Chamber and committees

I refer the member to the answer to question S6W-23878 on‎ 8 January 2024. 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 does not hold this information.

The assignment of probationer teachers to individual schools is a matter for each local authority.

As I set out in my statement, we have a record number of additional support assistants in our schools, and this has been supported by the £830m spent on additional support for learning in 2021-22. This level of spend on additional support for learning is a record high.

We have maintained our record level of investment in pupil support assistants by providing authorities with a further £15m per year since 2019-20 to specifically support schools and authorities to respond to the individual needs of children and young people. As a direct result of our continued investment, we now have the highest recorded level of pupil support assistants. In 2022, 307 additional pupil support assistants were recruited. This builds on the increase of 1,036 from the previous year (2021) and brings the total number of pupil support staff in Scotland to 16,606.

I refer the member to the answer to question S6W-23878 on 8 January 2024. 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

Updated guidance on the use of mobile phone technologies in schools is expected to be published in Spring 2024. The current guidance to education authorities and schools on this issue remains available from Guidance on Developing Policies to Promote the Safe and Responsible Use of Mobile Technology in Schools (www.gov.scot).

Occupational health therapy services are provided by NHS Boards in Scotland, therefore there is no school staffing impact in respect of these services.

The Education (Additional Support for Learning) (Scotland) Act 2004 places NHS Boards under a duty to support the identification, provision of support and review of additional support for learning. The arrangements for the provision of support to education authorities in undertaking their duties is set out within the Additional support for learning: statutory guidance 2017 - gov.scot (www.gov.scot)

The Scottish Government has provided £367,177 of grant funding per year to CALL Scotland in the last five years. This grant is for services which deliver a positive and enabling impact on the provision of support to children and young people, who can benefit from assistive technology or augmentative and alternative communication.

The Scottish Government continues to keep Preference Waiver Payments (PWP) under review through the Teacher Induction Scheme Ongoing Review Group and Strategic Board for Teacher Education.

The Strategic Board for Teacher Education, which is made up of a range of key education stakeholders, is looking at issues around the recruitment and retention of teachers in Scotland in detail. This will include consideration of the Teacher Induction Scheme.

There has been a period of exceptional market volatility due to a range of global factors such as the Covid pandemic and the conflict in Ukraine as well as the impact of Brexit. As a result of this, projects have experienced cost pressures out-with normal inflation expectations.

The Learning Estate Investment Programme carried out an evidence-led assessment of these issues which resulted in an increase of 11% in support to projects reaching contract close from August 2022 to December 2023 inclusive, and impacted on 20 projects.

It is the statutory responsibility of local authorities to manage their school estate. Therefore, the Scottish Government does not hold this information.