Seòmar agus comataidhean

It is a matter for the Scottish Funding Council to allocate funding to individual institutions, including whether there is a need to apply any conditions as part of this process.

The member may be interested to know that the Scottish Funding Council wrote to the Convener of the Education, Children and Young People Committee on 20 March outlining the conditions applied to the liquidity support for the University of Dundee. A link to the letter is as follows:

Letter from the Scottish Funding Council to the Convener of the Education, Children and Young People Committee on 20 March 2025

Where Ministers have agreed that an appointee should be remunerated, the Daily Fee Framework for Chairs, Board Members and Public Appointments must be used to determine the appropriate Daily Fee. The framework does not mandate that a fee be paid.

It is open to the Sponsor Team to decide whether a payment need be made. Remuneration may be proposed where it is particularly important to have representation from as wide and diverse a range of candidates as possible, or where there is specific need for appointees to be drawn from otherwise under-represented groups.

Any remuneration payable is not intended to meet the market rate that could be commanded by the individuals concerned.

The relevant Scottish Government approval must be obtained prior to implementing any daily fee and prior to advertising, negotiating a remuneration package or confirmation of appointment.

The Scottish Government recognises the importance of supporting young people to remain in education and has taken a range of measurable actions since the COVID-19 pandemic to address the financial pressures that can contribute to early school leaving. These actions include, the continuation of the Education Maintenance Allowance (EMA) programme, increased support for School Clothing Grants, investment in Developing the Young Workforce (DYW), support for a broad range of learner pathways and the continuation of record funding to Scotland’s schools through the Scottish Attainment Challenge programme, providing up to £1billion in additional funding.

The Scottish Government continues to work in partnership with local authorities, schools and third sector organisations to monitor these interventions and assess their impact on young people’s education.

The Scottish Government’s position is that we are unable to support long-term working outside of the UK unless there is a genuine requirement to do so in the role, i.e. working from one of our overseas Scottish Government offices. However, we do not consider staff who work permanently in one of our overseas offices to be working remotely from outside of the UK as the role that they are employed to undertake is fully based in the relevant overseas office. In addition, as such staff have diplomatic status, there are no residency or tax implications and they continue to be subject to paying income tax in the UK.

Staff may be required to work outside of the UK temporarily for brief periods when travelling on official business, for example, accompanying a minister overseas or attending a conference and they may be required to undertake work remotely during such events. In addition, consistent with other parts of the Civil Service, the Scottish Government allows staff to work remotely from outside of the UK for up to a maximum of four weeks per annum subject to meeting eligibility requirements, which includes having the right to work in the overseas country, and meeting any costs and potential liabilities from working abroad. Tax codes do not change when working abroad for these brief periods. We do not collate data that specifically captures instances of remote working from overseas.

The Scottish Government’s decision-making for the flu vaccination programme continues to be guided by the expert clinical advice of the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI). The JCVI currently advises flu vaccination for those aged 65 and over, as well as at-risk groups. As such, we are not considering expanding the flu programme to the healthy 50-64 year old age group for winter 2025.

Scotland expanded its flu programme to those aged 55 and over in 2021, and then those aged 50 and over in 2022 and 2023, as part of our response to the COVID-19 pandemic, in order to reduce pressure on the NHS in unprecedented times.

In winter 2024, as we moved beyond the COVID-19 pandemic, we reverted to the standard JCVI-advised groups, and healthy individuals aged 50-64 were no longer included. Those aged 50-64 who have certain underlying medical conditions remain eligible by virtue of their clinical risk status.

I refer the member to the answer to question S6W-37056 on 6 May 2025. 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

Scotland does not have a mandatory curriculum. Instead, Curriculum for Excellence is a flexible framework for teachers to determine what they wish to teach and how, including providing learning and teaching about the Holocaust.

The Curriculum Improvement Cycle will begin the review of Social Studies this academic year, where all aspects of the social studies curriculum will be reviewed. Practitioners will play a central role in this process.

The Scottish Government is aware of the reports indicating that the cost of publicly funded care home beds in Scotland is higher than in England. This disparity is likely to be influenced by several factors, including differences in service models, staffing levels, and the geographical distribution of care facilities.

Myself and the previous Cabinet Secretary for Education and Skills have supported the annual Vision Schools Scotland Awards ceremony by attending and contributing to the ceremonies where achievement of schools and pupils in Holocaust Education are recognised.

Since 2021, Scottish Government has provided £126,247 in funding to the Vision Schools Scotland programme to further support Holocaust education in schools. This includes funding up to £36,352 for the 2024-25 financial year.

I refer the member to the answer to question S6W-37086 on 6 May 2025. 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