Chamber and committees

The Scottish Government recognises that poverty is a barrier to learning, and eradicating child poverty in Scotland is a national mission and this Government’s top priority.

Our action is making a real difference to families. On average, households with children in the poorest 10% of households are estimated to be £2,600 a year better off in 2025-26 as a result of Scottish Government policies. This value is projected to grow to an average of £3,700 a year by 2029-30.

We are absolutely committed to meeting the 2030 child poverty targets and will continue to do everything within our powers and budget to deliver the change needed in the face of challenging economic conditions. We will publish our third child poverty delivery plan by the end of March 2026, setting out the actions to be taken between 2026-2031 to meet the final targets.

In terms of poverty and education, research has shown that the poverty-related attainment gap emerges early in a child’s life, with data indicating a disparity in cognitive development in the Early Years and Primary School – the Growing Up in Scotland (GUS) longitudinal study found that at age 5, compared to children in the lowest income quintile, those in the highest income quintile were around 13 months ahead in their knowledge of vocabulary, and 10 months ahead in their problem-solving ability.

The negative impacts of poverty on children and young people continue right through the learner journey, with the GUS survey finding that, at entry into primary school and at age 8, children in the lowest income group were more likely to have high levels of social, emotional and behavioural difficulties and to have lower life satisfaction. The Health and Wellbeing Census found that the mental health gap between the most and least deprived pupils reaches its highest between S1 and S3, with evidence suggesting that pupils from more deprived areas were less likely to have a high level of support from parents/carers, trusted adults, and peers.

In recognition of those challenges, the Scottish Government has a range of policies to support children and young people to engage with education and support their readiness to learn. These policies include:

?Investment of up to £1 billion in the Scottish Attainment Challenge to improve outcomes for children and young people impacted by poverty, with a focus on closing the poverty-related attainment gap. There is a vast body of analysis of this programme, including consideration of readiness to learn and the views of children and young people.

?Supported by the Scottish Attainment Challenge, there are lots of examples of how schools are supporting young people to overcome the barriers of poverty, including St Machar Academy in Aberdeen which has a highly effective partnership with the local football club, with an alternative curriculum offer focusing on health, wellbeing, communication and confidence building. Another example is St Ignatius Primary School in North Lanarkshire, which has invested PEF in developing a bespoke tracking system. This allows them to target tailored interventions such as Forest clubs, to encourage improved attendance, attainment and the engagement of children – all underpinned by a lens-like focus on data.

?Free school meals are a crucial element of the Scottish Government’s ambition to eradicate child poverty. This offer is currently available to over 230,000 pupils in primaries 1 to 5 and in special schools across Scotland, plus eligible pupils in Primary 6 to Secondary 6, saving families who take up this offer around £450 per child per year.

?In the current financial year, we have also provided local authorities with funding of £14.2 million in 2025-26 to enable them to maintain the school clothing grant.

Further, in August 2024, the Scottish Government published a national relationships and behaviour action plan to address the concerns raised in the Behaviour in Scottish Schools Research (BISSR). The plan is jointly owned with COSLA, given the statutory responsibility for the delivery of education rests with our councils. The plan was developed in collaboration with SAGRABIS, which NASUWT are a member of. The plan sets out 20 actions to be taken by 2027, including actions to reduce violence in schools in response to the current evidence on relationships and behaviours in Scotland’s schools. As well as tackling violence, it will address issues including attendance, young people’s mental health, exclusion and empowering staff.

As part of the action plan, in June we published new guidance to support school staff in fostering a positive, inclusive, and safe school environment, including the use of consequences alongside guidance on risk assessments for violent, aggressive, and dangerous behaviour. The guidance was developed in collaboration with key stakeholders including teaching unions (including NASUWT), Headteachers, COSLA and ADES.

The 2021 SNP manifesto included a commitment to give teachers more time out of the classroom to prepare lessons, undertake professional development and tackle the challenges of closing the attainment gap.

We remain committed to delivering a reduction in teacher class contact time of 90 minutes per week, which we believe will create the conditions to achieve these improvements.

That is why we are working with teacher unions and COSLA through the SNCT to make meaningful progress towards delivering the reduction.

The Scottish Government regularly meets with representatives of teacher trade unions, including the Educational Institute of Scotland.

Teacher numbers increased by 12 between 2021 (2020 census baseline) and 2024. Teacher numbers for 2025 will be published with the teacher census statistics in December 2025.

The Scottish Government commissioned the report: Pupil projections and implications for teacher resourcing needs: education workforce modelling and research, which was published on 7 May 2024. This independent research has informed our engagement with partners on the commitment to reduce class contact time for teachers.

The Scottish Government acknowledges the challenges teachers face, including in managing excessive workload.

That is why we are working with COSLA and the teaching unions to develop a plan to reduce class contact time for teachers, which is supported by increased funding for councils of £186.5 million to restore teacher numbers to 2023 levels.

In addition, we are undertaking a range of additional measures including plans to commission independent work to examine how reducing unnecessary bureaucracy in Scottish education can improve teacher workload, and how greater use of digital technology can be utilised to help free up teachers’ time.

In recent years, we have also allocated more than £2m to specifically support the wellbeing of the education workforce and address a range of support needs, including teacher burnout.

We remain committed to sustained investment to strengthen provision of education in Scotland and we are providing local authorities with £185.5m in this year’s budget to maintain teacher numbers.

We remain committed to working with the teacher unions, and COSLA, through the Scottish Negotiating Committee for Teachers, to agree our approach to delivering a reduction in class contact time. We are clear that reducing class contact time will help address critical concerns around teacher workload, thereby creating the space to drive improvement and reform in our schools and improve outcomes for pupils.

I refer the member to question S6O-04953 taken in the chamber on 18 September 2025, the answer to question S6W-40769 on 8 October 2025 and my subsequent letter to him dated 8 October 2025, a copy of which has been placed in the Scottish Parliament Information Centre (Bib. number 66234).

With regards to the UK Energy Minister as you will be aware he has no role in the planning and consenting process in Scotland and therefore does not have to adhere to Scottish Ministerial Code and our Scottish Ministerial Code: 2025 Edition - gov.scot expands on the guidance in relation to planning matters for all Ministers.

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 responsibility for the management of allocating housing in the social rented sector lies with local authorities and housing associations. It is for them to determine the most effective way to manage allocation policy to balance the housing needs of their communities and addresses the relative needs of individuals.

The Scottish Government continues to see Common Housing Registers as a potentially useful way of simplifying and maximising access to social housing. Where local authorities and housing associations have determined that this is the best way to manage allocations in their local circumstances, we support this through information provided at Common Housing Register (CHR) - building a register: a practitioner's guide - gov.scot (www.gov.scot)