Chamber and committees

The Scottish Government does not currently provide dedicated funding to organisations and services providing post-diagnostic support for adults with ADHD.

However, we know that ADHD often co-occurs with autism. Accordingly, through the Adult Autism Support Fund, we are funding 14 organisations that are providing post-diagnostic support to autistic adults, some of whom will also have ADHD. One organisation, Lochaber Hope in the Highland council area, specifically provides online workshops on Autism and ADHD, as well as a Neurodivergent group for women and non-binary people.

We are also working to ensure that local diagnostic pathways for adults adopt a stepped care model and a neurodevelopmental approach, inclusive of ADHD.

The Scottish Government has provided funding to National implementation Team (NAIT) to support the Health and Social Care Partnerships to develop action plans to introduce adult neurodevelopmental pathways. NAIT will also provide ADHD professional learning workshops and establish adult neurodevelopmental professional networks.

The number of FTE teachers for the 2025-26 school year will be confirmed following publication of the 2025 teacher census results.

The Scottish Government have not met with NHS Lanarkshire to discuss the prevention of Mpox. However, Public Health Scotland, who are leading on planning and preparedness in Scotland, are working closely with public health colleagues across the UK, as well as NHS Boards in Scotland, to monitor the situation and prepare for any cases that we might see.

Funding for flood resilience is distributed to local authorities through the general capital grant. The allocation mechanism is agreed by Ministers and COSLA Leaders on a national basis, rather than bespoke to each local authority, and as such there was no discussion around increasing flood resilience funding for local authorities within the Highlands and Islands region at the meeting on 5 September.

The current distribution agreement is that 80% of available funding is allocated to a list of prioritised flood protection schemes, and 20% allocated to local authorities to fund other actions within Flood Risk Management Plans.

At the request of the Cabinet Secretary for Net Zero and Energy, Miri McAllan MSP, Scottish Government officials are engaging with Falkirk Council officials on a taskforce to deliver improved flood resilience for Falkirk and Grangemouth. There have been three meetings of the taskforce to date, with the next meeting scheduled for the start of October. The taskforce reports back regularly to the Cabinet Secretary.

The route from Glasgow to Barrhead was electrified in December 2023. Electrification from Glasgow to East Kilbride is due to complete in December 2025. Plans to decarbonise the Fife Circle and Borders are in development.

I refer the member to the answer to question S6W-27663 on 3 June 2024. 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 will continue to engage with the Beyond Oil and Gas Alliance, Fossil Fuel Non Proliferation Treaty and other international climate change initiatives as part of a wider ongoing programme of analysis and engagement with a range of organisations and stakeholders.

The Scottish Government is committed to decarbonising its passenger rail network and is continuing with the rolling programme of electrification as funding permits.

This is set out in Transport Scotland’s Decarbonisation Action Plan, which is planned as a dynamic document, with a refresh of the Plan underway. The refresh will examine the electrification programme, informed by progress with rolling stock procurement.

The Scottish Government is committed to improving attendance in Scottish schools. Last year, we requested that Education Scotland undertake a “deep dive” to support greater understanding of the issue and the reasons for it.

Within the resulting report, five recommendations were identified. Education Scotland and Scottish Government officials have been working together to support the implementation of the recommendations. An online package of support, designed in collaboration with local authorities and schools, has been published.

Education Scotland are working with local authorities to improve attendance through both universal supports and through a bespoke support package using Quality Improvement Methodology. The first cohort of the ‘Improving Attendance Quality Improvement Programme’ will run from October to January.

Our commitment to delivering these recommendations is set out in ‘The National Action Plan on Relationships and Behaviour: 2024 – 2027 (The Joint Action Plan, 2024)’. This includes actions to review and revise national guidance on attendance This will enable refreshed guidance to be produced.

In recognition of the challenge of persistent absence, HM Chief Inspector for Education has also been asked with addressing this during school inspections and to identify successful approaches which can be shared more widely.

Data on teacher numbers and characteristics are collected in the annual teacher census, conducted in September of each year.

Headline figures are published the following December as part of ‘Summary statistics for schools in Scotland’: https://www.gov.scot/collections/school-education-statistics/#summarystatisticsforschoolsinscotland