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In my statement to Parliament on 29 November, I confirmed that we will develop a multi-year plan to tackle instances of challenging behaviour, working with local authorities, trade unions and others.

We are committed to working with trade union partners on developing this national action plan. I hosted a productive roundtable meeting with trade unions on 6 December 2023, with a focus on behaviour. The national action plan will be developed in collaboration with the Scottish Advisory Group on Relationships and Behaviour in Schools (SAGRABIS), which includes representatives from all the main teaching unions. My aim is to publish the plan as soon as possible in the new year.

Following a competitive invitation to tender process, a contract for the Education Workforce Modelling and Research work was awarded to WPI Economics on 13 October 2023.

The Scottish Government recognises the impact which the Covid-19 pandemic has had on children and young people in Scotland, particularly the closing of schools and learning lost as a result. This is in common with children and young people across the world and the pandemic continues to impact on educational outcomes for children and young people, here and elsewhere.

The Scottish Government and Education Scotland published the Equity Audit in January 2021 which involved an evidence review of local, national and international literature, along with a representative sample of 54 schools in Scotland. This helped our understanding of the impact that COVID-19 and school building closures had on children from disadvantaged backgrounds, and set clear areas of focus for accelerating recovery, including the refresh of the Scottish Attainment Challenge programme.

Plans to help Scotland’s education system recover from the COVID-19 pandemic were published by the Scottish Government in October 2021. The Education Recovery Strategy set out the significant additional investment of almost £500 million being provided, as part of education recovery . This additional investment supported the recruitment of additional teachers and support staff across Local Authorities to provide enhanced support for children and young people and £25m was provided to local authorities for the purchase of 72,000 digital devices and 14,000 internet connections - helping support children, young people and staff across the country.

The pandemic and current cost of living crisis has undoubtedly deepened inequity; but this further necessitates our relentless focus on closing the poverty related attainment gap. That’s why we continue to empower schools and local authorities to improve the attainment and wellbeing of children and young people through our £1billion investment in the Scottish Attainment Challenge. This is alongside a range of other investments to mitigate the impact of poverty on our young people’s education, such as the school clothing grant, and the most comprehensive free school meal offer in the UK, saving families taking those meals around £400 per child, each year. We are also working with Local Authorities to extend our current offer of free school meals to those in P6 and P7 who are in receipt of Scottish Child Payment, which will benefit around 26,000 children.

The Scottish Government received a response from UK Government on 27 November to the previous correspondence sent by myself.

Despite our earlier requests seeking clarification on support available for remediation, the letter made no reference to additional funding.

We published guidance in 2017, ‘ Developing a positive whole school ethos and culture: relationships, learning and behaviour’ to support local authorities, education settings, practitioners and partners to further improve the ethos and culture, and relationships and behaviour, in Scottish schools. This is in addition to national guidance on the prevention and management of exclusion from school that was published in 2017, ‘ Included, Engaged and Involved – Part 2 – preventing and managing school exclusions’.

Education Scotland also provide guidance on developing a local relationship and behaviour policies https://education.gov.scot/media/ycofs2fq/national-relationships-policy-guidance-for-schools.pdf

Following the publication of the Behaviour in Scottish Schools Research 2023, we are currently working with the Scottish Advisory Group for Relationships and Behaviour in Schools to develop a national action plan and as part of this development we will consider whether any additional guidance is required.

It is essential that we hear directly from children and young people as part of this work. The recent series of summits held with a wide range of stakeholders to discuss concerns around relationships and behaviour included representatives from a range of children and young people organisations.

We are currently in discussions with many of these organisations on how we can best engage children and young people directly in a safe and meaningful way going forward.

It is encouraging that the Summary Statistics for Schools in Scotland published on 12 December reported a slight increase in the number of post probationers securing a teaching post in the year following their probation.

The Teacher Induction Scheme provides a one year probationary placement to allow teachers to meet the Standard for Full Registration. This does not provide a guarantee of future employment with a particular local authority. Teaching posts should be advertised and filled in a fair and transparent manner.

The Scottish Government is committed to supporting all young people to achieve their potential through Developing the Young Workforce (DYW). Although no specific data is available on the number of disabled young people supported through DYW, the employer-led DYW Regional Groups and School Coordinators work with specialist partners and third sector organisations to support young people who are furthest from the labour market into positive destinations, including young disabled people.

A recent example of this is in DYW Edinburgh, Midlothian and East Lothian. Enable and Action For Children provided ASN training for their School Coordinators and management staff. As a result, the Regional Group now work closely with Pilrig Park School, who deliver education for secondary school pupils experiencing complex long-term additional support needs. Through this collaboration they ensure that every pupil has flexible, personalised pathways to develop knowledge, understanding and skills for learning, life and work. In addition, DYW Fife have dedicated School Coordinators to increase support and opportunities for ASN Schools, Pupil Support Service Students and care experienced young people. Through collaboration with key partners, a more inclusive approach is adopted for these young people.

a) Enable Works Stepping Up programme, to date, has been delivered in 75 schools across Scotland, achieving a 98% positive destination rate for young people with learning disabilities. In financial year 2022-23, 2,974 young people were supported through the Stepping Up programme.

b) Stepping Up is an innovative school transitions programme that supports young people who have a learning disability, autism or additional support needs. The programme is delivered in partnership with Education Providers, stakeholders and other third sector organisations. It works collaboratively with Careers, Information, Advice and Guidance (CIAG) and Developing the Young Workforce (DYW) to provide joined-up careers experience, advice and guidance, and aims to support young people into positive destinations.

Operational decisions about the provision of childcare services within Scotland’s colleges are the responsibility of each individual college. Colleges must determine how best to secure their own sustainability, for instance through providing childcare services, while continuing to deliver provision to meet regional needs.

The Scottish Government provides funding to local authorities to deliver 1140 hours of high quality early learning and childcare (ELC) to all eligible children. Our ELC delivery model is provider neutral, recognising that decisions about ELC service delivery remain for local authorities to make based on their understanding of local demand. Under this model, college childcare services can apply to deliver funded ELC provided they meet the conditions set out in the National Standard for funded ELC and meet the usual requirements.