Chamber and committees

Information on university students is collected and published by the Higher Education Statistics Agency (HESA). Using this data between academic years 2018-19 and 2022-23, the last year of available data, there has been an increase of over 30% in enrolments into Computer Science courses at Scottish Universities.

It should be noted that prior to 2018-19 academic year, data was collected using a different subject classification. As such, figures prior to 2018-19 are not directly comparable.

The number of enrolments (covering all years of study and at all levels) and the number of full-time first degree entrants (all domiciles) from either Computing or Computer Science courses at Scottish universities, over the last 10 Academic Years, can be found in the following tables. These are taken from published data.

ICT courses are not controlled subjects and unlike controlled subjects the Scottish Government does not direct individual universities on the number of funded places made available.

With regard to the number of unfilled places HESA does not collect this data.

Student enrolment on ‘Computer Science’ courses at Scottish Universities - Subject classification based on JACS code = computer science

While the Scottish Government sets the strategic policy for the NHS in Scotland, it is NHS Boards and healthcare professionals locally who have responsibility for both service delivery and ensuring people receive the right care for them, taking into account relevant guidance, local service needs and priorities for investment.

The Health and Social Care Standards set out the expectation that care should be provided by health and social care professionals based on the most relevant evidence, guidance and best practice, as is appropriate to their profession and patient group.

In May 2023 the Scottish Government published an analysis of survey data of heath boards' arrangements for the care and support of individuals with ME/CFS, which sought to map ME/CFS support and service provision and review awareness and implementation of the 2021 NICE guideline.

We have since gathered updated information on ME/CFS care from every health board in Scotland and are currently preparing to publish an updated report later this month.

Our evidence paper, Offshore Wind Focus - gov.scot (www.gov.scot), sets out our strategic approach to investing up to £500m over five years to anchor our offshore wind supply chain in Scotland, supporting the delivery of our Green Industrial Strategy.

Vessels have been identified in that paper as a priority for strategic investment, alongside ports and harbours infrastructure and the wider offshore wind supply chain, including blades and turbine manufacturing, foundations, offshore services, and cables.

We are committed to working collaboratively with the UK Government to ensure alignment on investment priorities to support the offshore wind supply chain in Scotland, including vessels.

Schools and education authorities should ensure any allegations of racism are investigated fully and any necessary action taken.

A consistent and uniform approach to recording and monitoring incidents of bullying in schools was introduced in 2019. The Bullying and Equalities Module on SEEMiS, the school’s management information system, was updated to reflect the new approach. The Bullying and Equalities Module should not be interpreted as being focused solely on bullying; it is designed to capture a range of behaviours related to equalities and includes ‘Racism or racist incident’ as a category.

Our work on Racism and Racist Incidents, which is part of the Anti-Racism in Education Programme, alongside work to refresh Respect for All, the national anti-bullying guidance, will provide further guidance for schools on recording and monitoring racist incidents and instances of prejudiced-based bullying.

Scottish Government through its national Centre for Sustainable Delivery (CfSD) has formed a Specialty Delivery Group for Liver Disease with the first meeting on 6th November 2024. Early Detection is one of the pathways being prioritised.

The Early Detection Pathway has already been passed through the first Gateway in the CfSD delivery pathway. The challenges are around how individual boards can implement this before the National Laboratory Information Management System.

There has been progress in developing the Early Detection pathways in individual boards using the technology as currently available while others are using the their Referral Advice to Primary Care with increased use of the FIB-4 and Fibroscan with advice for Lifestyle changes and repeat investigation as required.

The Scottish Government is currently consulting on Scotland’s draft palliative care strategy Palliative Care Matters for All. The consultation is open until 10 January 2025 and builds on extensive stakeholder engagement to develop a framework to support delivery and build on existing work to support those in need of palliative care and their families. Through our draft palliative care strategy, we are committed to working with Health and Social Care Partnerships (HSCPs) and adult independent hospice organisations to develop a national guidance framework to support and improve consistency of local planning and commissioning of independent hospice services through Integrated Joint Boards (IJBs).

The Scottish Government routinely analyses labour market data published by the Office for National Statistics (ONS), with the latest Scotland's Labour Market Insights: October 2024 - gov.scot (www.gov.scot) statistical publication released on 28 October 2024. The latest ONS Labour Force Survey statistics for June to August 2024 show that Scotland had an estimated economic inactivity rate of 23.2% compared to 21.8% for the UK.

