Chamber and committees

It is important to acknowledge that PISA is one source of evidence amongst a broader set of data. Achievement of Curriculum for Excellence (ACEL) 2023-24 data showed that ACEL levels for numeracy in primary and secondary schools were at their highest ever levels. The 2024 National Qualifications data also showed progress in maths attainment, with both entries and passes for Higher Mathematics increasing between 2019 and 2024.

The Scottish Government and Education Scotland are taking forward the Curriculum Improvement Cycle which introduces a systematic approach designed to ensure that Scotland’s curriculum remains relevant, forward looking, clarifies the role of knowledge and ultimately supports high quality teaching and learning. The review is considering the curriculum in a planned and systemic way, including alignment between the Broad General Education and the Senior Phase.

Work to update all eight curricular areas of CfE is underway, with mathematics being prioritised. The National Mathematics Specialist Advisor has been working closely with Education Scotland to consider all elements of the mathematics curriculum, informed by a wide range of evidence, including PISA data. Outputs of this initial phase of work have been shared in the second discussion paper published by Education Scotland on 19 December 2024.

Work is underway to continue to update and strengthen the Literacy and English Curriculum through the Curriculum Improvement Cycle. Other activities include Education Scotland publishing a suite of professional learning resources on Learning to Read in the Early Years, supported by complementary professional learning; and continued investment in the Read Write Count and Reading Schools programmes.

Inspiring young people to study STEM and promoting excellence in the delivery of STEM education sit at the heart of our STEM Education and Training Strategy. In the last Financial Year alone, the Scottish Government provided over £1.74 million to a range of organisations which support the high-quality delivery of STEM education.

The Scottish Government has committed to increasing international evidence around numeracy and literacy by re-joining the Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS) for the assessments in 2027, and the Progress in International Reading Literacy Study (PIRLS) for the assessments in 2026. The next PISA assessments will take place in Scotland in September and October 2025. The Scottish Government and Education Scotland are developing a programme of support to help schools and pupils to participate in the assessments.

The Scottish Government remains committed to tackling school violence and supporting staff wellbeing.

In 2025-26, we are providing over £2m to implement the Violence Prevention Framework, delivering actions including addressing youth violence, the carrying of weapons and violence in and around schools.

The 2025-26 budget also sets out an additional £29 million of investment for Additional Support Needs (ASN). This will include an allocation for both local and national programmes to support the recruitment and retention of the ASN workforce, with £28 million directed to local government and £1 million retained for national work. This investment will continue to be a joint endeavour with local authorities, who retain the statutory responsibility for the delivery of education in Scotland.

An agreement reached with COSLA will see local government and the Scottish Government working together to restore teacher numbers to 2023 levels in 2025, freeze learning hours, and make meaningful progress on reducing class contact time for teachers. To support this, we are providing £186.5 million to local authorities in 2025/26 to restore overall teacher numbers across the country to 2023 levels and maximise the number of teaching posts available.

I refer the member to the answer to question S6W-37806 on 4 June 2025.

The Care Inspectorate report data publicly on their Data Store which may be able to assist with this question or alternatively the Care Inspectorate could be approached directly for a response.

I refer the member to the answer to question S6W-37806 on 4 June 2025.

The Care Inspectorate report data publicly on their Data Store which may be able to assist with this question or alternatively the Care Inspectorate could be approached directly for a response.

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

The Scottish Government publish official workforce statistics on a quarterly basis. The figures shown below are for December 2016. The latest data is available at Scottish Government workforce information - gov.scot.

The data presented details workforce by contractual location – and includes staff home location for those on a home working contract. This is in line with the data submitted on a quarterly basis to the cabinet office for the Quarterly location survey of civil service staff.

The following table provides details of the working location of directly employed Scottish Government staff, split by Local authority, Full time/Part time working pattern and Permanent/Temporary status.

Scottish Government - Directly employed workforce headcount, December 2016

The Scottish Government recognises the significant impact that retail crime can have on businesses, employees, and communities. We are committed to working in partnership with relevant sectors to prevent offending and raise awareness of young people about the consequences of such behaviour.

While there is currently no standalone national youth education programme specifically focused on retail crime, this issue is addressed within broader preventative and educational initiatives. These include community safety programmes delivered through schools, Police Scotland’s Campus Officer’s and partnerships between local authorities, third sector organisations, and community policing teams.

More widely, the Scottish Governments Youth Justice Vision 2024-2026 promotes early and effective intervention, diversion from prosecution and a preventative approach to youth offending. This framework supports local and national initiatives that raise awareness about the harms caused by offending – including shoplifting and retail-related antisocial behaviour and encourages positive decision making among young people.

