The summary report on access to counsellors in secondary schools and children and young people’s community mental health services for the period January to June 2023 has now been published on the Scottish Government website at: Access to counsellors in secondary schools and children and young people’s community mental health services – summary reports - gov.scot (www.gov.scot)

The Scottish Government does not hold this information, however the data can be found by contacting the Care Inspectorate directly or searching the Care Inspectorate datastore.

Scottish Government is committed to supporting and growing our childminding sector, which is why we launched the Programme for Scotland’s Childminding Future in June 2024, in partnership with the Scottish Childminding Association (SCMA). The programme is supporting the recruitment of new professional childminders across Scotland, offering a package of funded support and training in addition to a £750 start-up grant, providing everything needed to establish a new childminding business from home.

The programme also includes a range of pilot measures to address the retention of the childminding workforce, delivering more practical support to ensure our existing professionals are supported with their workloads and professional development.

The recruitment support is available across 19 local authorities during 2024-25, and 12 local authorities are participating in the retention pilots. SCMA are currently in discussions with local authorities regarding participation for year 2 (2025-26), and we welcome their commitment to supporting the childminding workforce.

I have asked Teresa Medhurst, Chief Executive of the Scottish Prison Service (SPS), to respond. Her response is as follows:

Following the introduction of the Psychoactive Substances Act 2016, SPS took the decision to not seek to amend its mandatory drug testing policy to include testing for psychoactive substances. This was due to the continual changing compounds used within psychoactive substances and remains the position to date.

By working closely with partners such as Police Scotland, SPS must and does remain vigilant to the continuously evolving nature of drug use to ensure our use of technology and tactical measures remain current, adaptable, and capable of detecting and preventing drugs from entering our prisons; and we continue to consider what testing options may be most effective for the SPS to use.

SPS will continue to work with partners to prevent the introduction of contraband and seek convictions where appropriate.

Information on the proportion of eligible children accessing funded ELC, both nationally and by local authority, is published each year in the ELC census. This includes uptake rates for all 3-4 year olds, and deferred registrations. The census does not record the proportion of their 1140 hours entitlement that each child is utilising.

The most recent publication includes the most recent uptake data by local authority area within Figure 26 at the following page:

https://www.gov.scot/publications/summary-statistics-for-schools-in-scotland-2023/pages/early-learning-and-childcare-elc/

A breakdown for previous years can be accessed within the appropriate years publication, which are listed at: https://www.gov.scot/collections/early-learning-and-childcare-statistics/#earlylearningandchildcarecensus.

The Improvement Service also provide information on the number of eligible children accessing their full 1140 entitlement nationally. The most recent service delivery report is available at:

https://www.improvementservice.org.uk/__data/assets/pdf_file/0022/52618/ELC-Delivery-Progress-Report-Apr-24.pdf

During the period where Troon will temporarily be used to support the Arran service, LNG bunkering will be carried out by HGV tankers directly to the vessel. It is to be noted that an LNG facility is included as a permanent solution as part of the Ardrossan Harbour project, and that costs and technical requirements for permanent works should they require to be undertaken at Troon would be expected to be comparable to this.

In September 2024, the Scottish Government published guidance for schools and education authorities on school uniform and clothing. This was published alongside supporting resources for pupils and parents and carers. The total cost of publication was £2,106.32.

The UK Withdrawal from the European Union (Continuity) (Scotland) Act 2021 is one means by which the Scottish Government implements its alignment policy. The section 1(1) power has been used once to introduce secondary legislation, in respect of The Public Water Supplies (Scotland) Amendment Regulations 2022.

This legislation, laid on 22 December 2022, aligns with the EU Drinking Water Directive 2020/2184 (Recast) on the quality of water for human consumption. This Directive is designed to protect water intended for human consumption (“drinking water”) from source to tap, put in place measures for access to water and drive-up resource efficiency by tackling pollutants at source. This instrument also ensures alignment of health-based standards, as recommended by the World Health Organisation, and enables better reporting of these standards in Scotland.

The Scottish Government will continue to use this power if it is the most appropriate means to deliver alignment and advance important regulatory standards. If this power is used, the Scottish Government will inform parliament through the agreed reporting process.

We have committed to refresh the Supporting Children’s Learning Code of Practice during this parliamentary term. We have been working collaboratively with a range of education partners and policy areas over the past 19 months, to ensure it continues to fully support schools and local authorities to fulfil their duties under the ASL Act. An update on progress was set out in our third progress report, published in November 2024.

In alignment with my response to the Education, Children and Young People Committee, a public consultation will be held in early 2025, providing an opportunity for wider stakeholders with an interest in the Code of Practice to share their views.

The Scottish Government uses a range of data and evidence to measure literacy rates among school pupils.

Achievement of Curriculum for Excellence Levels (ACEL), data, which is based on teacher judgement, provides information on the proportion of P1, P4, P7 and S3 pupils achieving the expected Curriculum for Excellence (CfE) levels in Reading, Writing, Listening and Talking. The Achievement of Curriculum for Excellence (CfE) Levels 2022-23 data was published in December 2023.

Data on the reading skills of 15 year olds is also collected every 3 years as part of the Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA). Scotland’s results from the Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA 2022) were published in December 2023.

Annual Summary Statistics for Attainment and Initial Leaver Destinations also contains data on the percentage of school leavers who attained literacy at each SCQF level. Scotland’s Summary statistics for attainment and initial leaver destinations, no. 6: 2024 was published in February 2024.

From 2026 onwards, Scotland will join the Progress in International Reading Literacy Study (PIRLS) to gather evidence on the progress in students’ reading achievement of pupils aged 9 to 10 years.

Compliance with the standards set out in the Nutritional Requirements for Food and Drink in Schools (Scotland) Regulations 2020 is monitored by Education Scotland Health and Nutrition Inspectors as part of their school inspection programme, helping to ensure that children and young people are provided with balanced and nutritious food, drink and meals to support their healthy growth and development.