2019: £6,925
• Scottish Youth Parliament Workshop Session with Members of the Scottish Youth Parliament and development of a resource document for a Member of the Scottish Youth Parliament to raise awareness of the potential impact of childhood adversity: £1,300

Other:

• Lifetime license for the Scottish Government to screen the documentary “Resilience: The Biology of Stress and the Science of Hope”: £600 (VAT included)

 

B. An itemised account of existing and planned Scottish Government payments relating specifically to the commissioning of private sector consultants and businesses to work on the ACEs agenda.

The Scottish Government does not have the information

While our aim is to provide information whenever possible, in this instance the Scottish Government does not have the information you have requested.

Having completed a search of our electronic records, we can advise that we have never commissioned private sector consultants or businesses to work on the ACEs agenda. Accordingly, there is no data to consider in respect of part B of your request.
This is a formal notice under section 17(1) of FOISA that the Scottish Government does not have the information you have requested.

 

C. All correspondence with NHS Scotland, Education Scotland, Police Scotland and local authorities relating to existing or planned spending on the ACEs agenda.

While our aim is to provide information whenever possible, in this instance the Scottish Government does not have some of the information you have requested. Having completed a search of our electronic records, we can advise that we do not have correspondence with Education Scotland, Police Scotland and local authorities relating to existing or planned spending on the ACEs agenda. Accordingly, there is no data to consider in respect of these aspects of Part C of your request.

This is a formal notice under section 17(1) of FOISA that the Scottish Government does not have the information you have requested.

You may wish to contact Education Scotland, Police Scotland and Local Authorities who may be able to advise you with regards to their own spending on the ACEs agenda. The other aspect of Part C of your request refers to “NHS Scotland” and we have interpreted this as referring to NHS Health Scotland. Annex A details all correspondence held by the Scottish Government with NHS Health Scotland relating to existing or planned spending on the ACEs agenda.

While our aim is to provide information whenever possible, in this instance we are unable to provide some of the information you have requested. This is because this information relates to the detail of project design, methodology and costs. Release of this information could prejudice the commercial interests of an individual or organisation. Therefore, an exemption under section 33(1)(b) of FOISA applies to the information. This exemption is further subject to the ‘public interest test’. Taking account of all the circumstances of this case, we have considered if the public interest in disclosing the information outweighs the public interest in applying the exemption. We have found that, on balance, the public interest lies in favour of upholding the exemption.

 

D. All correspondence between The Scottish Government and the Annie E Casey Foundation, Kaiser Permanente and/ or Dartington Social Research Unit on the subject of ACEs / childhood trauma.

The Scottish Government does not have the information

While our aim is to provide information whenever possible, in this instance the Scottish Government does not have the information you have requested. Having completed a search of our electronic records, we can advise that there is no correspondence between the Scottish Government and the Annie E Casey Foundation, Kaiser Permanente and/or Dartington Social Research Unit on the subject of ACEs/ childhood trauma. Accordingly, there is no
data to consider in respect of part D of your request.
This is a formal notice under section 17(1) of FOISA that the Scottish Government does not have the information you have requested.

 

E. All correspondence relating to the participation of First Minister Nicola Sturgeon and / or DFM John Swinney at the ACE Aware Conference in Glasgow in September 2018.

Annex A details the correspondence relating to the participation of the First Minister and Deputy First Minister in the ACE Aware Nation Conference in Glasgow in September 2018.
The First Minister’s video address and the Deputy First Minister’s speech from the conference are both available on the ACE Aware Scotland website: http://aceawarescotland.com/conference-presentations/

 

F. All correspondence between the Scottish Government and the Annie E Casey Foundation relating to First Minister Nicola Sturgeon's two recent official visits to the United States (2017 & 2019).

The Scottish Government does not have the information

While our aim is to provide information whenever possible, in this instance the Scottish Government does not have the information you have requested.
Having completed a search of our electronic records, we can advise that there is no correspondence between the Scottish Government and the Annie E Casey Foundation relating to First Minister’s two official visits to the United States in 2017 and 2019. Accordingly, there is no data to consider in respect of part F of your request.

This is a formal notice under section 17(1) of FOISA that the Scottish Government does not have the information you have requested.

 

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FOI-201900000623 Annex A and Information released

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