Chamber and committees

No decision has yet been taken regarding funding for counsellors in colleges and universities beyond the end of the current Academic Year.

The 2021 Digital Health and Care strategy aims to make the right information available to all appropriate staff, when and where it is needed. It builds on the existing use of electronic patient record systems used by all Health Boards and GP practices. Our recently publish Data Strategy for Health and Social Care augments this ambition.

Improving the creation and retention of digital records allows for greater sharing of information and reduces the need for multiple paper records to exist across multiple locations. The focus is on allowing medical records to be stored, linked, and shared securely according to the information needed. To achieve this most Health Boards, have a Clinical Portal. This system works across organisational, regional, and national boundaries to provide a timely transfer of information. The key developments to improve the sharing of information within Health Boards is the GPIT Programme, the National Digital Platform, TRAK Care and Clinical Portal.

HEPMA ( Hospital Electronic Prescribing and Medicines Administration ) is a system that can also replace paper prescribing and medication administration systems within hospitals. It has already been successfully implemented in six Health boards across Scotland and all remaining Health Boards all expected to roll it out by the end of 2025.

Student Satisfaction statistics are published on an annual basis. The latest Student Satisfaction statistics published by the SFC show that nine out of 10 (90.2%) full-time students were satisfied with their college experience in 2021-22. This is a positive improvement on the previous year’s statistics and similar to the figures for years preceding the pandemic. These figures will continue to be monitored.

Operational decisions are matters for colleges to determine and they must adapt and respond to the current economic needs flexibly. The future financial position remains exceptionally challenging and consequently, colleges are considering the steps that they must take in order to ensure their financial viability and sustainability. It is for each individual college to determine how best to secure its sustainability while continuing to deliver provision to meet the needs of their regions, communities and students.

The Scottish Funding Council’s (SFC) College Infrastructure Strategy: The Approach to Delivering Scotland’s College Infrastructure, published in November 2022, supports the college sector’s ambitions for net zero with the planned production of an Infrastructure Investment Plan for the college sector being a key goal.

The strategy recognises that investment in college infrastructure is needed and presents a significant opportunity for colleges to play their part in tackling the climate emergency. SFC will support colleges to progress their Net Zero ambitions that are integral to any future infrastructure investment.

Ministers meet representatives of civil society organisations from time to time to discuss matters of common interest. Meetings with the Human Rights Consortium Scotland have been held on a number of occasions since May 2021.

Information about ministerial engagements is proactively released and is publicly available on the Scottish Government website .

Civil society organisations contribute in other ways to the development and delivery of public policy in Scotland, for example through participation in working groups and advisory boards.

The Human Rights Consortium Scotland is a member of the Governance and Engagement Board for the Scottish Government’s proposed Human Rights Bill. Details are available on the Scottish Government website .

Ministers meet representatives of civil society organisations from time to time to discuss matters of common interest. Meetings with JustRight Scotland have been held on a number of occasions since May 2021.

Information about ministerial engagements is proactively released and is publicly available on the Scottish Government website .

Civil society organisations contribute in other ways to the development and delivery of public policy in Scotland, for example through participation in working groups and advisory boards.

JustRight Scotland are a member of the Scottish Government Human Rights Bill Advisory Board. Details of the Advisory Board are available on the Scottish Government website .

We are producing a Student Mental Health Plan, linked to our Suicide Prevention Strategy and the forthcoming Mental Health and Wellbeing Strategy to provide a framework for institutional action.

We currently support NUS Think Positive which sign-posts help for students, where institutions can share good practice and where, through Student Mental Health Agreements, students’ associations and institutions collaborate on institutional mental health practices.

Since 2019/20, we have invested over £13.5 million to provide almost 90 additional counsellors and will provide funding for the entirety of AY 2022-23. Any decision with regard to funding beyond the end of the current Academic Year has yet to be taken.

Ministers meet representatives of civil society organisations from time to time to discuss matters of common interest. Meetings with Amnesty International have been held on a number of occasions since May 2021.

Information about ministerial engagements is proactively released and is publicly available on the Scottish Government website .

Civil society organisations contribute in other ways to the development and delivery of public policy in Scotland, for example through participation in working groups and advisory boards.

Amnesty International is a member of the steering committee for the Scottish Human Rights Defender Fellowship, which is funded by the Scottish Government and delivered by the University of Dundee in collaboration with Amnesty International and other independent civil society organisations.

The Scottish Government values the tertiary education sector, with each part making a crucial and unique contribution to Scotland. The 2023-24 budget allocates nearly £2 billion to colleges and universities, which continues the trend of a year-on-year increase of that budget in cash terms.

The Scottish Government recognises the essential role that colleges play across all learner pathways including their role in further and higher education provision and will further clarify that in the forthcoming Purpose and Principles. The Scottish Government is actively engaging with stakeholders on the interim Purpose and Principles that were published last December. The Scottish Government is focussing on developing the implementation plan, system level outcomes and metrics, evidence and insight papers and impact assessments to support a final publication in late Spring.

The Scottish Government recognises and celebrates the fact that everyone’s learner pathway is different and it is important that everyone has the opportunity to undertake the learner pathway that best matches their abilities and aspirations. The employer led DYW network and DYW School Coordinator role, currently operates in every secondary school. The programme has a key part to play in enabling the recommendations within the Ken Muir review by helping to create employer led experiences and parity of esteem between academic and vocational learning. The SCQF School Ambassador programme also offers schools the opportunity to learn more about the benefits of the SCQF levels and the wider ways in which it supports learners, including in demonstrating the diversity of provision on offer and the parity of these pathways.

The Scottish Government does not hold a central record of meetings held with suppliers so is therefore unable to confirm what meetings have been held with Deloitte LLP since May 2021.