Chamber and committees

The development of a Scottish Education Exchange Programme is a Programme for Government commitment and will help maintain Scotland’s place as an outward looking, internationally connected destination for work and study.

We are engaging with stakeholders from across the education spectrum including higher and further education, community learning and development, youth work and adult education, schools and sports and are developing the programme ensuring it is fit for Scotland.

The Scottish Government recognises the importance of educational mobility. While we remain committed to Erasmus plus, in the interim we are creating a Scottish Education Exchange Programme to support participants from across Scotland’s education system.

This is a Programme for Government commitment and will help maintain Scotland’s place as an outward looking, internationally connected destination for work and study.

Data on teacher absence due to Covid-19 has been collected since September 2020 and is still being collected and published on a weekly basis.

Data for the 2020-21 academic year can be found at this link in the 'School staff absence' tab: COVID19 - Schools and Childcare Information 2021 | Tableau Public

Data for the 2021-22 academic year can be found at this link in the 'School staff absence' tab: COVID19 - Schools and Childcare Information August 2021 | Tableau Public

All three and four year olds and around a quarter of two year olds in Scotland have a statutory entitlement to up to 1140 hours of funded early learning and childcare a year. Our funded ELC offer is the most generous across the United Kingdom.

Unlike the UK Government’s funded ELC offer for England which prioritises children with two working parents, our aim in Scotland is to ensure that every child benefits from high quality early learning and childcare. Regardless of their parent or carer’s working status, all children have a right to play, to learn and to access experiences that meet their physical, social, emotional and cultural needs; and a right to associate with their peers.

Transport Scotland, as part of the implementation of the Transport (Scotland) Act 2019, has been working on the liability provisions contained within Part 8 of the Act which will bring into force Keeper Liability across Scotland.

I can advise that Part 8 (Recovery of unpaid parking charges) of the 2019 Act has not yet been implemented and there is still a significant amount of challenging and complex work to be undertaken before this part can become law.

Work on the secondary legislation programme is progressing and Parliament will be updated in due course.

Some young people, or their legal guardians, may have difficulty providing the proofs of person or of address to access the Young Persons’ Free Bus Travel Scheme, including young people who are (a) care-experienced and (b) estranged from parents, family or care givers. To this end, many local councils have dedicated staff on hand to help applicants who might have difficulty with the application process, including care-experienced young people, and need particular support. Transport Scotland has not been prescriptive on what constitutes acceptable proof or verification that an individual is eligible for the scheme. This is to allow delivery partners and local authorities the flexibility to support applications from a range of eligible individuals.

The Scottish Government have produced guidance which has been issued to all local authorities, advising that children and young people should be supported to access free bus travel where appropriate, with specific guidance aimed at supporting those who will have the most difficulty in providing documentary evidence. As corporate parents, local authorities are committed to ensuring that the children and young people they look after experience the same opportunities and life experiences as are open to their non-care experienced peers.

At the time the scheme opened in January, because of the high levels of transmission associated with the Omicron variant, we asked that only those with an essential need to travel by bus apply and that anyone travelling should follow the latest advice to keep themselves and others safe. Since travel restrictions have eased, we are asking all eligible young people to apply for free bus travel and have been working to make the application process easier to use. On 28 January we released the Transport Scot Pass Collect app, which lets people aged 16 – 21, who already have a National Entitlement Card or Young Scot National Entitlement Card, to download free bus travel onto their existing card. This means they may not need to apply for a replacement card.

In designing the scheme, Transport Scotland worked closely with Barnardo's Scotland on how to safeguard young people travelling on the bus network, including providing training material for bus drivers. This helps drivers to recognise and respond to children or young people who need support while travelling on the bus network and help ensure that they can travel safely.

The Scottish Government has today introduced legislation to reform the Gender Recognition Act 2004, to ensure the process by which a trans person can obtain legal recognition is simplified, in line with the commitment made in the 2021/22 Programme for Government and the Scottish Government and Scottish Green Party Shared Policy Programme.

I have asked Teresa Medhurst, Interim Chief Executive of the Scottish Prison Service (SPS), to respond. Her response is as follows:

On 21 February 2022 the prison population at unlock was 7,561. A breakdown is provided below regarding the accommodation the individuals were located in:

1. 4,885 people were accommodated alone in a cell intended to accommodate one person and,

230 people were accommodated alone in a cell that is designed to be double occupancy.

2. 918 people were accommodated in a cell, or dormitory, intended for more than one person and,

1,528 people were accommodated with another person in a cell intended for one person.

The Scottish Government intends to lay a copy of the report before the Scottish Parliament, as soon as it is practicable, as set out in accordance with Section 11F(5) of the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981. The Scottish Government will also publish a copy of the report on its website.

Including glass in our Deposit Return Scheme (DRS) will bring significant environmental and economic benefits. The inclusion of glass will save over 1.2 megatonnes CO 2 equivalent over 25 years. DRS will also reduce the amount of harmful glass litter in our environment.

In addition, DRS will significantly increase the quantity and quality of glass recyclate, creating an aggregated and high-quality feedstock for reprocessing. This will include clear glass which we understand to be in high demand.