Chamber and committees

Modern Apprenticeships (MAs) are funded through Skills Development Scotland (SDS) via a competitive procurement process, with contracts issued to successful bidders on an annual basis. SDS contract with a wide range of providers for the delivery of MAs including employers, independent training providers, colleges, universities, third sector, local authorities and managing agents.

SDS do not contract places at a framework level and instead contract at an Occupational Grouping level to allow for flex within the system. It is up to providers to best utilise these places based on demand.

The most relevant frameworks relating to heat engineer occupations are “Plumbing and Heating” and “Heating, Ventilation, Air Conditioning and Refrigeration”. Statistics published by SDS show there were the following number of starts on each framework:

All domestic owner occupied householders in Scotland are eligible for the Home Energy Scotland grant and loan scheme, which offers householders up to £7,500 of grant funding for the installation of a heat pump or £9,000 for households which qualify for the rural uplift. Up to £7,500 is available on top of this as an optional interest free loan.

The Scottish Government also funds installation of heat pumps targeted at fuel poor households through our Warmer Homes Scotland and Area Based Schemes.

Householders can find additional information about heat pumps and the funding available on the Home Energy Scotland website. www.homeenergyscotland.org

Some householders may also be able to benefit from the installation of a heat pump through the Energy Company Obligation (ECO) which is a UK Government scheme delivered via energy suppliers. These improvements are provided as benefits-in-kind.

We value our teachers and education professionals and are committed to understanding their needs and providing them with the right support. Since October 2020 we have invested more than £2 million specifically in supporting wellbeing in the education workforce.

This year we are providing £200,000 to offer free wellbeing coaching to teaching staff and educational professionals across Scottish schools and early learning facilities.

We are also funding the Association of Directors of Education in Scotland to deliver an Education Workforce Support Project, to gain a comprehensive understanding of current practice about how we support the wellbeing of our education workforce.

HM Chief Inspector is committed to promoting openness and transparency in the inspection process. Educators and practitioners are kept well-informed about inspections, including the focus areas and methodologies employed by inspection teams.

HM Inspectors assess the quality of education in Scottish schools using various quality indicators from 'How good is our school? (4th edition).' This document outlines the evidence collected during school inspections. Additionally, briefings for headteachers, parents, and Parent Councils are provided and updated annually at the beginning of each academic year. These updates are available on Education Scotland’s website. Moreover, when specific or mid-year changes occur, separate advice notes are published on the website.

In November 2023, I requested that the interim Chief Inspector enhance the evidence collected about behaviour during inspections.

Consequently, HM Inspectors will place greater emphasis on gathering evidence about behaviour and strategies for promoting positive relationships during inspections. An Advice Note for schools outlining the approach will be published in early January 2024, and will apply to inspections notified from January 2024.

The interim Chief Inspector will continue to issue additional inspection advice notes as needed, ensuring the inspection process remains transparent.

Under section 14(1)(b) of the Education (Scotland) Act 1980, education authorities have a statutory duty to make special arrangements for pupils of any age and stage of school education, who are unable to attend school due to illness, to continue receiving their education elsewhere than at an educational establishment.

The Scottish Government published guidance on the education of children unable to attend school due to ill health in June 2015. This guidance is available on our website through the following link: Education of children unable to attend school due to ill health: guidance - gov.scot (www.gov.scot)

Where any pupil is expected to be absent from school for a prolonged period of time due to ill health, we would urge their parents or carers to speak with the school’s head teacher at the earliest opportunity to ask for alternative arrangements to be put in place for their child whilst they remain absent.

We also published guidance on supporting children and young people with healthcare needs in schools to enable schools to support pupils with health conditions which require management during the school day. This guidance is available on our website through the following link: Supporting children and young people with healthcare needs in schools: guidance - gov.scot (www.gov.scot)

Where a pupil does have a health condition, whilst attending at school, staff in NHS boards, education authorities and schools should work together with the children and young people concerned, and their parents or carers and families to ensure appropriate measures to meet their individual healthcare needs are in place.

The ‘Included, Engaged and Involved Part 2: Preventing and Managing School Exclusions’ guidance was published in 2017.

In June last year, I convened the first meeting of a Headteacher taskforce which focused on school exclusions. The topic of school exclusions was also discussed by a wide range of stakeholders, including local authorities, at the series of behaviour summits held between September and November last year.

In November, the Behaviour in Scottish Schools Research (BISSR) was also published, which provides the accurate national picture in relation to behaviour in Scotland’s schools. Local authority staff were interviewed as part of BISSR.

We are currently working with the Scottish Advisory Group on Relationships and Behaviour in Schools , which includes COSLA, to establish what actions are required to be included in the national action plan to respond to the findings of the summit process and BISSR. The national action plan will be published as soon as possible.

As I set out in Parliament on 18 December during the statement on implementing the medication assisted treatment we are preparing for changes to the drug supply with synthetic opioids becoming more prevalent. At the National Mission Oversight Group meeting on 14 November 2023 Dr Sharon Stancliff, Associate Medical Director of Harm Reduction in Healthcare New York State, and Professor Thomas Kerr, Director of Research with the British Columba Centre on Substance Use, gave presentations on their experiences of fentanyl and the impact this has had since becoming prevalent in the drug supply in New York State and British Columba respectively. An overview of fentanyl was given, the differences between opiates and synthetics and the differences in overdose presentations were covered. The use of naloxone and fentanyl testing strips, along with the need for buprenorphine and harm reduction practices generally, were discussed. The presentations also covered use of safer drug consumption facilities, drug checking and the decriminalisation pilot which took place in British Columbia. They shared their views on what is needed here in Scotland, based on their respective experiences with fentanyl epidemics in their countries, to help address the risks that synthetics pose.

Officials recently met with stakeholders who are involved in the delivery of drug and housing services to discuss the roundtable event taking place this year on synthetic opioids and those areas they would want to cover. Planning is continuing for this to take place at the start of 2024, the event will cover all synthetic opioids including nitazenes.

The Scottish Drugs Forum have launched resources on synthetic opioids and nitazenes to get information out to people that they are in the illegal drug supply Resources — Stop The Deaths . Public Health Scotland have also recently issued an update to their alert via RADAR to healthcare staff and the public to highlight the increased dangers associated with the drugs ( RADAR Nitazenes alert 2023 ).

Scottish Government officials from the Gaelic and Scots team met with senior education officers of North Lanarkshire Council on 6 December to discuss matters relating to the recent consultation involving both Condorrat and Baird Memorial primary schools. Along with the meeting, the Scottish Government has also received correspondence from parents on this matter and officials have been following the consultation closely. There was an agreement to meet again in the new year.

The Scottish Government will draw on a range of experiences in the development of refreshed Guidance on Developing Policies to Promote the Safe and Responsible Use of Mobile Technology in Schools. This will include the experiences of schools like Gordonstoun, and others, who have introduced limitations on the use of mobile phones in schools.

The current guidance which is available from Guidance on Developing Policies to Promote the Safe and Responsible Use of Mobile Technology in Schools (www.gov.scot) remains in place at this time.

Updated guidance on the use of mobile phone technologies in schools is expected to be published in Spring 2024. The current guidance to education authorities and schools on this issue remains available from Guidance on Developing Policies to Promote the Safe and Responsible Use of Mobile Technology in Schools (www.gov.scot).