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The Scottish Government has not held any discussions with the operator on the subject of crew accommodation standards on MV Helliar and MV Hildasay.

The Scottish Government recognises the vital role that Additional Support Needs (ASN) staff play in ensuring that all learners can access and succeed in college education.

In light of financial pressures across the sector, we are working with colleges and the SFC to ensure that strategic workforce planning includes consideration of ASN provision, so that reductions in staffing do not disproportionately affect the most vulnerable learners.

Colleges are required to demonstrate how they support students with additional needs. They are required to submit a Self-Evaluation Action Plan (SEAP) annually to the SFC to demonstrate how inclusive practices and support for ASN learners are embedded and improved. Institutions are encouraged to co-produce the SEAP with student associations to ensure it reflects student priorities.

We continue to provide targeted funding to support inclusive education, including the Disabled Students Premium and other resources aimed at improving accessibility and support for learners with ASN. Colleges receiving Disabled Students Premium funding must demonstrate how it is used to:

• Improve accessibility.
• Enhance support services.
• Maintain inclusive learning environments.

This is part of the Main Teaching Grant and is monitored through funding allocation reviews.

We are supporting colleges to embed inclusive practices through staff training, digital accessibility initiatives, and cross-sector collaboration. This includes promoting professional development for ASN staff and ensuring that colleges have the capacity to meet diverse learner needs.

The Scottish Government values and supports all those who work in Further and Higher Education. Despite the challenging financial climate our last budget allowed the SFC to provide a 2.6 per cent increase in teaching funding for 2025-26 and an increase of almost 5 per cent in capital maintenance to help colleges to invest in the learning experience of students.

The job evaluation project is an outcome of national bargaining; therefore, the Scottish Government has no role in determining its progress. College Employers Scotland and trade unions (UNISON, GMB and Unite) have joint ownership of the project and are responsible for its completion.

The Scottish Government has committed to meeting the costs associated with the outcomes of the job evaluation project. Once detailed and evidenced-based costings have been provided, funding requirements will form part of budget considerations at the relevant time, in line with established public spending processes.

The Scottish Government is committed to ensuring that all college students—regardless of their background or circumstances—have the opportunity to succeed in their studies. We recognise the concerns raised in Audit Scotland’s Scotland’s Colleges 2025 report, particularly regarding the higher non-completion rates among students from more deprived communities, care-experienced students, and disabled students.

We are taking a number of steps to address the issue which include additional funding to colleges to support students facing barriers to learning, including those from deprived backgrounds and those with disabilities. This includes the Disabled Students Premium and funding for student support services.

We have expanded the Care-Experienced Bursary and are working with colleges to ensure that care-experienced students receive tailored support throughout their learner journey.

We are working with stakeholders to embed inclusive practices across the college sector, including mental health and wellbeing support, accessibility improvements, and staff training.

We are enhancing the use of data to better understand the factors contributing to non-completion to inform targeted interventions at both institutional and national levels. The SFC has introduced refined performance indicators, including a new measure of non-completion that distinguishes between early withdrawals and students who remain enrolled but do not complete their course. This will allow for more nuanced analysis of student outcomes and help identify where interventions are most needed.

We are committed to working collaboratively with colleges, students, and sector partners to reduce inequalities and improve retention and outcomes for all learners.

The Scottish Government is investing more than three quarters of a billion pounds in our 24 colleges to support apprenticeships and a wide range of skills and qualifications. The most recent Scottish Funding Council (SFC) allocations provide increases of 2.6% to teaching funding and almost 5% in capital maintenance. This will help colleges’ future investment in students' learning experiences and in meeting Scotland’s skills.

Coupled with this, the SFC College Transformation Framework offers bespoke funding option arrangements between colleges and the SFC, enabling colleges to plan their future long-term curriculum more effectively.

Through its Outcomes Framework and Assurance Model (OF&AM), SFC engages with colleges to ensure they are engaging with employers to respond to industry and sector needs. Modern Apprenticeships are one form of provision that colleges provide to meet those needs.

