Chamber and committees

The Scottish Government is committed to keeping The Promise we have made to all care experienced children, young people and adults across Scotland. In March of 2022, we published the Scottish Government’s Promise Implementation Plan that sets a broad range of actions and commitments across portfolio that we will take by 2030.

The Implementation Plan works in harmony with the Best Start, Bright Futures: tackling child poverty delivery plan 2022 to 2026 and is aligned with our strategic approach to education, health, justice, transport and communities. The cross portfolio approach to change is supported by a Cabinet Sub Committee for The Promise that, Chaired by The First Minister, met for the first time in October.

Key areas of progress to date that the Scottish Government is leading include:

• The new Scottish Recommended Allowance for foster and kinship carers will benefit over 9,000 families, helping them to provide the standard of living and wellbeing the children and young people in their care deserve.
• In November, a consultation on a £2000 Care Leaver Payment was opened. This commitment will support our young people as they transition into adulthood.
• The Children’s Care and Justice (Scotland) Bill is presently going through Parliament and if agreed will bring an end to the placement of 16 and 17 year olds in young offenders institutions, and increase the age of referral to the Childrens Hearing System to 18.
• Earlier this year Sheriff Mackie completed his review of the Childrens Hearing System. The Scottish Government will publish its response by the end of this calendar year.
• The commitment to £500m investment in Whole Family Wellbeing Funding will improve holistic family support so families get the right support, in the right way and at the right time. Our investment approach will be published in due course.
• From academic year 2023-24, care experienced students receive £9000 in bursary support. This is an increase of £900 from the previous academic year. In academic year 2022/23, support provided via the Care Experienced Bursary increased to £13.8m, with the number of care experienced students supported increasing to 1,840.
• Over £12m has been invested through the Promise Partnership Fund to support local projects across Scotland, the latest round of successful projects were announced in October. The Scottish Government remains committed to investing £4m per annum in Promise Partnership Funding to 2024-25.

The Scottish Government is committed to Keeping The Promise we have made to all care experienced children, young people and adults across Scotland. In March of 2022, we published the Scottish Government’s Promise Implementation Plan that sets a broad range of actions and commitments across portfolio that we will take by 2030.

The Implementation Plan works in harmony with the Best Start, Bright Futures: Tackling Child Poverty Delivery Plan 2022 to 2026 and is aligned with our strategic approach to education, health, justice, transport and communities. The cross portfolio approach to change is supported by a Cabinet Sub-Committee on The Promise that, Chaired by The First Minister, met for the first time in October.

Key actions underway include:

• A continued commitment to work in partnership with key stakeholders to ensure that the ambitions of the recommendations of both the Care Leavers Homelessness Prevention Pathway, and the Continuing Care reports are addressed. The pathway to prevent homelessness for care leavers sets out a number of recommendations designed to protect care leavers, including ensuring consistent implementation of both Continuing Care and Aftercare policy.
• Commitment to investing £500m in Whole Family Wellbeing Funding to improve holistic family support so families get the right support, in the right way and at the right time. This support is helping to reduce the need for crisis intervention and contribute to improving people’s lives across a wide range of different areas, including but not limited to, child and adolescent mental health, child poverty, alcohol and drugs misuse and educational attainment.
• Phoenix Future’s Harper House service was opened by the former First Minister in Saltcoats on 21 November 2022. It is a unique national family service which can support up to 20 families at one time, improving access for residential rehabilitation for drug or alcohol use for people with families.
  

The Scottish Government engages with a wide range of stakeholders on the future of the marine sector on a very regular basis. This has included, for example, detailed engagement with Scottish seafood stakeholders on Brexit and the new costs and barriers it has created for exporting to the EU, and our shared concerns about post-Brexit UK immigration policy, and how these can be mitigated or overcome.

“Our marine sector in an independent Scotland” is informed by our continuous engagement with the marine sector.

