Chamber and committees

The information requested is not held centrally.

This does not reflect Scottish Government policy, which is set out in our national guidance on exclusion ‘Included, Engaged and Involved Part 2: a positive approach to preventing and managing school exclusions.’

The Assembly will receive £107,152 in the first six months of 2025-26, with bids for three year funding from the Learning Disability Support Fund currently being considered. We expect successful bids to be confirmed in May 2025, with funding starting in October 2025.

The Scottish Government continues to closely monitor and assess the direct and indirect impacts of new US goods tariffs, and is working closely with our enterprise agencies, the UK Government, and the business community, to assess the implications and consequences for the Scottish economy and businesses. Information for businesses on US tariffs can be found at https://findbusinesssupport.gov.scot/usa-tariffs

We will continue to promote the export growth of Scottish businesses in both current and emerging markets as they find a way through this challenging time.

In recognition of the significant impact of tariffs on both the Scottish and UK economy, the First Minister has called on the UK Government to provide additional measures and economic support in response.

Information on assaults on teachers is not held centrally as, under the Education (Scotland) Act 1980, education is the responsibility of local authorities.

The biennial Attendance, Absence and Exclusions data collection gathers data on the number and reasons recorded for temporary or permanent exclusions from schools. These data show that there were 1,281 cases of exclusion (temporary or permanent) from publicly funded schools in Scotland during 2022-23 where the reason recorded was either ‘physical assault using improvised weapon against staff’, ‘physical assault using weapon against staff’ or ‘physical assault with no weapon against staff’.

Over the last three years, the Scottish Government has provided the Scottish Assembly with £425,136 to build capacity via our leadership and engagement framework and £316,349 of core funding via our Inspiring Inclusion charity portfolio over the last 4 years. Both of these funds are managed and distributed by fund manager, Inspiring Scotland.

Inspiring Scotland offer management consultancy services to the Scottish Assembly’s executive team and Board and provide intensive support where needed. This includes support to explore alternative funding and income streams aimed at long term sustainability of the organisation.

The Scottish Government continues to engage with the Scottish Funding Council (SFC) regularly on a range of issues. This has included SFC’s plans to implement changes to the Council’s approach to college funding allocations in response to requests from the sector, and their discussions with the sector on these changes. In my recent letter of guidance, I made it clear that we expect the SFC to consider the financial sustainability of individual institutions, and needs of learners, as part of any decisions around funding allocations.

Through the Colleges: Tripartite Alignment Group (comprising of Scottish Government, the SFC and Colleges Scotland) collaboration continues to work on identifying and implementing workable flexibilities to ease colleges’ financial pressures while ensuring accountability for public funds. For example, a revised process for the disposal of college assets has recently been implemented, where colleges can retain a higher amount of the sale proceeds.

A fresh set of priorities for the Group was agreed last year, and work is underway across those areas, namely diversification of funding into the sector, establishment of a new way to flexibly fund investment in Curriculum Transformation, and exploration of the breadth of delivery via colleges.

It is the Scottish Funding Council’s (SFC) responsibility to ensure the fair and equitable distribution of the funding across the college sector. SFC have confirmed no college will see a funding reduction in Academic Year 2025-26 when compared with 2024-25 and are engaging with affected colleges around mitigations that will help them adjust as changes in the funding allocation approach are implemented.

Prior to the announcement of support for Bhagat Holdings, Scottish Enterprise's due diligence included appraisal of the project and its benefits to the Scottish economy, assessment of eligible Scottish Enterprise support and consideration of the conditions attached to any support offered. Checks on bank accounts and funds, money laundering checks and Human Rights (level 1) checks were also undertaken. The company was required to sign all contracts relating to the offer of support.

It is for Boards to establish local processes for addressing disagreements within multidisciplinary teams, however it is for the Mental Health Tribunal to decide whether a Compulsory Treatment Order is to be granted.