Chamber and committees

The Scottish Government has no record of receiving representations from IndustriALL Global Union or IndustriALL Europe Union regarding Liberty Steel’s operations.

A pay deal between the college employers and support staff trade unions was agreed on 31 May 2024.

Negotiations between the employers and EIS-FELA in regards to a pay deal for lecturers remains ongoing. The National Joint Negotiating Committee will meet again on 21 June 2024. I continue to urge the employers and EIS-FELA to work collaboratively to agree a fair and affordable settlement, in order to bring an end to this dispute as a matter of priority.

As I set out in my statement to Parliament on 30 May 2024, the Scottish Government has no locus to intervene in the current dispute; it is for college management and trade unions to negotiate pay and terms and conditions. We continue to urge the employers and EIS-FELA to work collaboratively to find a fair and affordable settlement, in order to bring the current dispute to an end as a matter of priority.

I have made clear to college management that I expect colleges to do everything within their power to ensure students are not adversely impacted by industrial action.

As we set out in our Programme for Government, we will work with COSLA to prepare schools and infrastructure for the expansion of universal free school meal provision to Primary 6 and Primary 7 pupils. The next phase of our expansion will be to pupils in Primary 6 & 7 in receipt of the Scottish Child Payment, and will be rolled out from February 2025.

Discussions are ongoing with local government about the establishment of an education assurance board to oversee Scottish education and help deliver the best educational outcomes for our children and young people. The board will form part of the wider assurance and accountability arrangements under the Verity House Agreement with local government.

The Scottish Government is committed to improving support services for children and young people with cancer. Last year we provided recurring funding for the existing dedicated psychologists for children and young people with cancer.

A review of further psychological support services in Scotland is currently being carried out by the Managed Service Network for Children and Young People with Cancer and the Scottish Government remains engaged with this.

The national minimum school clothing grant is £120 per annum for primary pupils, and £150 for secondary pupils.

The Scottish Government has increased funding for local authorities to £13.9 million in the 2024-25 financial year. This includes an inflationary uplift of £0.9 million on the previous year’s funding. The purpose of this increase is to support local authorities to manage increases to the minimum amounts of school clothing grant paid to eligible families in the 2024-25 academic year.

It is for local authorities to determine their own eligibility criteria for school clothing grant and they also have the option to set their school clothing grant levels higher than the minimum if they wish to do so.

Decisions about funding to local authorities in respect of the school clothing grant in future financial years will be through the Budget process in the usual way.

This question relates to operational matters that are the responsibility of the Scottish Court and Tribunals Service (SCTS) corporate body. The question has been passed to the Chief Executive of the SCTS who reply in writing within 20 days.

In relation to each of the last ten years, the number of deaths reported to the Scottish Fatalities Investigation Unit (SFIU) of the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service has been as follows:

This question relates to operational matters that are the responsibility of the Scottish Court and Tribunals Service (SCTS) corporate body. The question has been passed to the Chief Executive of the SCTS who reply in writing within 20 days.