Chamber and committees

As outlined in our recently published Labour Market Strategy, Sectoral and Regional Skills Investment Plans provide important careers intelligence for our all age careers service which is delivered by Skills Development Scotland.

Through our Youth Employment Strategy ‘Developing the Young Workforce’ work is already underway across Scotland to make sure all children and young people develop a greater understanding of the world of work and the opportunities on offer. This includes much earlier access to career information advice and guidance, increasing employer involvement with schools and increasing opportunities for young people to learn about work within school and in work placements.

To ensure our young people receive the right support to consider all the future career options available to them we have also published the Career Education Standard (3-18).

We welcome the report’s findings that Scots children are optimistic about their future, and we want to build upon this to support them in raising and meeting their aspirations.

In implementing our Youth Employment Strategy ‘Developing the Young Workforce’, work is already underway across Scotland to make sure all children and young people develop a greater understanding of the world of work and the opportunities on offer. This includes much earlier access to career information advice and guidance, increasing employer involvement with schools and increasing opportunities for young people to learn about work within school and in work placements. ‘A Plan for Scotland – the Scottish Government’s Programme for Scotland 2016-17’ sets out how we will continue to build on this work by –

Extending the reach of careers advice to younger school pupils through the embedding of the Career Education Standard (3-18)

Embedding a new work placement standard

Expanding the number of foundation apprenticeships

Continue to develop graduate level apprenticeships

Funding and supporting the development of employer led DYW regional groups across the country to encourage and support more employers to engage with education and to recruit more young people.

The conclusions drawn by the City and Guilds research support the direction of travel we are taking through our Youth Employment Strategy.

Percentage of Scottish domiciled full-time first degree entrants at Scottish universities from the 10% and 20% most deprived areas of Scotland (SIMD10 and SIMD 20), 2010-11 to 2014-15

Source: Higher Education Statistics Agency

The Scottish Government is committed to ensuring that investment in the higher education sector supports the excellence of our world-class universities and enables greater equity in access to a university education. Through the Scottish Funding Council, we have invested in excess of £1 billion in Scotland’s higher education sector each year for the last four years, and will invest more than £1 billion in 2016-17. Scottish Government Ministers and officials engage regularly with higher education sector partners and the Scottish Funding Council, including in relation to preparation for the forthcoming Spending Review.

The answer provided in response to Scottish Parliamentary Question S5W-02349 on 20 September 2016 sets out the number of university places supported by the Scottish Funding Council on behalf of the Scottish Government in each year since 2010-11. A funded place consists of two elements. 

A tuition fee element paid to universities through the Student Awards Agency for Scotland (SAAS). With a relatively small number of specific variations, this has been at a rate of £1,820 per funded place since 2006-07. 

The second element is paid by the Scottish Funding Council (SFC) to cover teaching and related costs. The amount allocated by the SFC will vary according to the subject group into which the funded place falls, with certain courses incurring greater costs, such as medicine in group 1, funded at a higher level. Since 2012-13, six subject groups have been employed.

 SFC Teaching Price Groups for 2012-13 to 2016-17: 

GDP Deflators at market prices, and money GDP: June 2016

 Price Group subject examples:

1 – Clinical Medicine

2 – Chemical Engineering

3 – Chemistry

4 – Nursing and Midwifery

5 – Initial teacher training

6 – Modern languages

 Teaching funding for 2011-12 was based on percentage changes applied to teaching funding groups for 2010-11 The units of teaching resource for 2010-11 were:

GDP Deflators at market prices, and money GDP: June 2016

 The units of resource and teaching price group figures shown in both tables include cash and real terms information, and both the tuition fee and the teaching elements.

 All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament's website, the search facility for which can be found at http://www.parliament.scot/parliamentarybusiness/28877.aspx

VAT is a reserved matter and as such, any issues with regards to VAT are between HMRC and the respective grazing committees.

VAT is a reserved matter and as such, matters relating to VAT are between HMRC and the respective grazing committees. The Scottish Government has regular meetings with HMRC but we have not had any discussions regarding the VAT status of common grazing committees.

The Scottish Government is in regular contact with the Crofting Commission about crofting policy and regulatory matters in general, including matters relating to common grazings regulation.

Officials in Rural Payments and Inspections Division (RPID), using objective criteria, assessed land parcels with either 40% or more Single Farm Payment Scheme (SFPS) eligible arable crops and rotational grass (excluding permanent grass) or 50% or more permanent grass and Land Cover of Scotland 1988 (LCS88) smooth grassland to be Payment Region one. Some land parcels with 50% rough grazing and 50% permanent grassland (classified as PGRS) will have been assessed as Payment Region one but the Scottish Government does not hold the information at the level of detail that has been requested.

The total 2015 Basic Payment Scheme payments made to Shetland producers as at 2 September 2015 was 3,275,396.92, broken down to region as follows:

Region 1 1,175,271.18

Region 2 1,651,314.64

Region 3 448,811.10

Total direct payments made to Shetland producers as at 2 September 2015 was 5,948,923.98 broken down as follows:-

Basic Payment Scheme 3,275,396.92

Greening 2,286,123.26

Young Farmer 15,606.89

VCS Beef- Island 235,988.77

VCS Sheep 151,415.03