The Race Equality Action Plan concluded in 2021 with a final report outlining the progress made in implementing actions.

Education Scotland play a significant part in the Scottish Government’s Anti-Racism in Education Programme, particularly in the development and delivery of their award-winning Building Racial Literacy Programme.

Data on the outcomes and achievements of school pupils with additional support needs are published on the Scottish Government website.

Achievement of Curriculum for Excellence Levels data provides information on attainment of school pupils in literacy and attainment ( School education statistics - gov.scot (www.gov.scot) ). Information on pupils with additional support needs can be found in Section 4.3 of the publication. The latest data available is for 2021-22 with 2022-23 data due to be published on 12 December 2023.

Data on the attainment and initial destinations of school leavers can be found in the Summary Statistics for Attainment and Initial Leaver Destinations publication ( School education statistics - gov.scot (www.gov.scot) ). Information on pupils with additional support needs can be found in tables 3 and 6. The latest data available is for 2021-22 with 2022-23 data due to be published in February 2024.

Data on the follow-up destinations of school leavers can be found in the Summary Statistics for Follow-up Destinations publication ( School education statistics - gov.scot (www.gov.scot) ). Information on pupils with additional support needs can be found in table 3. The latest data available is for 2021-22 with 2022-23 data due to be published in June 2024.

The Higher Education Statistics Agency (HESA) and the Scottish Funding Council (SFC) publish a range of information for colleges and universities for disabled students. Information can be accessed through their websites at ( Data and analysis | HESA ) and releases ( Report on Widening Access 2021-22 (sfc.ac.uk) ).

The Students Awards Agency Scotland (SAAS) publish data each year on the number of supported Higher Education students at college and university claiming Disabled Students’ Allowance (DSA). Data is available through the Higher Education Student Support in Scotland publication ( https://www.saas.gov.uk/about-saas/statistics ).

The Scottish Government values and appreciates all the work that Who Cares? Scotland does to support and advocate for all Care Experienced people and we are committed to working with Who Cares? Scotland and other key partners to ensure that we Keep The Promise to care experienced adults and ensure that their voices are heard.

The Scottish Government is bringing forward legislation that will provide further protection to the rights of care experienced, children, young people and adults. This includes:

• A commitment to Scotland being the first UK nation to incorporate the UNCRC into domestic law, ensuring we are a country that respects, protects and fulfils children's rights.
• The Children's Care and Justice (Scotland) Bill, which is presently going through Parliament, and if agreed will bring an end to the placement of 16 and 17 years olds in young offenders institutions, and increase the age of referral to the Children's Hearing System to 18.
• A commitment to a Promise Bill by the end of this Parliamentary session, to make any further legislative changes required to Keep The Promise for children, young people and adults.
  

I refer the member to the answer to question S6W-23120 on 7 December 2023. 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 .

This information is not held centrally.

However, the Pupils with complex additional support needs: research into provision published on 19 September 2023 reflects practice and provides examples of the transition process followed by a child or young person with additional support needs to a specialist settings.

Four civil servants have worked part-time on its four-day working week four-day working week public sector pilot, since April 2023.

The Scottish Government has a robust process in place for creating, updating and withdrawing COVID-19 guidance. The extended use of face masks and face coverings guidance across health and social care settings was withdrawn on 16 May 2023. This followed advice from Antimicrobial Resistance and Healthcare Associated Infection (ARHAI) Scotland and Public Health Scotland (PHS) that health and social care settings should revert to the National Infection Prevention and Control Manual and the Care Home Infection Prevention and Control Manual. Both manuals hold personal protective equipment guidance based on clinical need and risk assessment.

ARHAI Scotland and PHS continue to monitor and analyse COVID-19 data, including variants, hospital clusters and deaths. This is considered alongside reviews of the current scientific literature. The Scottish Government regularly reviews this information together with any new emerging evidence. Any change to guidance would consider the epidemiological context and the latest scientific evidence and is continually under review.