Chamber and committees

VisitScotland fees paid to influencers 2020 – 2024.

Please note:

• Lower spend in 2020 and 2021 was due to COVID-19 related travel restrictions.
• Lower spend in 2024 was due to in-year return of marketing budget and pause on marketing.
• Increased spend in 2022 was due to the growing impact of influencers on travel and booking habits and the opportunity to reach new audiences at a critical point in the recovery from COVID-19.

To evaluate influencer partnerships, VisitScotland review content performance such as view rates, comments and sentiment, shares, saves and other metrics.

VisitScotland’s Net Economic Impact (NEI) assessment looks at the incremental influence and impact of marketing activities on visitor spend. This is reviewed annually and reported in VisitScotland’s annual performance report. In 2023-24 VisitScotland’s holistic consumer marketing activities resulted in an NEI of £56.7m.

Currently, a breakdown of spending returns on AI business support is not available as it is challenging to break down elements of work that are specific to AI and their impact as it is implicated in so many wider business impacts. However, recent research indicates that private equity investments were up by a third in 2024, with VC investment in Scotland rising by 14% in the last quarter of last year indicating a strong investment growth into AI in Scotland. We continue to work with enterprise agencies to identify where the Scottish economy is benefitting from AI and SE are soon to publish research on the economic opportunities for AI in Scotland.

I refer the member to the answer to question S6W-34544 on 6 March 2025. 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

Spending data on Additional Support for Learning (ASL) is collected from local authorities via the 2023-24 Local Financial Returns (LFR). These figures show that spending on ASL by local authorities reached its highest level on record, over £1 billion in 2023-24.

Local authorities are asked to record all centrally funded ASL expenditure under Special Education, irrespective of where it is delivered. Decisions about prioritisation and budgets, including those for the provision of services for pupils with additional support needs, are a matter for individual councils. It is important to note when making comparisons between local authorities and years that there may be variations in local accounting practices.

Table 1 shows gross revenue expenditure on (ASL) education for 2023-24, split by Pre-Primary, Primary, Secondary and Special Education.

Table 1 – 2023-24 ASL expenditure by Local Authority (£000)

Source: Local Financial Returns – Education (LFR 01) statistical return provided by local authorities to the Scottish Government:Local government finance statistics - gov.scot (www.gov.scot)

Table 2 shows the percentage of total gross revenue expenditure on education which was accounted for by spending on additional support for learning in 2023-24.

Table 2 – 2023-24 share of education expenditure accounted for by ASL

Source: Local Financial Returns – Education (LFR 01) statistical return provided by local authorities to the Scottish Government: Local government finance statistics - gov.scot (www.gov.scot)

All figures in tables 1 and 2 are based on gross expenditure on a funding basis. This means they have not been adjusted for inter/intra authority transfers.

Table 3 provides total spend per primary and secondary school pupil at the national level. Rather than focusing on ASL spending alone, this calculation shows total gross revenue expenditure in primary and secondary education from the local financial returns, divided by the number of pupils attending primary and secondary schools recorded in the Pupil Census.

Table 3 – Average spending per pupil (£)

Primary and secondary education figures are adjusted to exclude inter-authority transfers. However, this breakdown is not available for ASL spending, therefore ASL figures in Tables 4 and 5 are based on gross expenditure on a funding basis. Note that because figures in Table 3 are based on 2023-24 prices, they are not comparable to the figures based on 2022-23 prices provided in PQ S6W-26184 on 26 March 2024.

Sources:

1. Local Financial Returns – Education (LFR 01) statistical return provided by local authorities to the Scottish Government: Local government finance statistics - gov.scot (www.gov.scot)
2. Pupil Census - published annually - for further details go to: Pupil census: supplementary statistics - gov.scot (www.gov.scot)
3. GDP deflators at market prices: GDP deflators at market prices, and money GDP - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)

Table 4 shows average spending on ASL per ASL pupil by local authority in 2023-24. More precisely, this calculation shows gross revenue expenditure on ASL in primary, secondary and special education from the local financial returns, divided by the number of pupils identified as having additional support needs recorded in the Pupil Census.

