Chamber and committees

Curriculum for Excellence does not prescribe specific approaches or pedagogies for any aspect of the curriculum including learning to read but in practice, systematic synthetic phonics and other phonics approaches are widely implemented across Scotland's classrooms.

I would welcome the opportunity to meet with members of the Fornethy House Residential School Survivors campaign group in the coming weeks. My officials will arrange a suitable date and time.

The General Teaching Council for Scotland (GTCS) accredit all Initial Teacher Education (ITE) programmes leading to the award of the Standard for Provisional Registration in Scotland. The GTCS will agree content with the relevant ITE provider to ensure that the content will support student teachers to develop their knowledge, understanding and practice. As set out in the Standard for Professional Registration, teachers are expected to employ teaching strategies and resources to meet the needs and abilities of every learner.

Education Scotland offers support to practitioners in a number of areas, including literacy and synthetic phonics, through online platforms such as the Glow based National Literacy Professional Learning Community.

The Scottish Government is committed to supporting all survivors of childhood abuse. Through the Scottish Government’s Survivors of Childhood Abuse Support (SOCAS) Fund, 29 organisations across Scotland are funded to provide support to adult survivors of childhood abuse including (but not exclusive to) those who have been abused in care.

Future Pathways supports people who experienced childhood abuse or neglect while living in care in Scotland. Future Pathways is fully funded by Scottish Government as part of a wider strategy developed by the Scottish Government to address the legacy of historic abuse in Scotland. A diverse range of survivors are currently receiving support through Future Pathways, including those who attended Fornethy House residential school.

Court programming is a matter for the senior judiciary, supported by the Scottish Courts and Tribunals Service (SCTS). SCTS advise that jury trials resumed in Dumfries Sheriff Court in April 2021. Under present arrangements, the jurors for these trials attend the remote jury centre in Ayr . However, from July the Scottish Courts and Tribunals Service will begin decommissioning remote jury centres for most purposes. That process is due to be completed by October, and so on current planning assumptions jurors should be cited back to local courts - including Dumfries - by October.

Delivery partners hold the ScotSpirit budget enabling them to book breaks for unpaid carers and low-income families with participating businesses rather than issuing physical break vouchers. This person centred approach ensures that delivery partners work with individuals to broker and book the type of break that best meets their individual needs.

From October to December 2021 just over £58K was spent on breaks.

The Scottish Government recognises the importance of measuring post-acute sequelae of SARS-CoV-2 infections, or long COVID, in Scotland. This is needed to help forecast and plan the provision of healthcare services for people experiencing long COVID.

Currently the best source of data about people with long COVID in Scotland is the monthly Office for National Statistics (ONS) reporting on ‘Prevalence of ongoing symptoms following coronavirus (COVID-19) infection in the UK’. The ONS survey sample is weighted to represent people aged two years and over living in private households in the UK. This contrasts with the ZOE COVID Symptoms Study, whose participants are self-selecting and are not necessarily representative of the whole population.

The most recent ONS monthly report, published on 6 May 2022, covers the four-week period ending 3 April 2022 ( Prevalence of ongoing symptoms following coronavirus (COVID-19) infection in the UK - Office for National Statistics (ons.gov.uk) ). It showed that in Scotland:

• An estimated 151,000 people (2.88%) of the private residential population, who had (or suspected they had) COVID-19, self-reported experiencing long COVID of any duration .
• An estimated 105,000 people (2.00%) of the private residential population, who had (or suspected they had) COVID-19 at least 12 weeks previously , self-reported experiencing long COVID.
• An estimated 64,000 people (1.22%) of the private residential population, who had (or suspected they had) COVID-19 at least 12 months previously , self-reported experiencing long COVID.

It is estimated that self-reported long COVID symptoms were adversely affecting the day-to-day activities of 107,000 people in private households in Scotland with long COVID of any duration, with an estimated 36,000 of these individuals reporting that their ability to undertake their day-to-day activities had been limited a lot.

Going forward, Public Health Scotland will lead on surveillance of long COVID. It is currently anticipated that this will be undertaken via the EAVE II study, described below.

