Chamber and committees

The Scottish Government is prioritising investment in a range of support available both pre and post diagnosis.

Our new £1 million Autism Support Fund will soon be launched by Inspiring Scotland. Individual funding awards will be announced following a fair and open application and assessment process based on set criteria. Where these criteria are met through projects already underway, funding can be backdated to 1 April 2023.

I refer the member to the answer to question S6W-19460 on 17 July 2023. 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 recognises the importance of Personal Assistants who offer bespoke, personalised and flexible care, enabling those with support needs to remain healthy and at home for longer.

The Personal Assistant (PA) Programme Board was established in 2021 to provide advice to Ministers on issues and actions needed to support this workforce. The work of the PA Programme Board Training sub group is led and informed by key stakeholders including PA employers. Work underway during 2023 includes funding of up to £91K, to build on the successful leadership in this area by Self Directed Support Scotland, to prepare a national PA training framework which will be developed with consideration of neurodiversity. Further information about the PA Programme Board is available at: Self Directed Support Scotland .

The Scottish Government is prioritising investment in a range of support available both pre and post diagnosis.

Our new £1 million Autism Support Fund will soon be launched by Inspiring Scotland. Individual funding awards will be announced following a fair and open application and assessment process based on set criteria.

The Scottish government is committed to supporting the recruitment of more teachers in all local authorities. For example, we are providing £145.5 million in this year's budget to protect increased teacher numbers and support staff.

Local authorities are directly responsible for teacher recruitment, and they have autonomy to provide incentives – as some already do - to attract teachers to their area.

Local authorities are directly responsible for teacher recruitment, and they have autonomy to provide incentives – as some already do - to attract teachers to their area.

We are providing £145.5 million in this year's budget to protect increased teacher numbers and support staff across all local authorities. In addition, through the Teacher Induction Scheme probationary teachers can receive a Preference Waiver Payment of up to £8,000 if they are willing to complete their probation anywhere in Scotland.

Probationary teachers are allocated places on the Teacher Induction Scheme based on their subject and their ranked preference of five local authority areas. An insufficient number of probationary teachers chose Aberdeenshire Council for their probationary year and, therefore, Aberdeenshire Council did not receive the number of probationary secondary teachers that they requested.

Through the Teacher Induction Scheme probationary teachers can receive a Preference Waiver Payment of up to £8,000, if they are willing to complete their probation anywhere in Scotland, including in Aberdeenshire.

Whist we recognise there is a challenge around the recruitment of teachers in certain geographical areas and in certain subjects, we cannot direct teachers where to undertake their probation or where to work.

Under the Education (Scotland) Act 1980, the statutory responsibility for the delivery of education sits with local authorities and schools.

While the Curriculum for Excellence provides the overarching framework and sets out the eight curriculum areas, it is a matter for individual schools and authorities to tailor their detailed curriculum offer.

This provides local authorities and schools with flexibility to tailor provision to best meet the needs of their pupils.

The Scottish Government continues to provide teaching bursaries of £20,000 to incentivise career changers into initial teacher education for the hardest to fill subjects which includes Technical Education.

Through the Teacher Induction Scheme probationary teachers can receive a Preference Waiver Payment of up to £8,000, if they are willing to complete their probation anywhere in Scotland, including the north east.

Local authorities are directly responsible for teacher recruitment, and they have autonomy to provide incentives – as some already do - to attract teachers to their area.

There is no recommended minimum distance between onshore wind turbines and residential properties. Policy 11 of National Planning Framework 4 (NPF4) makes clear that potential impacts on communities, nature and other receptors will be important considerations in the decision-making process. Additionally, the policy requires that project design and mitigation will demonstrate how impacts on communities and individual dwellings, including residential amenity, visual impact, noise and shadow flicker will be addressed. All applications are subject to site-specific assessments.