Chamber and committees

The Scottish Government does not hold this information.

This information is not held centrally. Under the Education (Scotland) Act 1980, education is the responsibility of local authorities.

The Scottish Government does hold information on entries to courses and qualifications. This is not necessarily the same as the number of schools offering these courses as a school may offer a course, but no learners choose to take it.

The following table shows the number of (a) publicly funded and (b) grant-funded schools with entries to Economics courses at (i) National 4, (ii) National 5, (iii) Higher and (iv) Advanced Higher level in 2024.

The Scottish Government have not issued any guidance in relation to enforcement or prosecution of the sale of illegal vapes.

In the current parliamentary session, the Scottish Government, acting in its capacity as Accountable Officer for the wider City and Regional Growth Deal programme has provided £695 million in funding to date (by end of Q4 2024-25) to Regional Partners. It is currently forecast that over £200 million of further funding will be drawn down, resulting in over £895 million of grant funding awarded by the end of the parliamentary session.

I refer the member to the answer to question S6W-37351 on 14 May 2025. 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.

I refer the member to the answer to question S6W-37351 on 14 May 2025. 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.

In the current parliamentary session to date the Emerging Energy Technologies Fund has spent a total of £15.3 million on grant awards:

• £6.8m to 31 projects, via the Hydrogen Innovation Scheme (details at: Emerging Energy Technologies Fund - Hydrogen Innovation Scheme: successful projects - gov.scot)
• £3.1m to the Storegga Speyside Hydrogen Project (details at: Green hydrogen production - gov.scot)
• £3.4m to 11 projects, following the 2024/25 green hydrogen funding call (details at: £3.4 million for Scotland’s hydrogen future - gov.scot)
• £2.0m to National Gas Transmission Plc. to support the pre-Front End Engineering and Design phase of the SCO2T Connect Project.

The National Strategy for Economic Transformation (2022-2032) outlines the Scottish Government’s vision for fair green growth underpinned by six economic objectives.

The strategy is supported by a measurement framework. Reports on progress are available in the 2023 and 2024 National Strategy for Economic Transformation’s Annual Reports.

Further to this, the Scottish Government’s Programme for Government (2017-18) set a target to double Business Enterprise Research and Development (BERD) expenditure in Scotland. I refer the member to the answer to question S6W- 18678 on 6 June 2023. Following work between the Scottish Government and Office for National Statistics data quality concerns remain regarding BERD. 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 Disabled People’s Employment Plan (2018) set a target to at least halve the Disability Employment Gap in Scotland by 2038 based on 2016 baseline. Progress is reported via the Fair Work Action Plan Annual Report, as an annex within the National Strategy for Economic Transformation Annual Report.

A Trading Nation (2019) set out an ambitious target to increase international exports from 20 % to 25 % of GDP over the next 10 years. Progress is available within the Trading Nation Review (2022).

The Fair Work Action Plan (2022) set a target to reduce the gender pay gap in Scotland by the end of this parliamentary term (May 2026) and maintain or where possible improve our position relative to the UK as a whole and our international neighbours. Progress is reported via the Fair Work Action Plan Annual Report, as an annex within the National Strategy for Economic Transformation Annual Report.

However, is important to note that currently, the Scottish Government does not have full levers over employment, taxation, social security, or migration – all of which are vital to our economic prosperity. The Scottish Government believes that independence would deliver the best deal for Scotland – providing control over all public spending decisions, as well as the suite of fiscal powers necessary to unlock Scotland’s full economic potential.

I refer the member to the answer to question S6W-37351 on 14 May 2025. 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.

I refer the member to the answer to question S6W-37351 on 14 May 2025. 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.