The Government continues to consider how best to strengthen preventative education and is open to exploring opportunities to incorporate greater focus on retail crime within existing programmes. We are also working with stakeholders across justice, education, and business sectors to identify effective approaches to tackling the root causes of such behaviour.

Since 2011, the Scottish Government has provided over £65 million to support the development of public EV charging across Scotland. As a direct result of this funding, and increasing private sector investment, Scotland now has over 6,900 public charge points, a target for 6,000 public Charge points was met in October 2024, two years ahead of schedule. Scotland has one of the most comprehensive public charging networks in the UK, with, on a per head of population basis, more rapid public EV charge points than any other part of the UK except the South East of England.

Through our £30 million EV Infrastructure Fund we are continuing to supporting local authorities to work in partnership with the private sector to expand public EV charging across Scotland, with public funding prioritising those areas of Scotland less likely to benefit from stand-alone private sector investment in public EV charging infrastructure, including rural and island communities.

Through the EV Infrastructure Fund, each local authority or collaboration or local authorities has received the following funding to support the expansion of the EV network:

• Angus and Perth & Kinross collaboration, £1,987,678. This is expected to deliver an additional 183 charge points across the region.
• North of Scotland collaboration (Aberdeen City, Aberdeenshire, Highland and Moray Councils), £7,236,380. This is expected to deliver an additional 589 charge points across the region.
• Glasgow City Region (East Dunbartonshire, East Renfrewshire, Glasgow City, Inverclyde, North Lanarkshire, Renfrewshire, South Lanarkshire and West Dunbartonshire Councils). £3,613,960. This is expected to deliver an additional 3,349 charge points across the region.
• Ayrshires Collaboration (East Ayrshire, North Ayrshire and South Ayrshire Councils), £2,891,168. This is expected to deliver an additional 307 charge points across the region.
• Dundee City Council, £309,768. This is expected to deliver an additional 129 charge points across the region.
• Funding for the following collaborations has yet to be announced:
• South of Scotland (City of Edinburgh, Clackmannanshire, Dumfries & Galloway, Falkirk, Fife, Midlothian, Scottish Borders and West Lothian Councils)
• HITRANS (Comhairle nan Eilean Siar, Orkney Islands and Shetland Islands Councils) collaboration with Argyll & Bute Council.

Local authorities are taking forward public procurement to deliver their respective projects.

East Lothian Council and Stirling Council took the decision not to take forward projects citing high levels of existing public charging infrastructure across their respective local authority areas.

Transport Scotland EVIF page weblink: Electric Vehicle Infrastructure Fund | Transport Scotland

The Scottish Government invited the OECD to assess the implementation of Curriculum for Excellence (CfE) in primary and secondary schools in 2020. The OECD report Scotland’s Curriculum for Excellence - Into the Future endorsed CfE as the right approach for Scottish education and made a number of recommendations for further improvement. Education Scotland are now taking forward the Curriculum Improvement Cycle to ensure Scotland’s curriculum remains forward looking and supports high quality teaching and learning, with Numeracy and Mathematics and Literacy and English the first curricular areas to be reviewed.

We continue monitoring literacy and numeracy levels through the Achievement of Curriculum for Excellence (CfE) levels which are published annually and present proportions of pupils from P1, P4, P7 and S3 pupils who have achieved the expected CfE Levels in Reading, Writing, Listening & Talking, Literacy and Numeracy. The latest data available (2023-24) shows record levels of literacy and numeracy by primary (P1, P4 and P7) and secondary (S3) pupils.

In Literacy, the proportion of pupils achieving their expected CfE level are at their highest ever level in both primary (74%) and secondary schools (88%). In Numeracy, 80% of primary and 90% of secondary pupils achieved the expected CfE levels.

We will continue to expand the data and evidence available to the system, by joining the next cycle of PIRLS (Progress in International Reading Literacy Study) in 2026 and TIMSS (Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study) in 2027, while continuing to participate in PISA (Programme for International Student Assessment) this year.

The Scottish Government remains committed to implementing a high quality and clinically safe thrombectomy service. We have invested £39 million to date on expanding access to thrombectomy. While we continue to face significant financial challenges, we are committed to further expanding the service, ensuring access is as equitable as possible.

Whilst the Scottish Government cannot currently provide a timeline for expanding the service, Scottish Government officials and NHS planners have been asked to work at pace on developing a plan for the next steps for service expansion.

We have also provided funding for thrombectomy nurse posts in spoke sites with high rates of ischaemic stroke and this will support maximising access to thrombectomy across Scotland. Procurement of a national artificial intelligence imaging tool is also underway and, once implemented, this will help improve detection of patients with strokes suitable for thrombectomy.

I refer the member to the answer to question S6W-37806 on 4 June 2025.

The Care Inspectorate report data publicly on their Data Store which may be able to assist with this question or alternatively the Care Inspectorate could be approached directly for a response.