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The term additional support needs under the Education (Additional Support for Learning) (Scotland) Act 2004 (the 2004 Act) applies where for whatever reason children or young people are unable to benefit from school education without the provision of additional support. Therefore, the information requested in relation to colleges and universities is not applicable.

Local authorities have duties under the 2004 Act to identify, provide for and review the additional support needs of their pupils. Local authorities are supported in fulfilling these duties under the 2004 Act through the statutory code of practice on additional support for learning. Chapter 3 of the code covers identifying additional support needs and the assessment process.

As set out in Pupils with complex additional support needs: research into provision published on 19 September 2023, there were 241,639 pupils recorded as having additional support needs in 2022.

The aim of the 4 Day Working Week public sector pilot is to assess environmental, health and wellbeing benefits, and efficiency gains, that a four-day working week could bring.

An expert partner with industry experience in 4 Day Work Week trials and research has been recruited through a Grant Funding exercise. They will facilitate the design and running of the pilot and support interested public bodies during the course of the pilot. Ministers will consider the findings of this work and will consider whether a final report will be published.

Under section 70 of the Education (Scotland) Act 1980, any interested party can make a complaint to the Scottish Ministers that a responsible body (the managers of a school or education establishment, an education authority, or other persons) has failed to discharge a duty imposed on them by, or for the purposes of any enactment relating to education.

For Independent Adjudication, applicants write officially to Scottish Ministers with their complaint. Ministers will nominate an Independent Adjudicator. However they do not have any involvement in decisions after that point. Ministers also officially appoint the panel of Independent Adjudicators.

Since 2016-17, 7 complaints have been made under section 70 of the Education (Scotland) Act 1980 relating additional support needs provision, and 13 complaints have been made through applications for independent adjudication.

Complaints under section 70:

1 – City of Edinburgh Council

1 – Perth and Kinross Council

2 – Highland Council

1 – West Dunbartonshire Council

1 – Comhairle nan Eilean Siar (Western Isles)

1 – Midlothian Council

Complaints through Independent Adjudication:

1 – East Dunbartonshire Council

1 – Aberdeen City Council

2 – Scottish Borders Council

1 – Dundee City Council

2 – Glasgow City Council

1 – East Lothian Council

1 – Comhairle nan Eilean Siar (Western Isles)

1 – West Dunbartonshire Council

1 – North Lanarkshire Council

2 – City of Edinburgh Council

Under the Additional Support for Learning Act 2004, education authorities have duties to identify, provide for and review the additional support needs of their pupils. Parents and carers are encouraged to continue to engage with their child or young person’s school about the support that is in place. The aim is for disagreements to be resolved at as local a level as possible, and as quickly as possible, to ensure that children and young people receive the support they need to access and benefit from learning. As these complaints are dealt with at a local level, the information is not held centrally.

The Scottish Government will commence work on the 4 Day Working Week public sector pilot by the end of the calendar year. The pilot will take place over a 12 month period.

A number of public bodies expressed an interest in the 4DWW public sector pilot. Pilot participants are still being finalised, as are details of when participants will join the 4DWW pilot and initiate changes to their working week. Further details will be provided in due course.

Funding of £100,000 has been allocated through a Grant Fund Award in the 2023-24 financial year to support the onboarding of an expert partner organisation, with £80,000 being the indicative funding of this award for 2024-25. None of these funds have been spent to date.

I refer the member to the answer to question S6W-23120 7 December 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 is continuing to work in partnership with partners and World Athletics following confirmation of the successful bid to host the 2024 World Athletics Indoor Championships in Glasgow.

In total the Scottish Government will provide £1.15 million of support for the event from the Constitution, External Affairs and Culture Portfolio, with VisitScotland providing a further £350,000 of support from its core budget. None of this funding is capital. This financial support is profiled across a number financial years, reflecting the long lead in time to prepare for an event of this size. UK Sport and Glasgow City Council are also providing funding.

The bid was carefully considered by all partners and this event has the potential to generate economic and societal benefits for areas of Scotland.

Scottish Enterprise uses the Scottish Enterprise Regional and SME Investment Subsidy Scheme (the Scheme) to provide RSA grant funding. The Scheme includes a requirement that, to be eligible for support, large companies must be opening a new establishment or diversifying the activity at an existing site. There is no such requirement for SMEs. This requirement is consistent with the general approach to regional investment funding across the UK and Europe.

RSA is not the only mechanism Scottish Enterprise uses for funding eligible projects within the manufacturing sector. Scottish Enterprise has a wide range of subsidy schemes for which diversification is not a requirement for funding. The Scottish Government and Scottish Enterprise consistently review support mechanisms in place and welcome feedback on how to support companies within the rules set out by the Subsidy Control regime.

Catering service times across campus provide a robust offering around parliamentary business.  Lunch service timings in the Garden Level Restaurant (11:30-14:30) are based on levels of demand and efficient use of resources in line with parliamentary requirements.  If it is helpful, it is possible to pre-order food on our app, and collect it from the Holyrood room between 11:30 and 2:30, although this does not change the timings, it is a quicker service.

Alternative options are available after 2.30pm including the Coffee Bar where a hot sandwich option can be ordered and the Public Café where hot food options including soup, baked potatoes and a range of sandwiches are on offer.  Hot food is also available from 4pm in Queensberry House Lounge.

The Scottish Government uses a range of techniques to monitor and study fish populations which is critical to inform the management actions put in place to protect species. Internal tagging is used when there is no appropriate alternative method available to answer the specific question being addressed. It is a regulated procedure covered by the Animals (Scientific procedures) Act 1986 and is performed under licence from the Home Office. Alternatives to this method are examined and adopted where possible by the Scottish Government following the principles of the 3Rs (replacement, reduction and refinement) embedded in the act.