Seòmar agus comataidhean

The Scottish Government meets and engages with Audit Scotland regarding their annual publications on Scotland's Colleges which are published on Audit Scotland’s website. Audit Scotland’s most recent publication can be found here : https://audit.scot/publications/scotlands-colleges-2023 . However, there has not been specific discussion regarding Audit Scotland’s scrutiny of overall staffing budgets and spend in colleges.

The Scottish Government does not hold details relating to the funding for the development of “wheelchair exemplar properties”.

In relation to the allocation of funding for homes for wheelchair users, I refer the member to the answer to question S6W-27750 on 4 June 2024.

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

Information on college withdrawals is collected and published by the Scottish Funding Council (SFC) in their annual College Performance Indicator publication. College Performance Indicators 2022-23 - Scottish Funding Council (sfc.ac.uk)

The SFC publish the number of students that withdraw from a course, but not broken down by week the student withdrew.

The Scottish Government hasn’t undertaken any analysis of the number of students articulating from college to university in the last financial year.

Latest data covering articulation from college to university is published in the annual Scottish Funding Council (SFC) publication ‘Report on Widening Access’, which relates to those starting university in the 2021-22 academic year.

Report on Widening Access 2021-22 - Scottish Funding Council (sfc.ac.uk)

Data covering the 2022-23 academic year will be published later this year, with 2023-24 data in 2025 and the current academic year (2024-25) being published in 2026.

Statistics on the proportion of pupils with 90% or lower attendance are published by local authority and school sector in table 4.1 of the school attendance and absence statistics 2022-23, available here:

https://www.gov.scot/publications/school-attendance-and-absence-statistics/

The Scottish Government plans to publish these statistics annually.

The range of statistics published on attendance will be kept under review.

The Scottish Government is committed to the expansion of the free school meal programme and the next phase will support those in receipt of Scottish Child Payment in Primaries 6 and 7 from February 2025.

To support this expansion we have made provision for £43m of capital funding in 2024-25 to support the infrastructure development required to deliver the next phase of the free school meal programme. This is in addition to the £10m of capital funding provided in 2023-24.

The Scottish Government continues to work closely with COSLA to deliver our free school meal expansion programme.

We continue to take forward our commitments to improving the accessibility and adaptability of new homes in Scotland.

Responses to the consultation on proposals for enhancing the accessibility, adaptability and usability of Scotland's homes are currently being analysed, and a report on feedback will be published in due course.

A comparison of attendance/absence rates for pupils with and without additional support needs in 2022-23 can be found in Figure 33 of Summary Statistics for Schools in Scotland, available here:

https://www.gov.scot/publications/summary-statistics-for-schools-in-scotland-2023/pages/attendance-and-absence/ .

The Affordable Housing Supply Programme (AHSP) funding for 2024-25 is not allocated to specific properties. Funding is made available to local authority areas through Resource Planning Assumptions (RPAs) to support local authority priority projects which are either already approved or will be approved during that year. Projects receiving funding will include a mix of dwelling types and could include both wheelchair accessible and homes specifically designed for wheelchair users. Projects can be funded across different financial years as the monies are drawn down on receipt of certification of works and so it is not possible to disaggregate the spend or funding in this way.

All new build homes supported by the Affordable Housing Supply Programme should, where possible, meet Housing for Varying Needs standard which means that they should be accessible for wheelchair users.

Whilst we do not set a public target per set, the numbers of available bursaries are published each year.