The Scottish Government is providing £185 million this year to support 25,500 new Modern Apprenticeships, 5,000 new Foundation Apprenticeships and over 1,200 new Graduate Apprenticeships. This is in addition to the funding for 37,000 apprentices already in training.

It is our ambition to grow our apprenticeship offer and to increase opportunities for people to ‘earn as they learn’, in response to demand. The Tertiary Education (Scotland) Bill supports this ambition by simplifying the funding landscape and better aligning support for apprenticeships and work-based learning.

While apprenticeships remain a vital part of Scotland’s skills landscape, they are one of many high-quality pathways available. Our investment in colleges and universities supports a broad spectrum of learning routes, including work-based learning, so people can access the skills and qualification that best suit their ambitions and Scotland’s economic needs.

The Scottish Government is committed to ensuring that Scotland’s colleges continue to be at the heart of local and regional level work to support economic development.

We recognise the value of the Flexible Workforce Development Fund to both employers and learners. Through its Outcomes Framework and Assurance Model, the Scottish Funding Council (SFC) engages with colleges to maximise their engagement with employers and to respond to industry and sector needs. Modern Apprenticeships are one form of provision that colleges provide to meet those needs.

The introduction of the SFC’s College Transformation Framework in Academic Year 2025-26 aims to increase flexibility in the system. The Framework offers options around bespoke funding arrangements between colleges and the SFC to enable colleges to plan their curriculum more effectively to reflect the needs of industry.

Vacant Crofts:

The Scottish Government recognises the contribution colleges make to widening access, and the important role they provide in delivering higher education.

We are working with the Scottish Funding Council (SFC), colleges, and universities to improve articulation agreements, particularly for students from disadvantaged backgrounds. This includes expanding opportunities for direct entry into degree programmes with advanced standing.

We are promoting stronger partnerships between colleges and universities to ensure smoother transitions for learners, including joint curriculum planning and shared support services.

Articulation from college to university is a key route into degree level study for many learners from disadvantaged backgrounds. With so many more young people from deprived areas successfully securing places directly to university, this inevitably reduces articulation figures and also allows those young people to enter the job market sooner. School-leaver destinations stats published in June 2025 showing the proportion of leavers in positive follow-up destinations 9 months after leaving school, show that 24.6% of school leavers from the most deprived areas in Scotland are in Higher Education, an increase from 24.0% the previous year.

However, the data shows there is still a need for articulation, with over a third (33.5%) of new entrants at university from deprived areas in 2022-23 progressing from Higher Education courses at college.

We continue to invest in guidance and support services to help students from deprived backgrounds navigate their options and make informed decisions about progressing to university.

Scotland’s Clinical Management Pathway for breast cancer currently recommends that people diagnosed with breast cancer be referred for further gene testing (which includes BRCA1 and BRCA2) if they meet criteria designed to identify those at the highest risk.

The criteria are currently based on a clinical risk assessment which considers family history, the age of cancer diagnosis and whether patients have been affected by other types of cancer. We will be guided by clinical expertise on whether these criteria should be extended.

The benefits of offering universal testing, however, would need to be carefully assessed against not only the costs of testing but capacity across our NHS system to best support patients.

In the meantime, we remain committed to working with stakeholders across the NHS to raise awareness of the testing available and improve the coordination of care across Scotland.

I am pleased to announce today the launch of the Grangemouth Jobs Prioritisation Scheme, which prioritises those workers who have been made redundant as a direct consequence of the cessation of refining at Grangemouth for the new jobs which will be created through the Grangemouth Just Transition Fund. The First Minister will make a further announcement on this scheme in his keynote speech at the Just Transition Summit this morning. The FM will also announce Scottish Government’s intention to renew the Just Transition Commission for the next Parliamentary term.

This pilot scheme will ensure that eligible workers will be guaranteed an interview for the new jobs, provided they meet the minimum job criteria, which are being created as a direct consequence of the support provided via Scottish Government’s Grangemouth Just Transition Fund.