Chamber and committees

Prior to April 2023 the costs associated with the DRS were met from the wider Zero Waste budget. However, DRS formed a very small part of those budgets which, as a whole, support major circular economy delivery programmes.

Since April 2023 a temporary division has been set up to deliver DRS. The cost of civil servants working on the scheme from April to end of May 2023 was £319,901.

The Ministerial Strategic Assurance Group was established as part of the refreshed system wide governance for the Deposit Return Scheme in Scotland (DRS) for the implementation stage of the programme. The function of this group is:

• To provide collective strategic assurance of successful DRS implementation.
• To hold all stakeholders mutually accountable for requisite actions.
• To build consensus on issues where there is conflict in stakeholders’ positions.

? To drive down the number of outstanding operational issues.

? To manage resolution issues escalated to the Group.

The Scottish and Welsh Governments last met in June 2023 to discuss opportunities for collaboration and sharing best practice across areas of mutual interest. This includes educational mobility and exchange programmes.

The Ministerial Strategic Assurance Group first met on 22 May 2023. The meeting was held virtually on MS Teams.

As outlined in the answer to question S6W-18598 on 15 June 2023, the 2023-24 budget for skills and employability programmes has been confirmed.

The Scottish Government continues to offer free and impartial advice to all employers and individuals affected by redundancy through Partnership Action for Continuing Employment, PACE, which has local teams ready to respond quickly when situations arise and assist businesses to try and minimise the risk of redundancy before it happens.

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 .

Scotland participates in the Programme for International Student Assessments (PISA), which is an assessment of 15 year olds' skills in maths, science and reading. It is carried out under the auspices of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) and includes over 80 countries. The assessments take place every three years across all OECD members and variety of partner countries. Scotland has participated in all eight surveys since the first wave of testing in 2000.

The most recent PISA assessments took place in Scotland in October and November 2022, with over 3,000 15 year olds and nearly 120 schools participating. Scotland's results will be published alongside the international results in December 2023. The Scottish Government will publish a statistical report looking specifically at Scotland's results, with comparisons to OECD and UK countries, as well as time series results. The data will include internationally comparable data on maths, science and reading performance, alongside results of a background questionnaire answered by learners and headteachers.

The Scottish Government indicated in the Equality, Opportunity, Community: New leadership – a Fresh Start publication on 18 April 2023 that Scotland would seek to re-join the Trends in International Mathematics and Science (TIMSS) and Progress in International Reading Literacy (PIRLS) studies. The next PIRLS assessments will take place in 2026, with data published in 2027; with TIMSS assessments taking place in 2027 and published in 2028.

The Scottish Government also provides data on the education system in Scotland for the OECDs annual Education at a Glance publication, which is the authoritative source of data on the state of education around the world. The publication provides information on the structure, finances and performance of education systems across OECD countries and partner economies. This includes internationally comparable data on financial resources in education, teacher pay, working hours, professional development and organisation of schools.

I refer the member to the answer to question S6W-18432 on 14 June 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 .

In the face of rising costs and the need to deliver a balanced budget which delivers the best value for every tax payer in Scotland, funding must be prioritised and robust decisions made which are linked to the annual budget setting process and associated financial governance.

Therefore, employability funding, like all other funded programmes and services throughout government require to be assessed against the outcomes specified in the Scottish Government policy prospectus "A fresh Start for Scotland" (18 April 2023) which sets out how the government will deliver for Scotland over the next three years.

I refer the member to the answer to question S6W-18598 on 15 June 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 Scottish Government is committed to delivering a balanced budget with a focus on the renewed missions set out recently by the First Minister - to tackle poverty; to build a fair, green and a growing economy; and to improve our public services.

In 2023-24 this includes up to £108M to deliver employability services for those individuals who need it most to enter and progress in work, we remain committed to supporting a mixed economy of provision across public, private and third sectors to support delivery across Scotland.

In the unfortunate event of any employees facing redundancy, the Scottish Government will always offer and provide support through our initiative for responding to redundancy situations, Partnership Action for Continuing Employment, PACE which aims to minimise the time individuals affected by redundancy are out of work.

As members of the PACE Partnership, STF will be familiar with the local support available to its members and the swift response it offers to support both employers and employees dealing with redundancy and working with them to try and minimise the risk of redundancy before it happens.