Chamber and committees

Spending data on additional support for learning (ASL) is provided below. This data is collected from local authorities via the Local Financial Returns (LFR). In addition to 2020-21 expenditure data, figures for 2019-20 have also been provided due to revisions in LFR statistics since the response to S6W-00064 on 1 June 2021. These revisions reflect an upward revision in ASL spending reported by Aberdeen City, and a downwards revision in ASL spending reported by Renfrewshire local authority.

Local authorities are asked to provide this data in line with guidance to ensure returns are completed on a consistent basis to allow for a reasonable degree of comparability. However, these figures may be affected by variations in local accounting practices and education strategies. It is important to bear this in mind when making comparisons between local authorities and years.

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. We recognise the challenges facing authorities in balancing their need to meet a wide range of statutory duties, local priorities and local circumstances.

Tables 1 and 2 show gross revenue expenditure on additional support for learning (ASL) education from 2020-21 and 2019-20 respectively, split by Pre-Primary, Primary, Secondary and Special Education.

Table 1 – 2020-21 ASL expenditure by Local Authority (£000)

We want all pupils to respect their peers and staff, and are supporting a number of programmes to promote positive relationships and behaviour. This includes good behaviour management, restorative approaches and programmes to help develop social, emotional and behavioural skills.

There are a range of strategies and programmes which schools can and do use to improve relationships and behaviour in schools. These include a range of relationship based and trauma informed approaches including those that are nurturing and restorative, and curriculum based programmes that develop social, emotional and behavioural needs.

The National Improvement Hub provides all of our practitioners, parents and young people themselves with specific good practice models to review. We, and partners across the education sector, advocate an approach for schools and local authorities to work with pupils on the underlying reasons behind inappropriate behaviour. We published guidance in 2018 ‘Developing a positive whole school ethos and culture: relationships, learning and behaviour’ to support local authorities, education settings, practitioners and partners to further improve the ethos and culture, and relationships and behaviour in Scottish schools. This is in addition to national guidance on the prevention and management of exclusion from school which was published in 2017.

The Scottish Advisory Group on Relationships and Behaviour in Schools is considering the next round of the Behaviour in Scottish Schools Research which was delayed due to COVID-19. The research informs the further development of policy, guidance and support by providing a clear and robust picture of current relationships and behaviour, and of policy and practice in this area.

The Scottish Government has not provided any direct financial support to the public sector for onshore or offshore wind energy projects in the last 10 years.

The Scottish Government has not provided any direct financial support to the private sector for onshore or offshore wind energy projects in the last 10 years.

Scotland’s population is predicted to decline from 2028 and the ending of free movement has hindered our ability to attract and retain the people our communities, public services and economy needs. It is vital that we expand the advice and support available to people moving to Scotland, showcasing all that we have to offer.

Consequently, we have made a Programme for Government commitment to deliver a Migration Service which support those who have chosen to make Scotland their home. This service will build on existing resources focusing on two elements: attracting people from across the world to Scotland and ensuring that those who have moved have access to the information required to stay here. We are currently in the policy development phase of delivering the service which we anticipate will be operational in 2023-24.

The 2021-2022 Programme for Government includes a commitment to ‘begin work on establishing a ‘Percentage for the Arts’ scheme’, which would channel a small percentage of spending on all new public buildings and spaces into support for arts and culture.

We are currently in the initial stages of scoping this commitment, which requires us to take into account analytical, regulatory and legislative considerations. We expect to be able to share more information on this work in the coming months.

On 11 March we published the National Health and Social Care Workforce Strategy.

As part of the strategy, we have committed to taking forward specific actions to improve how we gather, use and assess NHS Workforce data. This includes taking steps to improve the demographic data we collect and the analysis we undertake of data obtained at different geographic levels within our health and social care system.

The strategy further commits us to taking forward complementary actions to improve workforce planning capacity and capability within our health boards and health and social care partnerships (HSCPs).

New guidance has already been communicated to health boards and HSCPs to support the production of demand-led 3-year workforce plans, supported by local systems’ workforce data. Later this year we will also publish new staffing projections for health and social care.

Complementary data systems and data improvement work is taking place, as part of the Implementation Programme being established to support delivery of the Workforce Strategy. We have undertaken to publish annual updates outlining progress with the strategy’s implementation, in support of our tri-partite ambition to achieve long-term workforce sustainability through recovery, growth and service transformation.

The Scottish Government continues to monitor the wider physical and mental health impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic through the following initiatives:

? Scottish Health Survey - This survey monitors physical and mental health in the Scottish population. The latest published results are based on the telephone survey conducted in 2020. The results of the 2021 survey will be published in November 2022.

? Scottish COVID-19 Mental Health Tracker Study - This study measured the mental health and wellbeing impacts of the pandemic on Scottish adults. The latest phase, covering Summer 2021, was published on 24 February 2022.

? COVID-19 wider impacts on the healthcare system - This dashboard, published by Public Health Scotland, shows activity trends across areas of the healthcare system including Cardiovascular, Cancer and Mental Health services.

? YouGov online polling - Opinion polling continues on Scottish adults around once a month. Throughout the pandemic questions have been asked regarding concerns about mental health and loneliness.

? COVID-19 burden of disease - The Scottish burden of disease study looks to estimate the overall impact, and inequalities in the impact, of COVID-19 on public health measures.

Public Health Scotland also continue to publish on their website a wide range of research and statistics which will help to monitor areas of physical and mental health as time progresses.

The powers required to legislate in respect of company acquisition and ownership are reserved to the UK Parliament and, as such, the Scottish Government does not have the power to take action in this area. In addition recent legislative change in the UK via the National Security and Investment Act enables an increased screening of acquisitions in certain sectors on grounds, for example, of national security. This reflects similar change in EU legislation.

The Scottish Government and Enterprise Agencies therefore aim to work with businesses in Scotland, domestic and overseas owned, to ensure Scottish operations are not only secured here but opportunities for growth are pursued. Scotland has a highly supportive eco-system for early stage and high growth businesses with potential to scale. In a UK context Scotland is recognised by the Scale Up Institute as having a particularly supportive business eco-system for ambitious Scottish companies, with our Enterprise Agencies at the centre of a network based upon collaboration between public, private, third sector organisations and academic partners.

In support of this approach both our Inward Investment and Global Capital Investment Plans place maximum emphasis on securing good quality investment into Scotland aligning with our values as a nation and delivering our net zero economy supported by good green jobs. We will therefore continue to work closely with those Scottish and overseas-owned businesses and organisations with whom those values most closely align.

Since 2011 the Energy Saving Trust (EST),on behalf of the Scottish Government has maintained a database of all community and locally owned (CoLo) renewable energy installations in Scotland and produces a report on the information it contains each year.