Chamber and committees

The Scottish Government recognises the critical importance of providing the current and future workforce with high-quality lifelong skills – either acquired through new learning or upskilling and reskilling – and the pivotal role this plays in our plans to unlock Scotland’s green potential. Scotland is already leading the UK in delivering a green jobs revolution, with colleges and universities acting as key anchor points for research, innovation, and training, which will be reflected in the Biodiversity Investment Plan.

The Scottish Government is committed to ensuring all children and young people receive high quality relationships, sexual health and parenthood (RSHP) education, which is an integral part of the health and wellbeing area of the curriculum. The curriculum is not statutory and it is for schools to decide the development and implementation of the curriculum within the overall framework. The Scottish Government expects children and young people to gain knowledge appropriate to their age and stage of education.

Education Scotland has produced Experiences and Outcomes | Curriculum for Excellence documents | Curriculum for Excellence | Education Scotland on RSHP education to provide a set of clear and concise statements about pupil’s learning and progression. This includes specific learning outcomes on respect, boundaries, which behaviours are right and wrong, what constitutes a healthy relationship. They also include learning outcomes on consent, gender stereotypes, power dynamics in relationships and where to access support if required.

To support learning and teaching of these experiences and outcomes, RSHP lesson plans are available, from Education Scotland's website, that include learning at first level (P2-P4), encouraging children to be whatever person they want to be, free from stereotypes and gender biased expectations. At second level (P5-P7), on a fair and equal life for boys and girls; on consent, where children learn abuse is wrong; and, on protecting me and abuse and relationships. And at third/fourth level (S1-S3), on sexual harassment as well as an activity on equalities and feminism.

The Scottish Government is revising the statutory teaching guidance on RSHP education following recommendations that the guidance should be updated to include, for example, appropriate guidance to ensure that consent education is age and stage appropriate and reflects the issues that are facing children and young people, especially from online influences.

The Scottish Government has also published a resource for professionals to help them support young people aged 11-18 in their understanding of healthy relationships and consent. The Healthy relationships and consent: key messages for young people - gov.scot sets out that relationships should be mutually respectful, consensual, positive, healthy and enjoyable.

Hydrogen creates significant economic opportunities, supporting a just transition, high-quality jobs, and investment while meeting the growing demand in Europe, particularly Germany, for Hydrogen as a green and secure energy source.

A key aim of the Children (Scotland) Act 2020 (the 2020 Act) is to ensure the child’s best interests are at the centre of contact and residence cases.

The 2020 Act will reform the Children (Scotland) Act 1995 (the 1995 Act) which is the key legislation in relation to child contact and residence. In deciding whether to make a contact order under section 11 of the 1995 Act, the welfare of the child must be the court’s paramount consideration.

The court must – taking into account the child's age and maturity – have regard to any views the child wishes to express. The court is also required to have regard to the need to protect the child from any abuse, or the risk of any abuse, which affects or might affect the child.

In advance of full implementation of the 2020 Act, the Scottish Government has convened a working group on child welfare reporters. These may be appointed in contact cases to seek the child’s views and report on their best interests. The working group will look back at changes made in the past in this area. It will also consider if further action can be taken in advance of the register of child welfare reporters envisaged by the 2020 Act being set up.

Information on the schools which meet the PE target is available from the school contact details dataset.

The percentage of primary schools meeting the target of providing at least two hours of PE per week as of July 2024 is 99.6%

The Scottish Government has continued to support local authorities to decarbonise fleets and since 2014 we have now provided over £41 million to fund leasing and purchase of ultra-low and zero emission vehicles and installation of associated infrastructure.

Since 2021-22, support for local authority fleet decarbonisation has focused on the installation of fleet EV charging infrastructure to enable further fleet decarbonisation, rather than the purchase or lease of zero emission vehicles. Local authorities are provided funding by means of a block grant, each local authority allocates part of this grant to manage, operate and decarbonise its fleet. Figures for funding support in addition to the block grant for each local authority in each year following 2021-22 are set out in the following table.

In 2024-25 no additional funding has been provided to local authorities. We continue to work with public bodies to decarbonise the public sector fleet and we are working with the public sector to develop a Fleet Decarbonisation Action Plan that reflects the current fiscal operational environment, and the scale of emission reduction required.

Responsibility for funding school libraries and the provision of school librarians is devolved to local authorities, who have a statutory duty to ensure there is adequate provision of library services. Scottish Government does not hold data on the specific funding allocated to school libraries and librarians by individual authorities.

The independent Accounts Commission have recently confirmed that the Scottish Government has provided a real-terms increase to Local Government in this year, 2023-24 and 2022-23. The 2025-26 Local Government Settlement will provide over £15 billion to local authorities, a further real terms increase of 4.7%.

At a national level, £220,000 has been provided to the Scottish Library and Information Council (SLIC) this financial year (2024-25) with £150,000 assigned to the School Library Improvement Fund to support creative and innovative projects within the school library sector in Scotland.

The Scottish Government has provided a total of £1.85 million to the School Library Improvement Fund since the fund was created in 2017.

This is a matter for individual schools and local authorities. This level of information is not held centrally.

I also refer the member to the answer to question S6W-31840 on 12 December 2024. 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.

This is a matter for individual schools and local authorities. This level of information is not held centrally.

The Office for National Statistics (ONS) produces Claimant Count estimates at Local Authority and Ward level, and model-based unemployment at Local Authority level based on the Annual Population Survey and Claimant Count.

The claimant count rate for Dundee City local authority and 2021 electoral wards within Dundee City are shown in Table 1 for June 2021 to June 2024.

The model based unemployment rate for Dundee City local authority are shown in Table 2 for July 2021 to June 2022 through to July 2023 to June 2024. The ONS model based estimates of unemployment are the official source for unemployment rates by local authority. Unemployment rates by electoral ward are not available from this source.

Table 1: Claimants as a proportion of residents aged 16-64 years