The Scottish Government’s Chief Scientist Office has funded nine research projects designed to improve our understanding of the longer term effects of long COVID. Three projects focus on measuring the prevalence and symptoms of long COVID. All started in early 2021 and will run for two years.

LTE2015.pdf (scot.nhs.uk) ‘Developing and validating a risk prediction model for long COVID-19’. Undertaken by the University of Edinburgh, in collaboration with Public Health Scotland, this research uses the EAVE II study, originally funded by the Medical Research Council ( An Introduction to EAVE II | The University of Edinburgh ). EAVE II used a pseudonymised patient dataset to track the COVID-19 pandemic as it unfolded across Scotland. This dataset will now be used to create a tool to identify people at greatest risk of developing long COVID. In the course of developing that tool, the research will generate data about the number of people in Scotland diagnosed with long COVID and their use of health services.

lte2006.pdf (scot.nhs.uk) ‘Defining and understanding the longer-term effects of COVID-19: a mixed methods study exploring the frequency, nature, and impact of ‘long COVID’ in the Scottish population’. Undertaken by the university of Glasgow, this study will identify how many people continue to be unwell, their symptoms, and how it affects their lives. Scottish adults who had a positive COVID-19 test, and a negative test comparison group, will be sent an SMS message inviting them to take part in the study. If they agree, they will answer questions about their health before and after COVID-19, and any effect on their lives, with the questions repeated at regular intervals.

LTE2008.pdf (scot.nhs.uk) ‘COVID-19: Tracking Persistent Symptoms in Scotland (TraPSS)’ – undertaken by the University of the West of Scotland. This project aims to improve our understanding of long COVID in the Scottish population, and particularly in people whose original symptoms were relatively mild. The current evidence describing the types of symptoms other studies have reported will be reviewed, and people will be surveyed at different stages of recovery to find out what kinds of persistent symptoms they have.

The Scottish Government gives full consideration to ensuring all human rights obligations are stringently assessed and observed for all Police Scotland requests for overseas deployments, including to Colombia. For our part, the Scottish Government condemns human rights abuses wherever they occur and has always been clear that Scottish public authorities, including Police Scotland, should act to promote human rights and to challenge poor practice in the context of any engagement with overseas partners

Police Scotland complete an Overseas Security and Justice Assistance assessment prior to any approach to the Scottish Government to ensure that all activity is consistent with all domestic and international human rights obligations. All Police Scotland engagement with Colombia has been undertaken with the full support of the British Embassy in Bogota, and the UN International Organization for Migration (UN IOM). Safeguards have been built in to the arrangements for the deployment so that appropriate action can be taken should any human rights concerns be identified by Police Scotland officers. These are as follows:

• All interventions by Police Scotland incorporate measures to reduce the risk of human rights violations.
• Training on Human Rights is incorporated into all courses and interventions.
• Police Scotland retains and provides for reduction, suspension or stopping assistance, if they identify any human rights concerns.
• Police Scotland staff are specifically briefed to raise participants’ awareness that good practice respects human rights at every opportunity.

Ministers and Civil Servants travel for a range of reasons including ensuring that the people of Scotland are effectively represented and ensuring that Scotland’s voice is heard on important issues.

The purpose of the trip to Catalonia was to further engage with Catalonian Government on agriculture, food and drink and climate change following engagement at COP26 and moreover attend Seafood Expo Global event. The Seafood Expo is a major seafood event where many key Scottish seafood companies exhibit as well as international companies and organisations.

Total costs (Flights and hotels for Minister, Private Office and Food and Drink officials) was: £3165.49. This can be split into circa £1340 in flights and £1850 in accommodation.

Incidental and meals expenses maybe claimed by officials in line with travel and subsistence policy and Ministerial expenses will be published in due course.

It is for Police Scotland to decide how best to engage with non-governmental organisations in the context of an international deployment. I can, however, confirm that Police Scotland discussed this particular deployment with a Scottish-based NGO which has a strong track-record in Colombia. Police Scotland has also held discussions with representatives from indigenous communities in the country. This approach has helped to ensure that officers are aware of human rights concerns and that there is transparency in relation to the purpose of the deployment. Doing so reflects a human rights-based approach and is consistent also with Police Scotland’s Code of Ethics.