Chamber and committees

The Scottish Government considers regulation of short term lets to be vital in balancing the needs and concerns of residents and communities with wider economic and tourism interests. Mr Stewart, the then Minister for Local Government, Housing and Planning, announced in January 2020 that regulation of short-term lets would include a licensing scheme. The remit of the Short-Term Lets Stakeholder Working Group established in February 2021 is to refine the licensing legislation and develop guidance.

The Association of Scotland’s Self-Caterers, the Scottish Bed and Breakfast Association, Airbnb and the UK Short Term Accommodation Association favour a registration scheme. The Scottish Government has valued their contributions to the Working Group and is disappointed that they have decided not to continue to participate. The Scottish Government is committed to getting this important legislation absolutely right and monitoring its implementation.

Transport Scotland has been engaged, and will continue to be engaged, with key stakeholders prior, during and subsequent to the timetable consultation for May 2022 to seek to secure its preferred service pattern for Reston station namely up to eight daily direct services in each direction between Edinburgh and Berwick-upon-Tweed.

Education Scotland’s scrutiny programme includes inspection of special schools and units within mainstream schools which provide specialist provision, including for those with autism. During all school inspections, HM Inspectors of Education evaluate the quality of provision for children, including those with additional support needs. Units within mainstream schools, standalone special schools and independent special schools are inspected by HM Inspectors of Education with specialist knowledge and experience.

HM Inspectors also focus on how well a school is performing, the impact it is having on improving outcomes for children and young people and the capacity for continuous improvement. This includes consideration of the outcomes for those learners requiring additional support. HM Inspectors take into account the context and nature of the school, its children and young people and their needs.

HM Inspectors use a set of standards to evaluate and report on quality and improvement in Scottish education. When inspecting schools HM Inspectors of Education use a selection of quality indicators from the quality framework ‘How good is our school?’ (4th edition) (2015). During inspection, HM Inspectors of Education focus on children’s and young people’s learning experiences within and beyond the classroom; their achievements, and how the school is ensuring these are of the highest possible quality. This includes those children and young people with additional support needs. HM Inspectors of Education observe learning first hand and discuss learning with learners and staff. This includes specialist support staff who provide individual or group support to learners requiring additional support for learning.

HM Inspectors of Education also seek the views of a wide range of stakeholders, including parents, staff, learners, and partners, through online questionnaires and focus group discussions. There are opportunities for stakeholders to comment on the quality of support provided. Questionnaires are adapted and distributed in different forms to enable all learners to access and complete these. In addition, HM Inspectors also engage in direct conversation with learners to discuss their views and experiences.

HM Inspectors of Education publish a report of their findings in the format of a letter for parents and a more detailed document outlining the findings in a Summarised Inspection Findings document. Both these documents and the inspection questionnaire summaries are published on Education Scotland’s website.

We are committed to ensuring that all children and young people get the additional support that they need to reach their full learning potential, and recognise the particular challenges of Covid-19 for them.

Education Scotland, in collaboration with Head Teachers, published a range of information and guidance for learners with complex additional support needs, including autistic learners, to help parents support their child’s learning at home. This includes accessible learning resources for parents to use with their child at home

In June 2020 we published COVID-19 support for continuity in learning guidance , which states that local authorities should look to identify and offer suitable support to families and carers who may be facing additional challenges in regards to home learning. This guidance was further updated, in March 2021.

The Scottish Government also funds Parent Club, who provided advice for parents on their website. This advice includes : supporting children and young people with additional supports needs ; supporting your child’s mental health during coronavirus home learning and helping your child with home and blended learning.

Children and young people with complex additional support needs were prioritised within the phased approach to the return to school. They were able to return to school, first, from 5 January 2021, in recognition of the impact of covid-19 to their learning and wellbeing.

The Scottish Government COVID-19 guidance for schools currently states that at level 0, children and young people can engage in all drama, music, PE and dance activity in schools. For all activity, schools, practitioners, and pupils should be aiming to maintain appropriate mitigations, particularly the higher standards of hygiene and ventilation than were present pre-Covid. This guidance will be updated should this position change prior to schools returning in August.

The Scottish Government does not hold any data on the number of teachers with specialised training in supporting pupils with additional needs. Table 1 shows the full time equivalent of teachers which have listed an ASN related subject as their main subject in the 2020 staff census.

We are committed to ensuring that all children and young people get the additional support that they need to reach their full learning potential.

The Additional Support for Learning Act places duties on education authorities to identify, provide for and review the additional support needs of their pupils, including those with autism and Asperger’s syndrome. We provide free professional learning opportunities for practitioners in order to support education authorities to meet their duties under the Additional Support for Learning Act. This includes the Autism Toolbox and Inclusive Practice online professional learning modules.

We published our joint response to the independently chaired review of implementation of additional support for learning in October 2020. Angela Morgan’s report sets a clear direction in how we can continue to build on progress in this area. The joint action plan and governance arrangements are available from Additional support for learning: action plan - gov.scot (www.gov.scot)

In addition, we published our Autism Action Plan in December 2020, setting out the actions we will take to improve the support to children and young people with autism in Scotland’s schools. We have made significant progress in implementing these actions and will formally report our progress in December 2021. Our work on supporting young people with Autism and Asperger’s syndrome in mainstream schools is also supported by our guidance on the presumption of mainstream education.

