Chamber and committees

A key principle of the refreshed 2022 Pupil Equity Funding National Operational Guidance states that: ‘Teachers, parents and carers, children and young people and other key stakeholders should be meaningfully involved throughout the processes of planning, implementing and evaluating approaches.’

Headteachers are accountable to their local authority for the use of Pupil Equity Funding within their school. We have been clear that schools should consult and engage effectively with teachers, parents and carers, children and young people and the wider community when implementing approaches to closing the poverty-related attainment gap.

To ensure transparency, schools are expected to incorporate details of their Pupil Equity Funding plans and explicitly report on the impact on outcomes for learners impacted by poverty. This should be done within existing local authority reporting processes to their Parent Council and Forum, including in their annual School Improvement Plans and Standards and Quality Reports. These plans and reports must be made publicly available so that parents and carers can easily access, understand and where appropriate, challenge, what is happening in their school with regard to Pupil Equity Funding. The arrangements for publication should be confirmed by the relevant local authority.

This is a matter for headteachers and local authorities to consider, if appropriate. Decisions on how to use Pupil Equity Funding are taken by headteachers in an empowered education system. We trust schools and headteachers to know their pupils best, and to take decisions that are in the best interests of children and young people, including undertaking appropriate risk and impact assessments.

The Scottish Government empowers Head Teachers to make local decisions that are best suited to the needs of their communities. This includes engagement with their own parents and children. As outlined in the refreshed 2022 PEF National Operational Guidance, a key principle of Pupil Equity Funding outlines that headteachers should ensure that parents, carers and children and young people should be meaningfully involved throughout the processes of planning, implementing and evaluating any approaches. Schools must have plans in place at the outset to evaluate the impact of the funding. These plans should outline clear outcomes to be achieved and how progress towards these, and the impact on closing the poverty-related attainment gap, will be measured.

I reaffirm the answer provided in S6T-00784 on 14 June 2022. Specifically, that local decisions are taken by headteachers in an empowered education system. We trust schools and headteachers to know their pupils best, and to take decisions that are in the best interests of their children and young people.

Where there are projects involving Police Scotland in place, schools find these to be of great benefit. They are highly engaged in proactive and preventative work in communities with families – working alongside Social Work and third sector organisations.

All answers to Topical Questions are available on the Parliament's website at the following link: Meeting of the Parliament: 14/06/2022 | Scottish Parliament Website

I reaffirm the answer provided in S6T-00784 on 14 June 2022. Specifically, in the small number of areas where there are projects involving Police Scotland in place, schools indicate that they find these to be of great benefit.

The Scottish Government has had no specific discussions about this issue with these local authorities. It is for headteachers, who know their children best, to decide on how to invest their Pupil Equity Funding, based on their local contexts and they should work in partnership with each other, and their local authority, to agree the use of the funding.

The Scottish Government’s super sponsor scheme was introduced on 18 March 2022, to offer sanctuary in Scotland to displaced people from Ukraine. It works within the UK Government’s Ukraine Sponsorship Scheme to provide a fast and safe alternative to private sponsorship.

Statistics published by the UK Government show that, as at 11 August, 10,056 people sponsored by the Scottish Government had travelled to Scotland. We continue to provide safe and secure temporary accommodation to all Ukrainians who need it on arrival.

This includes the MS Victoria I passenger ship, which has been docked in Edinburgh, which is providing temporary accommodation for 1,000 people from Ukraine. There has been positive reception from those families accommodated on board and from stakeholders.

There are nearly 36,000 Super Sponsor applications that have been made, of which nearly 30,000 have been approved for a visa so far. Not everyone will choose to use their visa. However, excluding the 10,000 who have already arrived so far this means around a further 20,000 visa holders could potentially arrive.

Therefore the Scottish Government has chartered a second passenger ship which will be located in Glasgow. We expect the ship to be operational in September, and it will provide up to a further 1750 people with the same level of facilities and support currently available to those in Edinburgh.

This is a humanitarian crisis requiring a whole of Scotland response, and the Scottish Government will continue to work closely with local councils and with the Convention of Scottish Local Authorities to ensure that those displaced people who are already here, and those who have applied and are granted permission to travel, will be safe, secure and supported for as long as they need, after the dangers they have faced at home.

We are getting very close to capacity for the temporary accommodation currently available, particularly across the Central Belt. We do not want people having to stay in temporary accommodation for any longer than is necessary. We are therefore putting every effort into helping people find longer-term accommodation in communities across Scotland.

The Scottish Government is committed to tackling all forms of antisocial behaviour and recognises that this can blight people’s lives. Our national strategy is based on prevention, early intervention and diversionary activities. We recognise that no single approach will tackle all antisocial behaviour. That is why we support a suite of activities which includes Antisocial Behaviour Orders and Fixed Penalty Notices.

There is no Scottish legislation equivalent to Section 59 of the Anti-social Behaviour, Crime and Policing Act 2014 that conveys specific power to local authorities to make public spaces protection orders to help address any noisy behaviour in public spaces.

However, the Antisocial Behaviour etc. (Scotland) Act 2004, supported by Scottish Government guidance, helps ensure that local authorities and Police Scotland have a robust range of powers and tools allowing them to proportionately address such issues as they arise in their areas and provides a wide range of measures for dealing with all forms of antisocial behaviour.

SWEFT is currently in development by Zero Waste Scotland. Research is focused on identifying accurate and representative data that is needed to estimate the environmental impacts and how best to communicate results to stakeholders according to international best practice. Information on progress to date can be found here: To carbon targets, and beyond! | Zero Waste Scotland .

Schools already have the flexibility to teach about relationships and domestic abuse. The Scottish Government is committed to ensuring all children and young people receive high quality relationships, sexual health and parenthood (RSHP) education, an integral part of the health and wellbeing area of the Scottish curriculum which has been in place since 2010. The curriculum is not mandatory, it is for teachers to decide which resources they use to deliver relevant and engaging learning. However, we are clear about the need for children and young people to gain knowledge appropriate to their age and stage of education. The aim of RSHP education is help children and young people build positive, safe and healthy relationships as they grow older and content should be delivered in a non-judgemental manner, within a framework of sound values and an awareness of the law, including that on sexual behaviour.

In addition, we are taking forward a wide range of actions in schools such as Mentors in Violence Prevention, aimed at reducing and preventing sexual harassment and violence in schools. Mentors in Violence Prevention Scotland have developed a wakelet on domestic abuse to help teachers and school staff provide appropriate support, resources and signposting to pupils. We continue to implement ‘Equally Safe’, Scotland’s strategy to prevent and eradicate all forms of violence against women and girls and Equally Safe at School provides a suite of whole school materials. We are also committed to publishing a national framework for schools on addressing gender based violence. This work is being delivered by the Gender Based Violence in Schools Working Group who will also review existing resources and develop new resources where needed.

In accordance with the Bute House Agreement, the Gender Based Violence in Schools Working Group and the Harmful Sexual Behaviour Delivery Group met in September 2021 to consider existing work on addressing gender based violence in education settings and identify any gaps in the current approach. The minutes of this meeting can be found here . The Scottish Government have committed to commissioning an independent review following the completion of the work of both groups, which will consider the impact of the work, establish positive practice, and any further areas for improvement.