Table 4 – 2023-24 ASL spending per pupil (£)

Sources:

1. Local Financial Returns – Education (LFR 01) statistical return provided by local authorities to the Scottish Government: Local government finance statistics - gov.scot (www.gov.scot)
2. Pupil Census – published annually - for further details go to: Pupil census: supplementary statistics - gov.scot (www.gov.scot)
   

Table 5 provides average spending on ASL per ASL pupil at the national level in 2023-24. The following figure does not represent all spending benefitting ASL pupils, who also benefit from spending incurred in delivering the wider school system.

Table 5 – Average ASL spend per ASL pupil (£)

ASL spending figures are based on gross expenditure on a funding basis. Note that because figures in Table 5 are based on 2023-24 prices, they are not comparable to the figures based on 2022-23 prices provided in PQ S6W-26184 on 26 March 2024.

Sources:

1. Local Financial Returns – Education (LFR 01) statistical return provided by local authorities to the Scottish Government: Local government finance statistics - gov.scot (www.gov.scot)
2. Pupil Census - published annually - for further details go to: Pupil census: supplementary statistics - gov.scot (www.gov.scot)
3. GDP deflators at market prices: GDP deflators at market prices, and money GDP - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)

Spending data on additional support for learning (ASL) is provided below. This data is collected from local authorities via the 2022-23 Local Financial Returns (LFR). These figures show that spending on ASL by local authorities reached its highest level on record, £926m in 2022-23.

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

As of 31 October 2024, there were 374,655 clients on the Adult Disability Payment Caseload.

As of 31 October 2024, 182,395 clients were in receipt of the enhanced daily living award of Adult Disability Payment.

As of 31 October 2024, 156,045 clients were in receipt of the enhanced mobility award of Adult Disability Payment.

The Scottish Government and its enterprise agencies have provided £1,354,000 for the development of carbon capture and storage technology in 2025.

The Scottish Government has committed £2m of grant funding support to the National Gas Transmission SCO2T Connect Project and to date, £1,345,000 of this funding has been provided.

The Scottish Government remains wholly committed to supporting the development and deployment of CCUS, including the Acorn Project and the Scottish Cluster. Unfortunately, the UK Government continue to delay making a final decision on the Acorn Project which is risking billions of private sector investment and thousands of jobs.

The national public bodies directory contains a full list of non-departmental public bodies (NDPBs) and shows their creation date. The national directory can be viewed at: https://www.gov.scot/publications/national-public-bodies-directory/pages/executive-non-departmental-public-bodies/.

Since 2007, the following public bodies have been established as NDPBs:

Care Inspectorate

Children’s Hearing Scotland

Community Justice Scotland

Creative Scotland

Ferguson Marine

First-tier Tribunal for Scotland

Historic Environment Scotland

Independent Living Fund Scotland

Judicial Appointments Board

National Smart Ticketing Advisory Board

Poverty and Inequality Commission

Redress Scotland

Scottish Canals

Scottish Commission on Social Security

Scottish Fuel Poverty Advisory Panel

Scottish Futures Trust

Scottish Land Commission

Scottish Legal Complaints Commission

Scottish National Investment Bank

Scottish Rail Holdings Ltd

Skills Development Scotland

South of Scotland Enterprise

Upper Tribunal for Scotland

Zero Waste Scotland

Since 2007, the following public bodies no longer operate as NDPBs, due to merger, abolishment, or reclassification:

Additional Support Needs Tribunals for Scotland

Advisory Committee on Sites of Special Scientific Interest

Building Standards Advisory Committee

Children’s Panel (x32)

Deer Commission for Scotland

Fisheries (Electricity) Committee

General Teaching Council for Scotland

Historic Environment Advisory Council for Scotland

Lands Tribunal for Scotland

Learning & Teaching Scotland

Mental Health Tribunal for Scotland

Police Complaints Commission for Scotland

Private Rented Housing Panel

Public Transport Users Committee for Scotland

Royal Commission on the Ancient and Historical Monuments of Scotland

Scottish Arts Council

Scottish Charity Appeals Panel

Scottish Commission for the Regulation of Care

Scottish Industrial Development Advisory Board

Scottish Local Authorities Remuneration Committee

Scottish Police Services Authority

Scottish Records Advisory Council

Scottish Screen

Scottish University for Industry

This question relates to operational matters that are the responsibility of the Scottish Court and Tribunals Service (SCTS) corporate body. The question has been passed to the Chief Executive of the SCTS who reply in writing within 20 days.