Chamber and committees

The next iteration of the National Performance Framework (NPF) and National Outcomes will be published following conclusion of the work I announced in the Chamber, on 8 January 2025. The NPF is being substantially overhauled because we want it to work better for people in Scotland, including carers. We are currently at the planning stage for this work and will update Parliament on progress at the appropriate points.

The Scottish Government has allocated £123 million to Health Boards this year to improve the quality and delivery of mental health and psychological services, including neurodevelopmental services, for both adults and Children and Young People.

We are taking steps to ensure local services are supported and we engage regularly with NHS boards regarding their provision of support for neurodivergent people.

For children and young people, we are working closely with NHS Boards and local authorities towards implementing the National Neurodevelopmental Specification for Children and Young People in full. This will help ensure that children and families receive the support and access to services that meet their needs at the earliest opportunity.

We have also commissioned the National Autism Implementation Team to support NHS Boards to develop, enhance and redesign adult neurodevelopmental services. NHS Highland was one of four NHS Boards funded by the Scottish Government to trial adult neurodevelopmental pathways in 2022.

The Peak Fares Final Evaluation report considered, using survey data, the impact on different income groups. There was some moderate evidence that the Pilot, to extend off peak fares all day, encouraged rail use amongst low to middle income households whilst primarily benefiting existing users who tended to be above average income.

I have instructed ScotRail to continue to offer 20% discounts on season tickets until September 2025. The value for money of Flexipass remains permanently improved and recognising the increased popularity of this product since the end of the pilot, ScotRail has recently expanded its availability to cover all gated stations. ScotRail is committed to the ongoing development of this ticket type.

We are seeing an increase in passengers on our railway - passenger journeys on our publicly owned train services are up 4.5% for each 4-week period this year compared to the same period last year when the trial was running.

ScotRail will continue to develop fare initiatives to attract more passengers while providing savings and additional value to existing rail users, such as the launch of its new app ‘Tap&Pay’, which will automatically provide the best value fare.

The Scottish Government is not aware of any suggested claims regarding the East Kilbride rail line within the context of Clyde Metro. If the member believes that this should be included with the scope of the Clyde Metro’s network development then I would encourage him to contact Strathclyde Partnership for Transport ([email protected]) who are leading the work for the ongoing Case for Investment stage.

This information is not centrally held. The staffing levels involved for supporting work on MAPPA are a matter for each of the Responsible Authorities.

Scottish Government are unable to provide this information at present.

The recently announced £102 million apprenticeship funding for 2025-26 represents a projection of the funding Skills Development Scotland (SDS) will spend to support 25,500 new Modern Apprenticeship (MA) starts and 2,500 Foundation Apprenticeship (FA) starts, as well as MAs and FAs already in training.

Skills Development Scotland (SDS) are currently completing the contract/grant award process for 2025-26 so are unable to confirm the exact figure until all contracts are accepted by providers.

It should be noted that SDS are exercising a Plus 1 extension period to the Modern Apprenticeship (MA) contracts for 2025-26, therefore providers are allocated the same volumes as they were awarded at the start of the 2024-25 contract year.

The 2024-25 MA awards have been published and can be accessed via the link below for further insight into the distribution of provision: https://www.skillsdevelopmentscotland.co.uk/media/1r4etei1/modern-apprenticeships-april-24-25-contracts-by-framework.pdf

Foundation Apprenticeship Grant Awards totalling 2,500 opportunities have been issued to existing SDS-funded learning providers, including Local Authorities and Independent Learning Providers, for delivery commencing in academic year
2025-26. SDS is unable to confirm an exact figure until all contract awards are accepted by providers.

It should be noted that the Scottish Funding Council also support both Modern and Foundation Apprenticeships, and will provide 2,500 Foundation Apprenticeship opportunities this year.

This information is not centrally held. The staffing levels involved for supporting the management of registered sex offenders are a matter for each of the Responsible Authorities.

This information is not centrally held.

The Scottish Government funds a number of organisations including Police Scotland, local authorities, NHS Boards and the Scottish Prison Service. The published Scottish Budget for 2022-23 sets out the funding levels of those organisations and is available here:

https://www.gov.scot/publications/scottish-budget-2022-23/

It is for each organisation to determine how they allocate their funding to deliver their broad responsibilities, recognising that in terms of wider public protection, including MAPPA, those responsibilities may be more intensive for managing some individuals than for others.

The recently announced £102 million apprenticeship funding for 2025-26 represents a projection of the funding Skills Development Scotland (SDS) will spend to support 25,500 new Modern Apprenticeship (MA) starts and 2,500 Foundation Apprenticeship (FA) starts, as well as MAs and FAs already in training.

The following tables include this projected spend for 2025-26, as well as projected outturn for 2024-25, and the actual value that SDS has spent in prior years on MA and FA provision, both in cash and real terms.