Chamber and committees

Youth work falls within the scope of The Requirements for Community Learning and Development (Scotland) Regulations 2013. This regulation, in effect, requires local authorities to identify need and plan provision of Community Learning and Development in their areas.

As the regulatory requirements for Community Learning and Development are placed with education authorities, the Scottish Government does not collate information on youth workers.

The number of eligible Scottish Upland Sheep Support Scheme (SUSSS) applicants each year from 2021 and how many of these were new entrant farmers is detailed in the following table.

I refer the member to the answer to question S6W-38244 on 17 June 2025. 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/questions-and-answers.

In the following table, details are provided of the exact amount of funding that has been allocated to the Scottish Upland Sheep Support Scheme each year since 2021.

The Scottish Government understands the importance of multi-year budgets to the agriculture sector and consistently makes the case to the UK Government that a single year budget settlement does not give the stability and certainty that we need. If the UK Government Spending Review provides multi-year funding, SG would expect to be able to provide that certainty in turn to the agriculture and marine sectors.

I refer the member to the answer to question S6W-38250 on 17 June 2025. 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 withdrew the Scottish Good Practice Statement (SGPS) on 28 May 2025, leaving NICE Guideline NG206 as the default clinical guidance on ME/CFS. This will help provide clarity to NHS Boards as providers of care for people in their area with ME/CFS.

Work is ongoing to determine how the additional £4.5 million announced in the 2025-26 budget to deliver new specialist support for ME/CFS, long COVID and other similar conditions will be allocated to NHS boards, what conditions it will cover and the services it will prioritise. We want this money to have maximum impact and are working closely and carefully with boards across Scotland to allocate it as quickly and effectively as possible.

Now in its third year (2025-2026), the SEEP Test and Learn project has been expanded to include Scottish Community Learning and Development (CLD) providers.

In year three, the SEEP Test and Learn Project budget for Scottish college and universities projects is £400,000. It is £100,000 for Scottish Community Learning and Development led projects. The total budget is £500,000.

Additional details are available here Scottish Education Exchange Programme: Test and Learn project - gov.scot

Institutions are able to top up their project fund using additional funding provided by the project’s international partner. Twenty-two of the fifty-six projects funded to date planned to top up their project.

An external evaluation due to be published later in the summer will provide an analysis of the SEEP projects which will include further detail on how institutions used additional funding.

The Scottish Government does not receive any funding from external organisations or international partners for the SEEP test and learn project.

The information requested is not held centrally. The Scottish Government does not collect or hold data about the condition of early learning and childcare (ELC) settings. Owners and managers are responsible for building management and for ensuring the safety of their premises. Statutory requirements for the fitness of premises to be used for the provision of ELC are set out in Section 10 of The Social Care and Social Work Improvement Scotland (Requirements for Care Services) Regulations 2011.