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Recent and ongoing global events show the fragility of food security, and we are taking action to improve Scotland’s food resilience and strengthen our supply chains. The Scottish Government has created a Food Security Unit, to monitor risks or threats to the supply chain and help mitigate future shocks and impacts on food security.

For further details, I refer the member to the answer to question S6W-36866 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.

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

Bursaries for independent schools are a matter for the proprietors of each institution, as each independent school is a private company. It is for the school itself to administer and provide bursaries for pupils to attend their establishment.

We continue to engage with the UK Government on this matter. My officials have been assured by the UK Government that their mailbox for school enquiries remains open. We have provided this to all Scottish independent schools, should they wish to contact them.

I refer the member to the answer to question S6W-36866 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

It is essential as we move towards the establishment of Qualifications Scotland that the education system and wider public have confidence and trust in the qualifications body in Scotland.

Operational responsibility for the qualifications, such as the marking of assignments and associated quality assurance processes, is a matter for the Scottish Qualifications Authority (SQA). The Scottish Government has received reassurance that no young people will be disadvantaged by the sharing of annotated assignment materials. It is also important to reassure learners that materials did not relate to exams in any way and were shared after learners’ assignments had been submitted. SQA has advised that it is taking actions forward to enhance and strengthen their quality assurance measures for markers for National 5 History and ensure that the integrity and standards of their qualifications are being maintained.

The governance model for the new qualifications body will ensure the knowledge and experience of learners, teachers and practitioners are central to decisions taken in relation to qualifications and assessment matters, driving greater transparency and accountability.

The aim of the seasonal flu programme continues to be protecting those most at risk of severe illness from flu. Eligibility for the seasonal flu vaccination is based on the 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 clinical at-risk groups. All those aged 64 and under who are at greater risk remain eligible.

Further detail regarding eligibility for winter 2024-25 can be found in the seasonal flu programme 2024-25 CMO letter and in the CMO letter for 2025-26.

The Scottish Government does not currently hold the information set out in the question.

Public Health Scotland (PHS) is currently undertaking a range of analyses, in regards to the recent flu season, that includes analyses of flu-related deaths and hospitalisations for the 2024-25 season. PHS will share these results with the Scottish Government to support our efforts to maximise vaccination uptake in eligible people.

I refer the member to the answer to question S6W-36866 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.

There is currently no standard dataset covering the number of people being prescribed medication for ADHD in Scotland, and consequently the Scottish Government does not hold figures for this year or for previous years.

The Scottish Government recognises the growth in the number of pupils with an additional support need since the pandemic.

Local authorities have the statutory responsibility for delivering education and for ensuring that those pupils identified with an additional support need are fully supported to learn, in the environment that best suits their needs. Most children and young people’s needs are met through a universal level of support and 95% of children and young people with ASN were educated in mainstream classes in 2024. This includes adapting learning and teaching approaches to support children in the classroom. There remains a broad consensus from children and young people, parents and carers, the teaching profession and others that the Scottish approach to inclusive education continues to be the right one.

We continue to seek ways to improve the experience of inclusion for all of our young people and the 2025-26 budget sets out an additional £29 million for additional support needs.

The mental health and wellbeing of children and young people is a top priority for the Scottish Government. We continue to provide £16 million per year to enable local authorities to provide access to school counselling services for pupils aged 10 and over.

The mental health and wellbeing of children and young people is a top priority for the Scottish Government.

We continue to provide £16 million per year to enable local authorities to support access to school counselling services for pupils aged 10 and over. Local authorities provide annual reports to the Scottish Government which show the overall picture on improving children and young people’s outcomes is positive. Whilst the reports do not focus specifically on capturing data on school absences, local authorities may hold this information.

The Scottish Government publishes national data on attendance annually through the Summary Statistics for Schools in Scotland.