Our skills agency Skills Development Scotland (SDS), who have operational responsibility for the delivery of our apprenticeships programmes, have taken a range of measures to improve uptake of apprenticeships for individuals who have Asperger’s syndrome or autism.

Since 2015, SDS have produced an annual Apprenticeship Equality Action Plan outlining their approach to support individuals from a range of backgrounds to access apprenticeship opportunities and achieve equitable outcomes. They have introduced enhanced funding contributions rates for apprentices with disabilities up to the age of 29 from 2017-18 onwards. Apprentices with disabilities may also be able to access funding via Access to Work, and SDS have hosted specialist calls focusing on support and resources such as Access to Work for neurodiverse young people.

SDS support Learning Providers in their capacity to recruit and support diverse apprentices. Needs Assessor training is provided along with the opportunity for learning providers and employers to meet with local equality organisations who can offer advice and support when recruiting. SDS additionally offers an all-age Careers Information and Guidance (CIAG) service, where careers advisors support young people with autism and Asperger’s syndrome on potential career paths, including apprenticeships.

The Scottish Government and COSLA jointly published our Learning/Intellectual Disabilities and Autism: Towards Transformation Plan in March 2021, which builds on existing autism and learning disabilities strategies. The plan looks at the actions needed to shape supports, services and attitudes to ensure that the human rights of autistic people and people with learning/intellectual disabilities are respected and protected and that they are empowered to live their lives, the same as everyone else.

The Children and Young People’s Mental Health and Wellbeing Joint Delivery Board has recently agreed the final version of the National Neurodevelopmental Principles and Standards of Care. The Principles and Standards of Care is for those children and young people who have neurodevelopmental profiles and support needs, including those with autism, and require more support than is currently available. The National Neurodevelopmental Principles and Standards will be published shortly.

The Additional Support for Learning Act places duties on education authorities to identify, provide for and review the additional support needs of their pupils, including those with autism. We provide free professional learning opportunities for practitioners, including the Autism Toolbox and Inclusive Practice online professional learning modules.

In addition, we published our Autism Action Plan in December 2020, setting out the actions we will take to improve the support to children and young people with autism in Scotland’s schools. We have made significant progress in implementing these actions and will formally report our progress in December 2021. Our work on supporting young people with Autism in mainstream schools is also supported by our guidance on the presumption of mainstream education.

The Scottish Government also directly funds the National Autism Implementation Team (NAIT) which supports NHS Boards to consider best practice and improve service in the redesigning of autism diagnostic services.

Scottish Government expect Local Public Bodies to engage inclusively with autistic people about decisions that affect them. However, it is the decision of Local Authorities on what engagement should take place and how this is monitored.

While Scottish Government has overall responsibility for health and social care policy in Scotland it is for local Health & Social Care Partnerships to assess local need and arrange support services, as mandated under statute in the Public Bodies (Joint Working) (Scotland) Act. Local Authorities are distinct corporate bodies whose powers are set out in statute and as such are entirely separate from the Scottish Government.

Autistic children and young people are supported through local Getting it Right Pathways and processes to have needs identified early and individualised plans in place. Support should be in place before, during or after diagnosis according to need and not diagnosis. All health boards have an autism or neurodevelopmental pathway, with a local plan for ‘post diagnostic support and information’.

The Children and Young People’s Mental Health and Wellbeing Joint Delivery Board has recently agreed the final version of the National Neurodevelopmental Principles and Standards of Care. The Principles and Standards of Care is for those children and young people who have neurodevelopmental profiles and support needs, including those with autism, and require more support than is currently available. The National Neurodevelopmental Principles and Standards will be published shortly.

The Additional Support for Learning Act places duties on education authorities to identify, provide for and review the additional support needs of their pupils, including those with autism. We provide free professional learning opportunities for practitioners, including the Autism Toolbox and Inclusive Practice online professional learning modules.

In addition, we published our Autism Action Plan in December 2020, setting out the actions we will take to improve the support to children and young people with autism in Scotland’s schools. We have made significant progress in implementing these actions and will formally report our progress in December 2021. Our work on supporting young people with Autism in mainstream schools is also supported by our guidance on the presumption of mainstream education.

The Scottish Government continues to be committed to improving the lives of autistic people in Scotland. We work closely with autism organisations in the third sector and the public sector and actively seek the views of people with lived experience on autism services. This is reflected in our “Towards Transformation” plan and in specific pieces of nationally funded work, such as the National Post Diagnostic Support pilot for Autistic People.

While the Scottish Government has overall responsibility for health and social care policy in Scotland, it is for the regional health & social care partnerships to determine the level of services that are required to meet local needs and to arrange an appropriate and suitable range of services to meet these local needs, as mandated under statute in the Public Bodies (Joint Working) (Scotland) Act.

Local Authorities are distinct corporate bodies whose powers are set out in statute and as such are entirely separate from the Scottish Government, however it is also the expectation of the Scottish Government that Local Public Bodies will engage with the third sector regarding local autism services.