Chamber and committees

Responsibility for regulation and enforcement of health and safety requirements rests with the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) while the Scottish Funding Council retain oversight of the college sector on key issues of accountability and compliance. The Scottish Government engages regularly with the Scottish Funding Council (SFC) on their oversight. The SFC expects colleges to comply with their legal obligations and seeks assurance on this through its ongoing monitoring, and engagement with institutions.

As a result of the measures established by the SFC, the Scottish Government remains assured that appropriate governance and compliance arrangements are in place across the sector.

I am clear there must be a zero tolerance approach to bullying. Respect for All provides an important framework to support local authorities, schools and other settings to prevent and respond to bullying behaviour.

The guidance was updated in 2024 to reflect the latest evidence and good practice, and includes updated guidance on prejudice-based bullying, including bullying experienced by children and young people with additional support needs.

Skills Development Scotland (SDS) collects and publishes Modern Apprenticeship (MA) data with the latest full year data covering 2025-26.

https://www.skillsdevelopmentscotland.co.uk/media/josfrdus/modern-apprenticeship-supplementary-tables-quarter-4-2025-26.xlsx

Information on MA achievements and number of leavers is published by age band and year, but the age bands used by SDS are 16-19 and 20-24 and 25+.

The Scottish Funding Council (SFC) collects and publishes information on withdrawal rates and reasons for withdrawal for further (FE) and higher (HE) education students at college in their annual ‘College Student Outcomes’ release. https://www.sfc.ac.uk/publications/college-student-outcomes-2024-25/

Information is published by age band, for courses lasting 160 hours or more, but this is not split by HE or FE nor by the age bands requested. The release also contains some information on reason for withdrawal.

The Gatsby Benchmarks are a careers guidance framework used in England.

Careers support is devolved and the Gatsby Benchmarks do not form part of Scotland’s approach. While individual schools may choose to use the framework if they consider it useful, the Scottish Government does not collect or hold information on its use. Information on the number of schools using the Gatsby Benchmarks, or on any benchmark scores achieved, is therefore not held centrally.

The Scottish Government is aware of proposed data centre developments and is communicating with developers to understand the effect across the country. We are regularly engaged with Scottish Water and the National Energy System Operator (NESO) to understand the potential effect on existing infrastructure.

This matter is under active consideration by the Scottish Government, and Parliament will be kept informed of the outcomes of those considerations – including the potential for planning guidance – in due course.

The Scottish Government is taking forward a range of actions to develop and improve agricultural education, learning and skills during this Parliamentary session.

This includes implementing the recommendations of the independent Commission for the Land-Based Learning Review, all 22 of which were accepted or accepted in principle by the Scottish Government. In March 2026, the Scottish Government reported that actions relating to 14 recommendations had been completed, with work continuing on the remainder.

The Scottish Government is also supporting agricultural learning and skills development through Scotland’s Agricultural Knowledge and Innovation System (AKIS), including investment in the Knowledge Transfer and Innovation Fund, the Next Generation Practical Training Fund and the Land-Based Pre-Apprenticeship Programme. Together, these initiatives support vocational training, practical skills development and pathways into agricultural careers, helping to develop the skilled workforce needed by Scotland’s rural economy.

The Scottish Government also funds Lantra Scotland to promote careers, learning and skills development across the land-based sector.

Each school works with partners, including the school-based Skills Development Scotland (SDS) career adviser(s), to identify the pupils who are most at risk of not transitioning to a positive destination post-school such as further / higher education, training or employment. Factors that are taken into consideration include, but are not limited to, whether the young person is care-experienced; has caring responsibilities; has any health issues or disabilities; has additional support needs; or has interrupted learning. The school and partners then discuss and agree the appropriate support for each individual.

SDS are responsible for managing the 16+ Participation Portal, a secure online portal which tracks the status of young people aged 16-24. By sharing information between partners, including local authorities, colleges, the Scottish Funding Council, the Student Awards Agency for Scotland and the Department for Work and Pensions, SDS can identify those young people not in a positive destination and will proactively make contact with them to offer support.

I refer the member to the answer to question S7W-01691 on 10 August 2026. 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 is an operational matter for NHS Tayside.

The Scottish Government wants all those accessing health services to be treated as close to home as clinically appropriate. Where travel is necessary, the Scottish Government expects NHS Boards to work collaboratively with transport providers to make suitable arrangements to ensure that the necessary treatment can be provided in a patient-centred way.