Chamber and committees

The Framework for the Sustainability and Success of Scotland’s Universities is a collaborative project between the Scottish Government and Universities Scotland and was launched on 18 December 2025.

Development of the Framework is led by a steering group, co-chaired by Scottish Government and Universities Scotland. The process had cross-party support and has the backing of staff and student unions, which have been invited to help drive the direction of the work by joining the Steering Group. The Steering Group has met three times since the first meeting in January 2026.

The Steering Group, leading the Framework, will deliver its work in three phases, working through the period of the May 2026 election, and has agreed to present a concluding report to the Scottish Government and Parliament over the Winter.

The following table provides the outcome of applications that Advice Direct Scotland have received to the Scottish Emergency Heating Oil Scheme.

These management figures are taken from a live administrative database and so could be subject to future revision. There are various caveats with the data and should not be regarded as officials statistics, these caveats are noted below.

I refer the member to the answer to question S7W-00942 on 24 June 2026. 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.

Teacher employment practices are matters for local authorities as employers however Local Government is responsible for providing a complement of teachers and all the necessary staff that best meets the needs of each school and its pupils within the resources available.

However, we know there are challenges in some places and in subject areas and that is why we are working to encourage more students to pursue teaching careers through the Teaching Bursary Scheme, which offers £12,500 to individuals undertaking graduate teacher training in hard-to-fill subjects including Maths, Technical Education and Science.

We also recently ran a recruitment campaign, delivered between January to March, was aimed at encouraging more students to take up a career in teaching, specifically in hard to fill subjects and rural areas. Priority subjects that were covered include STEM, Modern Languages and Home Economics.

Where a subject cannot be offered by a school, national guidelines encourage flexibility, enabling schools to work collaboratively with other local schools or colleges or through online, digital approaches.

The Scottish Government provided funding to Queen Margaret University and the University of Glasgow to extend tutoring provision to more pupils and schools in early 2026. Project staff will produce an end-of-project evaluation and impact report post-August 2026 exam results, for publication by November 2026.

The Scottish Government is committed to improving outcomes for young people within under-represented communities to break down systemic inequalities across every educational pathway.

We aim to create a balanced and inclusive educational system that accommodates diverse learner needs, providing appropriate learning levels and destinations.

Plans to deliver this commitment will be set out in due course. In 2026-27, the Scottish Government has provided funding to support around 25,500 new modern apprenticeship starts and 1,500 graduate apprenticeships starts. Funding for apprenticeships in 2027-28 will be considered as part of preparation for the Scottish Budget 2027-28. Funding for subsequent years will be a matter for future budgets.

The Scottish Government recognises the importance of empowering headteachers in schools across Scotland, as set out in the SNP manifesto, to ensure continuous improvement.

We will build on the 2018 Joint Agreement with COSLA on school empowerment, which led to the creation of the Headteachers’ Charter and Devolved School Management Guidelines as we strive to support and advance these ambitions. This work provides the foundations for school leaders to take a greater role in enhanced decision-making in areas such as staffing, budgets, curriculum and school improvement.

Over the past decade there has been £1.75 billion investment into the Scottish Attainment Challenge programme. This includes Pupil Equity Funding, which has been one of the most significant changes in Scottish education which Ministers have introduced over the last ten years, empowering headteachers with direct funding to support the children and young people in their schools. Scottish Attainment Challenge funding has been publicly committed for 2026-27, and we are carefully considering how best we can build upon the progress that has been made.

As part of the Scottish Government’s commitment to Public Service Reform, specific projects on education and skills are bringing together a range of education bodies with the purpose of delivering improved service outcomes and supporting the education system overall, including headteachers in our schools.

The information requested is not held centrally.

The Care Inspectorate collects and publishes data on the registered capacity of individual services (available here: Resources, publications and statistics | Care Inspectorate)

This question relates to operational matters that are the responsibility of the Scottish Court and Tribunals Service (SCTS) corporate body. The question has been passed to the Chief Executive of the SCTS who reply in writing within 20 days.

Scottish Ministers are supportive of the principles of the European Declaration on Global Education to 2050, in particular its emphasis on climate justice, equity and equality, sustainability, diversity, inclusion, and human rights.

The Declaration aligns with the Scottish Government’s commitment to Learning for Sustainability (LfS) in schools, which includes Global Citizenship Education. LfS is embedded in key national education policies and frameworks and is reflected in our National Improvement Framework. LfS is an entitlement within the Scottish 3-18 curriculum, and both sustainability and social justice are reflected in the General Teaching Council for Scotland Professional Standards for Teachers.

In addition, the Scottish Government’s Anti-Racist Curriculum Principles, Breaking the Mould, include significant connections with global citizenship. In particular, that children and young people will be critical thinking global citizens that challenge discrimination and prejudice through an understanding and awareness of the behaviours, practices and processes that create injustice in the world.