Chamber and committees

No. Passengers who can demonstrate that their return was delayed by bad weather will not be charged for any additional car parking charges beyond what they would have paid had they returned at the scheduled time.

HIAL is loss making and has not made any profit in the last five years. The Scottish Government provides significant subsidy to HIAL to offset the difference between its commercial revenue and the cost of its operations which in 2017-18 totals over £26 million. The aim is for HIAL to break even in any given period taking account of its commercial revenue and subsidy from the Scottish Government.

The Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act 2002 (FOISA) states that any person who requests information from a Scottish public authority which holds it is entitled to be given that information by the authority, but that this right is subject to certain conditions and exemptions as set out in the act. When considering the release of documents requested under FOISA account needs to be taken of the application of these same conditions and exemptions, which are the subject of discussion internally and with relevant third parties, as necessary.

As part of that process, a Special Adviser raised the following points:

• an extraneous email that had been included in the material proposed for release was identified and suggested this be removed;
• material that was proposed to be redacted by officials was identified as having had an exemption incorrectly applied and suggested should be released;
• material proposed for release should be assessed in light of Section 33(1)(b) of the Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act 2002 as to whether it was, subject to the public interest test, commercially confidential;
• suggested that track changes within a document should be resolved before issuing

All documents associated with FOI/17/01247 have now been released.

The Additional Support for Learning Act requires education authorities to identify, provide for and to review the additional support needs of their pupils. In order to meet these requirements it is for education authorities to ensure that appropriate resources are in place to provide for pupils needs, this includes teaching and support staff.

95% of children with additional support needs are educated in mainstream schools, this has been consistent for a number of years. It should be noted that all teachers provide support to pupils not just ‘support for learning’ teachers.

Local Government Financial Statistics for 2016-17 showed that local authorities spent £5.07 billion on education in Scotland. This has gone up from £4.95 billion in 2015-16 - a 0.3% increase in real terms (2.5% in cash terms). Of that, £610 million was on additional support for learning – this has gone up from £584 million in
‎ 2015-16 a 2.3% increase in real terms (4.5% in cash terms)

The 2016 SNP Manifesto contained a commitment to “take action to reduce fares on ferry services to Orkney and Shetland”. I announced on 22 August 2017 plans to introduce reduced fares within the first half of 2018.

My officials have been engaging closely with relevant ferry operators on the Pentland Firth, with work continuing apace to ensure the commercial operators are appropriately compensated when reduced fares are introduced.

I am aware that stakeholders are keen for further news and further details on the fares reduction and timescales will be made available as soon as practicable.

Our approach to delivering the expanded entitlement from 2020 is ‘provider neutral’, and under our new Funding Follows the Child approach any provider, regardless of sector (public, private, third sector or childminder), who meets the new National Standard will be eligible to deliver the funded entitlement. We are working closely with delivery partners, including engaging with providers across the country, to inform the development of the new approach. This approach will prioritise and safeguard quality provision and provide choice for parents and carers by making it more attractive for high quality providers to deliver the funded early learning and childcare entitlement. We will set out more details at the end of March.

Local authorities have also been developing expansion plans which set out how they intend to deliver the expansion to 1140 hours in their respective areas, which include local level estimates of the number of hours to be delivered by funded providers in the private and third sector.

As we set out in our 2017-18 Action Plan, our approach is fundamentally provider neutral – prioritising the settings that are best placed to deliver quality outcomes for children and supporting our ambition to close the attainment gap, regardless of whether they are provided by the public, private or third sectors.

Increasing the flexibility of how the funded entitlement is delivered will also support more parents to work, train or study, especially those who need routes into sustainable employment and out of poverty.

It is for local authorities to determine, on the advice of their own legal and procurement teams, the local process for contracting with providers in the private and third sectors to deliver funded early learning and childcare entitlement hours.

However, we know from the Blueprint for 2020 consultation, and our ongoing engagement with providers, that the current process for becoming a funded provider can be cumbersome and restrictive, and varies across local authorities.

We are currently working with local authorities and delivery partners to develop a new Funding Follows the Child approach to be introduced in 2020. This will prioritise and safeguard high quality provision, whilst enabling choice for parents and carers.

As part of this approach providers will face a more open and proportionate approach for delivering the funded entitlement.

It will be underpinned by a National Standard, which means that all providers who wish to deliver the funded entitlement will face a clear and consistent set of criteria for becoming a funded provider.

As part of the new approach there is also a commitment to simplify the process for, and reduce the burden on, providers who wish to deliver the funded entitlement.

We will set out more details on this approach at the end of March.

As set out in my answer to S5W-15212 on 26 March 2018, we do not hold this information. Local authorities have duties in relation to the provision of funded early learning and childcare, including understanding how it is used in their local area and family preference for types of provision.

Local authorities have a duty to provide early learning and childcare to all eligible children within their area. Parents can contact their local authority to find out where their child can access the funded hours. There may be a number of reasons why it is not possible to obtain a funded place in a parent’s first choice nursery.

From 2020, as part of the national roll-out of 1140 hours, any provider wishing to deliver the funded ELC entitlement must meet the requirements of the new National Standard.

The proposed criteria in the draft National Standard focus on what children and their families should expect from their ELC experience, regardless of whether they access their entitlement in local authority, private, or voluntary/third sector nurseries or through provision offered by childminders. We anticipate this means parents will be able to access the funded hours at any childcare provider that meets the national standard, subject to there being a place available at that provider.