Chamber and committees

ScotRail is not currently contracted or funded by Transport Scotland to operate rail services to Lockerbie. This has been investigated several times in the past but cannot be delivered efficiently by extending an existing service to Lockerbie.

It would require the leasing of additional trains and recruitment of staff resulting in an increased cost of several million pounds each year. It is therefore most cost efficient to the taxpayer, for cross-border operators to serve the station.

Options were explored to find a solution for Lockerbie station, however due to a range of factors, no sensible solution could be progressed at this time.

The OECD report “Scotland’s Curriculum for Excellence: Into the Future” commissioned by Scottish Government and published in 2021 commented that “significant efforts have been made to engage stakeholders throughout CfE’s lifecycle, which have contributed to successes with CfE.” (OECD Report, (p90) and also reported strong public confidence and interest in education (104).

The report by Professor Kenneth Muir “Putting Learners at the Centre” (published March 2022) conducted public consultation across a range of questions. That report commented that “just over half (58%) of the respondents agreed or strongly agreed that the existing vision for CfE reflected what matters for the education of children and young people in Scotland” (“Muir Report, p17). However, the Muir report (at pages 17 – 19 in the report) also identified a number of points that respondents to that consultation thought should be changed in order to further improve overall confidence in CfE.

The further National Discussion report (All Learners in Scotland Matter - national discussion on education: final report – May 2023) commented that based on its engagement with a range of people and organisations there was “general support for CfE” (p59 National Discussion Report) but also pointed to a range of comments on how to improve the curriculum.

It is important for the curriculum to retain strong confidence and support from pupils, parents, teachers/practitioners and the wider public. As the Member will be aware, the curriculum is currently being reviewed through the Curriculum Improvement Cycle to ensure that our 3-18 curriculum remains relevant, clarify the role of knowledge, declutter the curriculum and help to improve progression. Further information is available via the June 2025 publication “Curriculum, Qualifications and Assessment Reform: progress to date and next steps” and via Education Scotland’s Curriculum Improvement Cycle website.

With public finances at their most strained since devolution, this government has made a long-term commitment to supporting the college sector by increasing teaching funding by 2.1% and capital maintenance by 4.9% compared to 2024-25.

The Scottish Government, through NHS Research Scotland (NRS) provides core funding to promote and support excellence in clinical and translational research.

Within NRS, the Scottish Cancer Research Network works to increase, support and sustain cancer clinical trial activity across the NHS in Scotland. This work is underpinned by core funding from the Scottish Government.

The Scottish Cancer Research Network employs Clinical Research Nurses and Data Managers based on operational needs. The Network currently employs 2 dedicated Neuro-oncology Research Nurses and 2 specialist Data Managers.

I refer the member to the answer to question S6W-40330 on 17 September 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.

In 2024-25 the Scottish Government worked with the Scottish Funding Council and enabled a £13.4m ‘swap’ of capital for resource funding, recognising that colleges required additional resource funding for maintenance purposes.

Aware of the maintenance pressures colleges continue to face, actions are underway through the College Tripartite Alignment Group, comprising of Scottish Government, the SFC and Colleges Scotland, to consider options for a current year and longer term solution. These discussions sit in the context of SFC’s ongoing work with the sector to develop a College Infrastructure Investment Plan, due to publish in autumn 2026.

The Tripartite Alignment Group provides strategic direction on the pressures and opportunities facing colleges. More can be found about its work here on the Scottish Government’s website. For example, the Group has increased the flexibility in the system with the introduction of the SFC’s College Transformation Framework in Academic Year 2025-26 which offers options around bespoke funding arrangements between colleges and the SFC to enable colleges to plan their curriculum more effectively over a number of years. The Group has also agreed a new asset disposals process which enables most colleges to retain a significant proportion of the value of any sale to invest locally.

The Scottish Government has published school-level information in the Schools Information Dashboard covering the percentage of pupils attaining qualifications at each SCQF level. This covers all SCQF qualifications including National Qualifications and vocational and technical qualifications and awards such as (but not limited to) Foundation Apprenticeships and National Progression Awards.

The information you have requested is not held centrally by the Scottish Government.

This information is not held centrally by the Scottish Government. Decisions about the fees for hospital education services are a matter for local authorities and NHS boards to consider as appropriate.

Decisions concerning future Scottish Government funding programmes will be considered and addressed through the Scottish Budget and Scottish Spending Review processes.