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The Scottish Government has provided funding to SAY Women through the Equally Safe (2019-21) and Delivering Equally Safe Fund (2021-25). The objectives of funding are to improve mental and physical health amongst young women survivors of sexual abuse; to support them to cope with trauma-anxiety in order to reduce self-harming, substance abuse, and poverty; and to reduce challenging behaviours that can lead to homelessness amongst young women.

In 2019-20, 2020-21, 2021-22 the Scottish Government provided funding to SAY Women through the Housing Voluntary Grant Scheme with the objective of delivering safe, supported accommodation and related services for young women who are survivors of childhood sexual abuse, rape or sexual assault and who are homeless or threatened with homelessness.

In 2020-21 the Scottish Government provided funding through the COVID Immediate Priorities Fund for SAY Women to deliver enhanced independent living support to vulnerable individuals and those in need as a result of COVID-19. The objective was to help communities respond to the needs and challenges they were experiencing, and to protect the wellbeing of the people of Scotland.

The Scottish Government has also provided funding through the Third Sector Homelessness Fund (2021-22, 2022-23) and the Homelessness Sector Prevention Fund (2023-24) with the objective of preventing and responding to homelessness among survivors of childhood sexual abuse. This supported the delivery of training to frontline staff, and work to support young women survivors of childhood sexual abuse under threat of eviction due to challenging behaviours.

The Violence Against Women and Girls Sustainable Funding Project Board is currently being developed and I expect it to meet for the first time in March. It has been formed to take forward our commitment to develop a flexible and stable funding model that will ensure a focus on prevention and high quality, accessible, specialist violence against women and girls services.

‎ The Project Board, will be co-chaired by Scottish Government and CoSLA, and will include representatives of public sector and specialist stakeholders. The remit of the group will be agreed with the members and will include producing an accurate assessment of the current costs and spend of violence against women and girls, to help inform the development of a sustainable funding model.

The Scottish Government recognises the significant contribution that international students and their families bring to our economy, communities and culture.

UK Government immigration policies fail to address Scotland’s distinct demographic and economic needs and highlights the need for a tailored approach to migration. We are working closely with colleges and universities in Scotland to establish and understand the impact that the UK Government’s damaging migration policies have on the sector.

The UK Government frames family migration as a burden. The Scottish Government takes a different view. Scotland needs people to live, work and raise their families here, in light of the pronounced demographic challenge ahead.

Under the UK Government’s latest migration restrictions, as of 1 January 2024, most international students will no longer be able to bring family members with them to the UK. It is too early to assess the specific impact these changes are having, but we know the significant concerns that universities have about the anticipated effects on the numbers of international students coming to Scotland.

The UK Government frames family migration as a burden. The Scottish Government takes a different view. Scotland is encouraging people to live, work and raise their families here, in light of the pronounced demographic challenge ahead.

We remain deeply concerned that the new UK Government visa restrictions will make Scotland a less attractive destination for international students. We are working closely with the sector to minimise impact.

Universities in Scotland are autonomous bodies with responsibility for teaching, assessment and academic and student support.

The Scottish Government will, throughout February 2024, undertake consultation events with members of the Student Mental Health and Wellbeing Working Group on a draft Student Mental Health Action Plan.

The draft Plan recognises the critical importance of early intervention and prevention, ensuring effective access to a diverse range of community-based clinical and non-clinical services, and providing timely clinical acute care for those who require it. It sets out our expectations for institutions on supporting student mental health and wellbeing and how Scottish Government will work with them and the wider public sector.

The Scottish Government has urged the UK Government to adopt an inclusive approach to family migration to ensure that those with caring responsibilities are not excluded from our education institutions. Scotland must be able to attract and retain talent without excessive barriers and migration policy should support mobility, collaboration and innovation.

The Cabinet Secretary for Social Justice wrote to the new Home Secretary on the 22 December, highlighting Scotland’s distinct demographic needs and requested a meeting to discuss our concerns.

The Scottish Government has not undertaken any specific assessment regarding the impact of recent changes to visa restrictions introduced by the UK Government on students studying modern languages at Scottish universities.

The Scottish Government recognises the important and valuable contribution that international students make to the Scottish economy, our educational environment and Scottish society. It is essential that immigration policy allows Scotland to attract and retain talent without excessive barriers.

The Scottish Government remains deeply concerned about the new UK visa changes and the impact on Scotland’s ability to attract international students.

The Scottish Government will launch a Talent Attraction and Migration Service in 2024. The service will help address Scotland's demographic challenges and will attract and welcome more workers from outside Scotland, including the rest of the UK, with the skills that our economy needs.

The service will provide immigration support for employers, including our universities and colleges, based in Scotland and for those wishing to set up in Scotland, to enable them to use the UK’s immigration system effectively and efficiently to help meet Scotland’s skills and labour needs.

The service will also cater to immigration queries from people whose leave is about to expire and to international students approaching the end of their studies who wish to remain in Scotland and seek employment with a Scotland-based employer.

We have also recently launched our International Education Strategy which sets out steps we will take to work collaboratively with the sector to support international students to study in Scotland.

As immigration is a complex legal area, students may wish to seek professional advice, as the Scottish Government cannot provide legal or immigration advice. An immigration advisor can be found through the Office of the Immigration Services Commissioner which regulates immigration advice and services.

The Scottish Government is committed to supporting school leavers and return learners to access career support services to fulfil their potential. The national all age careers service, led by Skills Development Scotland, ensures that everyone has access to quality careers information and advice that supports individuals to make informed decisions regarding career options.

Local authorities are responsible for the recruitment and deployment of teaching staff. The Scottish Government will continue to support local authorities to assist them in being able to recruit to their teaching workforce, including teachers of Physical Education.

UK Government immigration policies fail to address Scotland’s distinct demographic and economic needs and highlights the need for a tailored approach to migration. We are working closely with colleges and universities in Scotland to establish the impact that the UK Government’s damaging migration policies have on the sector.