Chamber and committees

Neither Highlands and Islands Enterprise or Scottish Enterprise provide assistance directly to the arms trade.  As part of the broad range of support provided some firms in receipt of that support may be engaged in activities such as research and development/ components or products which may be applicable to defence related use. I am unable to provide details of the individual amounts or purposes of the awards received by companies due to commercial sensitivity.

Financial support provided by SE and HIE to businesses where the activities may be applicable to defence related use in 2016-17 is shown in the following table:

Year	SE (£)	HIE (£)	Total (£)
2016-17	452,377	740,265	1,192,642

I refer the member to the answer to questions S5W-10389 on 9 August 2017, and S5W-10012 on 18 July 2017, which outline some of the action we have taken to address anti-Catholic hate crime in Scotland. It is available on the Parliament’s website, the search facility for which can be found at: http://www.parliament.scot/parliamentarybusiness/28877.aspx

Developing new routes into teaching and making training available to people from a whole range of backgrounds is key to attracting new teachers into the profession. The pilot programme being developed by the University of Dundee has been accredited by the General Teaching Council for Scotland as meeting the criteria for Initial Teacher Education Programmes. It is an innovative approach to addressing recruitment issues and will be subject to on-going evaluation.

The report of the National College for teaching and Leadership clearly relates to schools in England. Developing new routes into teaching and making training available to people from a whole range of backgrounds is key to attracting more teachers into the profession. The pilot programme being developed by the University of Dundee has been accredited by the General Teaching Council for Scotland as meeting the criteria for Initial Teacher Education Programmes and will be subject to on-going evaluation. Retention rates for teachers are influenced by factors such as support during probation and early career stages. This programme will offer coaching support based on a strong research evidence base. Scotland has a world class Induction Scheme and we are currently revolutionising the offer of professional learning to teachers including developing new career pathways.

This programme will prepare student teachers in all aspects of teaching to meet the needs of all learners. It is the responsibility of the GTCS to accredit individual programmes and they are satisfied that additional support needs are adequately covered and benchmarked against the Professional Standards. The programme is underpinned by the principles of inclusive practice and informed and supported by documentation such as the National Framework for Inclusion and Getting it right for every child.

The Scottish Government is developing a research specification which will be used to tender the independent research into the experience of mainstreaming for those with additional support needs. This process will be completed as soon as possible and will run concurrently with the consultation on revised guidance on the presumption of mainstream. The consultation responses and the independent research will be brought together to inform the final guidance on presumption of mainstream.

I wrote to Jessie Norman, who was at the time the responsible Minister at the UK Department for Business Energy and Industrial Strategy, in February 2017, and to Greg Clark, UK Secretary of State for Business Energy and Industrial Strategy, in July 2017. The Scottish Government's position was set out in these letters. They set out concerns about the UK Government's intention to leave Euratom, and the lack of consultation with the Scottish Government; the Scottish Government’s preference for membership of Euratom to continue, and if this is not possible, as a result of the UK Government’s negotiations on taking the UK out of the EU, for a form of associate membership of Euratom that maintains close joint arrangements on the widest range of issues, including external assurance and inspection; and that it is crucial that the Scottish Government and other devolved administrations are fully involved in discussions about the options for our future relationship with Euratom, and any replacement arrangements that are needed. A series of meetings is being arranged by UK Government officials to discuss the impacts of the proposal to leave Euratom with the devolved administrations.

The UK Government has still to provide detailed information on its proposed future arrangements, linked to its plans to leave Euratom. We shall continue to work, including in cooperation with the other three administrations in the UK, to assess the impacts of exiting Euratom as these proposals are made clear, and mitigate any negative effects for Scotland.

The UK Government has still to provide detailed information on its proposed future arrangements, linked to its plans to leave Euratom. We shall continue to work, including in cooperation with the other three administrations in the UK, to assess the impacts of exiting Euratom as these proposals are made clear, and mitigate any negative effects for Scotland.

The UK Government has still to provide detailed information on its proposed future arrangements, linked to its plans to leave Euratom. We shall continue to work, including in cooperation with the other three administrations in the UK, to assess the impacts of exiting Euratom as these proposals are made clear, and mitigate any negative effects for Scotland.