Analysis suggests that the recent upturn in economic inactivity in Scotland appears to be driven by increases in those who are long-term sick or disabled. ONS Annual Population Survey (APS) statistics for July 2023 to June 2024 estimate that 32.0% of inactive people in Scotland were inactive due to being long-term sick or disabled. The second most common reason for being economically inactive was being a student (24.6%), followed by looking after family/home (16.1%) then retired (14.5%).

The Scottish Government’s latest Scottish Economic Insights report, Overview - Scottish economic insights: October 2024 - gov.scot (www.gov.scot) published on 18 October 2024, provided an illustrative example of how an increase in economic activity of individuals aged 16+ could impact the economy. It found that even a relatively small increase of 0.25 percentage points in the economic activity rate could boost GDP in the long-term by around 0.1%, or around £180 million a year (in 2024-25 prices).

Economic inactivity due to ill health is a key concern of the Scottish Government and as outlined in the Scottish Government’s Programme for Government, published in September 2024, we are taking action to help people access and stay in the labour market.

I have asked Teresa Medhurst, Chief Executive of the Scottish Prison Service (SPS), to respond. Her response is as follows:

Scottish Prison Service conducts Mandatory Drug Tests (MDTs) via urine testing, for two primary reasons, progression as part of the risk assessment process, and when an individual is suspected of taking an illicit substance, through suspicion testing.

MDT urine testing can only detect certain substances, and many new synthetic substances such as Psychoactive Substances (PS) are undetectable via this testing method.

The application of The Management of an Offender at Risk (MORS) policy, is applied when an individual is suspected to be under the influence of or have an unknown substance secreted on their person. This policy is in place to care and support individual’s during this time and is not used or considered as a positive test.

Most MDTs carried out in HMP Barlinnie since 2022 were conducted for progression reasons:

In 2022, the Scottish Health Survey reported that the proportion of all children aged 5-15 undertaking at least 60 minutes of activity on average per day in the previous week was 69% (including school-based activities). These levels have been relatively stable since 2019 and are broadly comparable with levels in England.

In partnership with COSLA, the Scottish Government published a new Physical Activity for Health Framework on October 2nd 2024. This document provides a framework for action to improve levels of physical activity at both national and local level which is firmly founded on evidence-based international guidance from the World Health Organization and other global partners as to the approach which is needed to deliver sustainable change.

There are a range of ways we are ensuring children and young people continue to be physically active, including the following:

• We are committed to ensuring that all children in primary schools receive at least two hours of physical education each school week, and all young people in secondaries 1 to 4 receive at least two 50-minute periods of physical education each school week.
• Our Active Schools programme takes place in all local authorities and is free for all children and young people. It provides a focus on inclusion, for example to support children living in poverty, those with additional support needs, and care-experienced young people to participate. The Active Schools programme is a long-term investment in health and wellbeing, supported by a network of over 400 Active Schools managers and coordinators working with schools to deliver quality sporting opportunities for children and young people. In 2023/24, there were 4.9 million visits by pupils over 262,000 sessions – a 6% increase from the previous year.
• sportscotland invests in and supports approximately 47 Scottish Governing Bodies of sport (SGBs) to develop their sport-specific pathways, including undertaking work to increase participation levels for children and young people in their sports.
• Our Active Play Development Project, which targets areas of disadvantage, provides children with the opportunity to develop physical skills in their early years and to encourage a long-term, positive relationship with physical activity.

The Scottish Government spent approximately £4.2 million on the preparation to roll out Pension Age Winter Heating Payment between May 2023 and August 2024. This primarily relates to the development of systems to deliver the benefit but also covers costs associated with the public consultation, analysis of responses and relevant publications.

Given the short notice of the change in policy following the UK Government’s decision, DWP will deliver Pension Age Winter Heating Payment this winter ahead of Social Security Scotland delivering in 2025-26.

The systems to deliver Pension Age Winter Heating Payment have been designed and developed in line with the Digital Scotland Service Standards, reusing existing technology where possible, to ensure value for money. The service design and the digital systems developed for launch in Winter 2024-25 will be reused when Social Security Scotland delivers the payment next winter (2025-26), although some changes will be required to reflect the new eligibility rules.