Question reference: S6W-10066
- Asked by: Willie Rennie, MSP for North East Fife, Scottish Liberal Democrats
- Date lodged: 28 July 2022
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Current status: Answered by Shirley-Anne Somerville on 16 August 2022
Question
To ask the Scottish Government for what reason it has not introduced an Armed Forces pupil premium to recognise any disruption faced by the children of service personnel and address any needs for additional mental health and/or pastoral support, in light of such a provision existing since 2011 for service families elsewhere in the UK.
Answer
Education authorities have duties under the Education (Additional Support for Learning) Act (2004) to identify, provide for and review the additional support needs of their pupils. This includes needs arising from the disruption caused by the mobility and deployment of a parent or carer in the Armed Forces and would include mental health and/or pastoral supports as appropriate.
We continue to support children and young people’s mental health and wellbeing through the provision of counselling through schools. This is now in place across secondary schools in Scotland. We have also introduced new guidance to support whole school approaches to mental health and wellbeing, complementing the work that education authorities and schools already do to support children and young people’s mental health and wellbeing.
Children of service personnel in Scotland will have their needs met by the supports outlined above and as such there are no plans to introduce a Service Pupil Premium.