Chamber and committees

The information requested is not held centrally.

Information on university retention rates is published by the Scottish Funding Council (SFC) in the statistics publication Report on Widening Access. There is no breakdown by those with teacher assessed grades.

The latest publication is available on the SFC’s website: https://www.sfc.ac.uk/publications/report-on-widening-access-2022-23/.

The Scottish Education Exchange Programme (SEEP) Test and Learn Project was launched in 2023. In year 1 the project did not directly fund any student exchanges. Institutions prioritised staff mobility projects supporting the development of partnerships between Scottish institutions and their international partners.

In year 2, the Scottish Government invested £535,000 in SEEP enabling students from Scottish institutions who would not meet the criteria for Turing Scheme funding to participate in a mobility project. In year 2, 14 projects contained a student mobility element.

An external evaluation of the SEEP is currently underway which will contain further detail on funded projects. The report is due to be published late summer.

Data relating to the Turing scheme is provided by the UK Government. The year 1 (2021-22) figures have been published:

Turing Scheme funding outcomes 2021 to 2022 - GOV.UK.

The Scottish Education Exchange Programme (SEEP) Test and Learn Project was launched in 2023.

In year 1 the project did not directly fund any student exchanges. Institutions prioritised staff mobility projects supporting the development of sustainable partnerships.

Projects in year 2 of the test and learn provided opportunities for students from Scottish institutions who would not meet the criteria for Turing Scheme funding to participate in a mobility project.

Year 2 projects concluded on 31 March 2025. Institutions are currently submitting end of project reports which will feed into the external evaluation of the project, the report from which is due to be published late summer.

Additional information on the year 2 projects can be found on the Scottish Government website: Scottish Education Exchange Programme: - Test and Learn: funded projects - gov.scot.

The National Specification is intended to be published by the end of 2025,

The Scottish Government has not made an assessment of any long-term economic benefits of replacing methadone with Buvidal for eligible patients

Funding for the Scottish Violence Reduction Unit for 2025-26 has not been reduced. The Scottish Government grant to the Scottish Violence Reduction Unit has been increased from £1.17 million in 2024-25 to just over
£1.2 million for 2025-26. This represents an increase of £47000 (4%) on the Unit’s grant allocation in 2024-25, and is a £82000 (7%) increase on the Unit’s indicative grant allocation for 2025-26.

The Care Inspectorate collects and publishes data on service cancellations and registrations (available here: Statistics and analysis).

Figure 8 of the Care Inspectorate’s 2023_Early_learning_and_Childcare_Statistics.pdf shows service cancellations for childminding services and day care of children services for the period 2014 to 2023.

The Scottish Government drew on Care Inspectorate data to inform the most recent Financial Sustainability Health Check, published in July 2023. This included an analysis of annual cancellations across the whole childcare sector for the period March 2019 to March 2023, and provided a more detailed breakdown of cancellations by type of provider for this period. This information is set out in Table 1.10 of the Section 1: Recent Trends in the Childcare Sector - Financial Sustainability Health Check of the Childcare Sector in Scotland: Analysis and Evidence - gov.scot.

A breakdown of cancellations by local authority area can be produced using data available from the Datastore.

The Scottish Government monitors trends across the whole childcare sector, drawing on data published by the Care Inspectorate. In recent years the Scottish Government has published financial sustainability health checks and the Sustainable Rates Review, which have considered issues relating to the financial sustainability of the sector.

Under the Business Sustainability criteria in the National Standard for funded ELC, providers are required to demonstrate to the local authority that they are financially viable. If a service delivering funded ELC was at risk of closure due to financial difficulties, they would therefore be obliged to make their local authority aware.

The national funded ELC cost survey that is currently being carried out by the Diffley Partnership on behalf of the Scottish Government and COSLA will help to ensure that our long-term investment to support the setting of sustainable rates is informed by a robust and reliable evidence base. The findings will be shared with local authorities and the sector later in 2025.

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 centres.

The Scottish Government does not hold this information. I would further refer the member to the answer to question S6W-37841 on 5 June 2025. All answers to written Parliamentary Questions are available on the Parliament's website, the search facility for which can be found at http://www.parliament.scot/chamber-and-committees/written-questions-and-answers.