Chamber and committees

The Scottish Government engaged with a wide range of stakeholders in the development of the Learning together: national action plan on parental involvement, engagement, family learning and learning at home 2018–2021. In late 2021 a steering group was formed by the Scottish Government to inform next steps, with representation from CoSLA, Education Scotland, Association of Directors of Education in Scotland, Scottish Qualifications Authority, General Teaching Council of Scotland, Connect, National Family Learning Network, National Parent Forum of Scotland, and Scottish Parental Involvement Officers Network.

Our new strategy takes a fresh approach to tackling the inequalities that lead to suicide. This is reflected in our key priorities for 2023-24 which include a commitment to support new peer support groups across Scotland; drawing on the extensive feedback and evidence we considered when developing our strategy.

We are providing funding of £389,150 to the Scottish Recovery Network over the next 3 years to continue its vital work to build peer support capacity across Scotland. The innovative Creating Hope With Peer Support project is developing and co-designing peer support training with a range of community based suicide prevention groups and services. Our aim is to enable high quality peer support to be provided across the country for those in crisis, contemplating suicide or who have been affected by suicide.

The training will be piloted in winter 2023-2024 and rolled out to other groups and services across the country when finalised, helping to increase the number and range of people who can access peer support.

I refer the member to the answer to question S6W-20716 on 5 September 2023 . All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament's website, the search facility for which can be found at: https://www.parliament.scot/chamber-and-committees/written-questions-and-answers

Local authorities currently provide six monthly reports on school counselling services which include information around number of children accessing the service, improved outcomes, counsellor numbers and the types of issues young people are presenting with.

A summary of the reports submitted in 2022 will be published on the Scottish Government website in the coming weeks at: Access to counsellors in secondary schools and children and young people’s community mental health services – summary reports - gov.scot (www.gov.scot)

I refer the member to the answer to question S6W-20573 on 5 September 2023. All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament’s website, the search facility for which can be found at https://www.parliament.scot/chamber-and-committees/written-questions-and-answers .

We are working with key partners to implement the recommendations of the 2022 evaluation of the first-year of the Suicide Prevention Bereavement Support Services. This showed how well the service meets the needs of family members, whilst also flagging a number of operational aspects (such as support for staff and young people) where further work would be helpful in order to inform roll out planning.

We are therefore investing a further £255,000 in 2023-24 to extend the pilot Suicide Bereavement Support Service until March 2024. This ensures continuity of service and we will use this time to gather further evidence about its impact. The final independent evaluation report is due to be published in early 2024. This will inform subsequent roll out of support for families bereaved by suicide across Scotland.

This forms part of our ambitious work on suicide prevention, which is underpinned by significant investment of £2.5m in 2023-24, and a Programme for Government commitment to double suicide prevention annual funding to £2.8 m by 2026.

I refer the member to the answer to question S6W-20718 on 5 September 2023. All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament's website, the search facility for which can be found at https://www.parliament.scot/chamber-and-committees/written-questions-and-answers

Information on the number of buildings in the programme is published and can be found here:

Single Building Assessment programme: spending information - gov.scot (www.gov.scot)

Information is provided on a regional basis in line with requests from residents and homeowners to protect their privacy.

I refer the member to the answer to question S6W-20573 on 5 September 2023. All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament’s website, the search facility for which can be found at https://www.parliament.scot/chamber-and-committees/written-questions-and-answers .

The Home Energy Scotland (HES) Grant and Loan Scheme offers funding for a range of zero direct emissions heating systems, energy efficiency measures and additional measures, including solar PV and energy storage systems in some circumstances.

From 27 June 2023 funding offered for solar PV/energy storage systems through the HES Grant and Loan Scheme has been limited to where a household is installing these measures alongside a certified renewable heating system, or where one is already in place. Previously, applicants could claim interest free loan funding for solar PV as a standalone measure.

The HES Grant and Loan Scheme is open to all owner occupier households in Scotland and we do not collect socioeconomic data as part of the application process.

The HES advice service acts as the gateway to the Scottish Government’s heat and energy efficiency schemes. HES will refer households to a scheme suitable to their circumstances, including our Warmer Homes Scotland Scheme and Area Based Schemes, which are targeted at those in fuel poverty.