Seòmar agus comataidhean

The Scottish Government has published guidance for local authorities and schools – Included, Engaged and Involved Part 1: Promoting and Managing School Attendance – as well as guidance for parents, which reinforces the message that they should support children to attend schools. The guidance sets out how to promote engagement and motivation, including among those who may be at risk of poor attendance.

The Scottish Government conducts a biennial collection of attendance data from local authorities for the purposes of producing accredited official statistics. Management information on attendance is collected from local authorities more frequently, currently fortnightly, and reported on the school attendance dashboard.

From 2023-24 to 2025-26 all 32 Local Authorities have set stretch aims for improving attendance and/or engagement. These aims are built into local authority improvement plans and their progress will be monitored locally using local processes. As with all efforts to support improved outcomes and tackle the poverty related attainment gaps, local authorities will be supported and challenged by Education Scotland Attainment Advisors as they implement their local plans.

Earlier this year I asked Education Scotland to undertake work to better understand the current barriers and challenges experienced by schools, children and young people and their families which influence school attendance. Education Scotland published this report on 28 November.

We are currently reviewing the findings of this report, together with the findings of the Behaviour in Scottish Schools Research, and will consider the recommendations for any future work on addressing attendance in schools.

World Expos are regulated by the Intergovernmental Organisation - Bureau International des Expositions (BIE) and membership is reserved. Scotland’s participation is reliant on invitation from the UK Government to be a sponsor partner of the UK Pavilion. Building on Scotland’s successful participation at Expo 2020 in Dubai, the UK and Scottish Government are in discussion about opportunities to showcase Scotland at Expo 2025 in Osaka.

I refer the member to the answer to question S6W-23762 on 19 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 publishes figures relating to delivery of affordable homes across Scotland since April 2007, on a quarterly basis, which can be found online at:

https://www.gov.scot/publications/affordable-housing-supply-programme-completions-updates/ .

The Scottish Government does not hold information at a constituency level. However, between 1 April 2019 and 30 September 2023, in South Lanarkshire, we have approved 1,077 new build social rented homes, as part of the wider 1,326 total homes approved throughout South Lanarkshire.

Across the same period, in South Lanarkshire, we delivered 1,413 new build social rented homes, as part of the wider 1,662 homes delivered throughout South Lanarkshire.

Homes provided through the Affordable Housing Supply Programme take various forms including; new build homes, rehabilitation projects, conversions and off-the-shelf purchases of both new and second hand homes, as identified in Strategic Housing Investment Plans (SHIPs) prepared annually by local authorities.

A member of the third-sector community was identified to join the Pain Management Task Force in October 2022 to represent the needs of people with lived experience.

We are committed to increasing the representation of the needs of people with lived experience in our work and that is why we are currently about to begin the process of recruiting additional lived experience representatives as outlined in the recently published Pain management service delivery framework: implementation plan update.

The Scottish Government has met with several Local Authorities to discuss their delivery of Free School Meals during which views on being involved in any future pilot were sought. These meetings took place; on the following dates;

• Western Isles Council – 5 July 2023
• Inverclyde Council – 26 July 2023
• North Ayrshire Council – 9 August 2023
• COSLA – 16 August 2023
• Edinburgh City Council – 16 August 2023

Most recently, on 11 October 2023, ADES and COSLA were invited to ask members if they would be interested in taking part in the pilot of universal free school meals at secondary.

The budget process is underway and we are prioritising programmes of work which have the greatest impact on the delivery of our three core missions of equality, opportunity, and community. We will set out our spending plans in the 2024-25 Scottish Budget on 19 December.

Historically Scotland has a relatively high number of mental health beds per 100,000 of the population and lower levels of bed occupancy (compared to the rest of the UK).

However, we are aware of recent pressures on the availability of psychiatric beds, exacerbated by the continuing impact of seasonal illness and COVID-19 on staff capacity. Officials have developed a support and engagement plan across mental health services. This will include routine engagement with NHS Boards, with additional support for those with the highest rates of delayed discharge.

We are continuing to invest record amounts into mental health provision across the country, to ensure the needs of the population are met effectively, safely, and in a timely fashion – this includes advancing our aspiration for care to be person centred and delivered in the community wherever appropriate.

The vast majority of spending on mental health is delivered through NHS board budgets – and this is not directly affected by the Budget reprioritisation. Between the Scottish Government and NHS boards we expect spending on Mental Health to be well in excess of £1.3 billion in financial year 2023-24.

Historically Scotland has a relatively high number of mental health beds per 100,000 of the population and lower levels of bed occupancy (compared to the rest of the UK). However, we are aware of recent pressures on the availability of psychiatric beds, exacerbated by the continuing impact of seasonal illness and COVID-19 on staff capacity in both inpatient and community settings.

Officials have developed a support and engagement plan across mental health services. This will include routine engagement with NHS Boards, alongside access to professional advice and tailored support for those NHS Boards with the highest levels of delayed discharge.

We remain fully committed to delivering the Coming Home recommendations, and to support public bodies to reduce inappropriate hospital stays and out-of-area placements experienced by people with learning disabilities and complex care needs.

The Scottish Government welcomes the UK National Screening Committee’s (UK NSC) recommendation that the four nations should move towards implementing a targeted lung screening programme for those aged 55-74 with a history of smoking. However, the roll-out of any screening programme is a complex undertaking, and the UK NSC acknowledged in its recommendation that there remain a number of significant issues that must be worked through before a full programme of lung screening can be implemented. Scotland is a member of the four nations group established to explore some of these issues, and has also established its own targeted lung cancer screening Scottish Expert Advisory Group (SEAG).

The SEAG’s remit is to provide the Scottish Government with advice on the scoping, implementation, establishment and delivery of a targeted lung cancer screening programme. The first stage of this work is underway and will support development of an evidence-based assessment of timescales for design and implementation.