Chamber and committees

The external costs associated with the production and publication of the Building a New Scotland paper, ‘Our marine sector in an independent Scotland’, are set out in the following table:

We know through the views and experiences shared during the Independent Care Review that care experienced people can often feel stigmatised. Through the Each & Every Child initiative, we are working to shift public attitudes towards families, children and adults who are in care, leaving care or are care experienced. We also work alongside partners such as The Promise Scotland and Who Cares? Scotland to build on the aims set out in The Promise and broaden our understanding of, and to challenge, the stigma faced by Care Experienced people in the community.

On 23 November, the Minister for Children, Young People and Keeping the Promise announced that we will launch a consultation in Spring 2024 to inform development of a universal and inclusive definition of care experience. We will explore how this definition can best be reflected in relevant legislation to ensure a consistent and respectful use of this language.

This information is not held centrally.

However, the Pupils with complex additional support needs: research into provision published on 19 September 2023 reflects practice and provides examples of the transition process followed by a child or young person with additional support needs to a specialist settings.

Under section 70 of the Education (Scotland) Act 1980, any interested party can make a complaint to the Scottish Ministers that a responsible body (the managers of a school or education establishment, an education authority, or other persons) has failed to discharge a duty imposed on them by, or for the purposes of any enactment relating to education.

For Independent Adjudication, applicants write officially to Scottish Ministers with their complaint. Ministers will nominate an Independent Adjudicator. However they do not have any involvement in decisions after that point. Ministers also officially appoint the panel of Independent Adjudicators.

Since 2016-17, 7 complaints have been made under section 70 of the Education (Scotland) Act 1980 relating additional support needs provision, and 13 complaints have been made through applications for independent adjudication.

Complaints under section 70:

1 – City of Edinburgh Council

1 – Perth and Kinross Council

2 – Highland Council

1 – West Dunbartonshire Council

1 – Comhairle nan Eilean Siar (Western Isles)

1 – Midlothian Council

Complaints through Independent Adjudication:

1 – East Dunbartonshire Council

1 – Aberdeen City Council

2 – Scottish Borders Council

1 – Dundee City Council

2 – Glasgow City Council

1 – East Lothian Council

1 – Comhairle nan Eilean Siar (Western Isles)

1 – West Dunbartonshire Council

1 – North Lanarkshire Council

2 – City of Edinburgh Council

Under the Additional Support for Learning Act 2004, education authorities have duties to identify, provide for and review the additional support needs of their pupils. Parents and carers are encouraged to continue to engage with their child or young person’s school about the support that is in place. The aim is for disagreements to be resolved at as local a level as possible, and as quickly as possible, to ensure that children and young people receive the support they need to access and benefit from learning. As these complaints are dealt with at a local level, the information is not held centrally.

Data on the outcomes and achievements of school pupils with additional support needs are published on the Scottish Government website.

Achievement of Curriculum for Excellence Levels data provides information on attainment of school pupils in literacy and attainment ( School education statistics - gov.scot (www.gov.scot) ). Information on pupils with additional support needs can be found in Section 4.3 of the publication. The latest data available is for 2021-22 with 2022-23 data due to be published on 12 December 2023.

Data on the attainment and initial destinations of school leavers can be found in the Summary Statistics for Attainment and Initial Leaver Destinations publication ( School education statistics - gov.scot (www.gov.scot) ). Information on pupils with additional support needs can be found in tables 3 and 6. The latest data available is for 2021-22 with 2022-23 data due to be published in February 2024.

Data on the follow-up destinations of school leavers can be found in the Summary Statistics for Follow-up Destinations publication ( School education statistics - gov.scot (www.gov.scot) ). Information on pupils with additional support needs can be found in table 3. The latest data available is for 2021-22 with 2022-23 data due to be published in June 2024.

The Higher Education Statistics Agency (HESA) and the Scottish Funding Council (SFC) publish a range of information for colleges and universities for disabled students. Information can be accessed through their websites at ( Data and analysis | HESA ) and releases ( Report on Widening Access 2021-22 (sfc.ac.uk) ).

The Students Awards Agency Scotland (SAAS) publish data each year on the number of supported Higher Education students at college and university claiming Disabled Students’ Allowance (DSA). Data is available through the Higher Education Student Support in Scotland publication ( https://www.saas.gov.uk/about-saas/statistics ).

Ministers will take decisions about where the funding is allocated in 2024-25 and future years subject to the outcome of the Scottish Budget process and associated approval by the Scottish Parliament.

The draft budget will be published later this year and will be the subject of Parliamentary scrutiny in early 2024. The Scottish Government intends to present the Draft Budget 2024-25 to Parliament on Tuesday 19 December 2023.

The aim of the 4 Day Working Week public sector pilot is to assess environmental, health and wellbeing benefits, and efficiency gains, that a four-day working week could bring.

An expert partner with industry experience in 4 Day Work Week trials and research has been recruited through a Grant Funding exercise. They will facilitate the design and running of the pilot and support interested public bodies during the course of the pilot. Ministers will consider the findings of this work and will consider whether a final report will be published.

I refer the member to the answer to question S6W-23120 7 December 2023. 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 term additional support needs under the Education (Additional Support for Learning) (Scotland) Act 2004 (the 2004 Act) applies where for whatever reason children or young people are unable to benefit from school education without the provision of additional support. Therefore, the information requested in relation to colleges and universities is not applicable.

Local authorities have duties under the 2004 Act to identify, provide for and review the additional support needs of their pupils. Local authorities are supported in fulfilling these duties under the 2004 Act through the statutory code of practice on additional support for learning. Chapter 3 of the code covers identifying additional support needs and the assessment process.

As set out in Pupils with complex additional support needs: research into provision published on 19 September 2023, there were 241,639 pupils recorded as having additional support needs in 2022.

Funding of £100,000 has been allocated through a Grant Fund Award in the 2023-24 financial year to support the onboarding of an expert partner organisation, with £80,000 being the indicative funding of this award for 2024-25. None of these funds have been spent to date.