The Scottish Government does not hold this information.

The teaching standards set by the General Teaching Council for Scotland require teachers to be able to identify and respond appropriately to pupils with difficulties in or barriers to learning. During initial teacher education, student teachers will gain sufficient knowledge of additional support needs for them to be able to support the child in question themselves or to seek specialised information and specialised support if necessary. Scottish Ministers have recently outlined in our Programme for Government 2023-24 our commitment to work with teachers to provide additional professional learning opportunities while seeking to build on the Additional Support for Learning Action Plan.

In 2022-23, the Scottish Government provided over £500,000 to voluntary sector organisations to support children and young people with additional support needs, including sensory loss. This includes funding to the Scottish Sensory Centre to support the training of school staff to provide effective support to Deaf children and young people.

In December 2021, we published the Autism in Schools Action plan and the majority of the actions are complete. Several of the actions, such as the funding of professional learning resources like the Autism Toolbox are intended to be ongoing, to reflect best practice and current research in this area.

This is a matter for NHS Scotland and individual Health Boards. The information requested is not held by the Scottish Government.

You may wish to refer to the Public Health Scotland Scottish Health Service Costs reports .

Diagnosis, treatment and care for people with heart disease is being provided across a range of services delivered by our NHS, supported by record funding of more than £19 billion for the health portfolio.

While the Scottish Government provides core funding and is responsible for setting the strategic policy for the NHS in Scotland, responsibility for service delivery rests locally with Health Boards who configure services taking into account local circumstances and the reasonable needs of their patient populations.

Progress is being made. At a national level the poverty-related attainment gap remains narrower than it was pre-pandemic for National 5s, Highers and Advanced Highers. We’ve seen good progress in primary school literacy and numeracy, with the latest data showing the biggest reduction in the gap on record and a record low gap in positive destinations for school leavers 9 months after leaving school.

The Scottish Government gathers a range of data via the National Improvement Framework, which includes 11 key measures of particular relevance to the attainment gap in both the Broad General Education and Senior Phase – with two new key measures added on School Attendance and Initial Positive Destinations. A detailed breakdown of attainment and the poverty-related attainment gap can be found on the Scottish Government website - Achievement of Curriculum for Excellence levels: 2021/22 - gov.scot (www.gov.scot) and Summary Statistics for Attainment and Initial Leaver Destinations, No. 5: 2023 Edition - gov.scot (www.gov.scot) .

At a local level, the publication of the Scottish Attainment Challenge: Framework for Recovery and Accelerating Progress includes a requirement for all local authorities to set locally identified stretch aims for progress in raising attainment and closing the poverty related attainment gap. The national aggregation of all 32 local authority 2022/23 stretch aims for progress closing the gap is available to access here:- Scottish Attainment Challenge - local stretch aims: 2022 to 2023 - gov.scot (www.gov.scot) . Collectively, the core stretch aims set by local authorities showed a great deal of ambition for both recovery and accelerating progress. Further, we have now received all local authorities’ stretch aims for progress for 2025-26 and are reviewing these ahead of publication later in the year.

Local Authorities and schools in Mid Scotland and Fife are able to access ongoing advice and guidance from Education Scotland's Attainment Advisor team who help to share best practice and provide guidance on effective planning, implementation and evaluation of interventions helping to maximise improved outcomes for children and young people in schools and local authorities.

Our Women’s Health Plan includes a commitment to improve information and public awareness of heart disease symptoms and risks for women.

Throughout February 2023 we delivered an awareness campaign related to this action. Outreach posters were placed in 1,000 pharmacies and 1,600 organisations (such as GPs and community centres).

Posters included a link to the NHS Inform Women’s Heart Health page . The page notes that the symptoms of a heart attack can vary person to person, though both women and men may experience some common symptoms.

The Scottish Government does not hold information on any costs associated with transition plans that local authorities have in place for children and young people, as this is a matter for individual authorities.

Under the Additional Support for Learning Act 2004, when a young person is expected to leave school the education authority has a duty to request and share information within specific timeframes to help support their transition. Local authorities are responsible for meeting their duties under the legislation and there are a range of planning mechanisms used by local authorities to meet children’s and young people’s needs.

Construction and certification of the MV Glen Sannox in accordance with the contract as a passenger vessel with the relevant classification and safety certificates is the responsibility of the ship builder, Ferguson Marine (Port Glasgow) Ltd (FMPG). Both Scottish Government and Caledonian Maritime Assets Limited receive regular updates from FMPG on progress towards final certification.

Can I firstly take the opportunity to thank Show Racism the Red Card for their work - I was proud to join fellow MSPs and the First Minister at the photocall that Mr Bibby organised a few weeks ago. I understand that they have engaged with officials across Ministerial portfolios over the years and while they do not currently receive funding from the Scottish Government, they are welcome to apply to future competitive funding opportunities. For example, Ministers are currently considering how we can best fund and support vital work within the Equality & Human Rights portfolio.

All NHSScotland Health Boards report directly to the Independent National Whistleblowing Officer (INWO) on the recommendations from investigation reports. The Scottish Government do not become involved in INWO investigations, instead we will seek assurance through regular contact with Board officials and through the annual Staff Governance Monitoring exercise that actions are taken in line with the report.

The Scottish Government does not have a formal definition for a “cluster” of farmers. The term has been used in relation to the Farming with Nature programme NatureScot delivers in partnership with the Scottish Government, specifically the Piloting an Outcomes Based Approach in Scotland (POBAS) project. The term ‘cluster’ has been used where there are a number of farms and crofts in a region participating or involved with the project. Further information on the project’s Phase 1 and Phases 2 and 3 is available on NatureScot’s website.