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Through the Scottish Funding Council’s (SFC) annual allocations process, universities are allocated funding for the provision of funded undergraduate places for eligible Scottish domiciled students. It is then for the universities themselves to decide how to distribute these places along with postgraduate and alternatively funded undergraduate places between faculties and the courses they offer. Universities are responsible for their own admissions policies but should consider their long-term stability by actively diversifying their international student intake and seeking alternative funding sources. Indicative allocations of funding for 2025-26 will be published on SFC’s website in the next few weeks.

We are committed to promoting apprenticeship opportunities in island and rural communities to encourage inclusive growth.

As part of this effort we provide a rural uplift for Modern Apprenticeship delivery, offering increased payments to training providers to support the expansion of apprenticeship programmes in these areas.

In addition, funding for travel and subsistence (including accommodation) is available for apprentices who are required to attend structured, formal off-the-job training beyond normal travel limits.

My letter of strategic guidance for Skills Development Scotland in 2025-26 places an emphasis on the delivery of apprenticeships in the sectors that are most vital to Scotland’s economy and society. These include those that support the transition to Net Zero, and are most likely to result in high quality, long-term employment and meaningful career pathways for participants. In addition, we continue to fund in other sectors to help meet the skills needs of employers. A particular priority for the programme is on encouraging greater participation from small and micro businesses.

I refer the member to the answer to the question S6O-02021 on 16 March 2023 All answers to Oral Parliamentary Questions are available on the Parliament’s website, the search facility for which can be found at Official Report: search what was said in Parliament | Scottish Parliament Website

The next iteration of the National Performance Framework (NPF) and National Outcomes will be published following conclusion of the work I announced in the Chamber, on 8 January 2025. The NPF is being substantially overhauled because we want it to work better for people in Scotland, including carers. We are currently at the planning stage for this work and will update Parliament on progress at the appropriate points.

As noted in response to S6W-26881, NatureScot maintains a detailed FAQ section on the Nature Investment Partnership on their website, which has been recently updated https://www.nature.scot/doc/nature-investment-partnership-faqs. The information requested in parliamentary question S6W-35357 is available on this page.

The following information provided relates to the Home Energy Scotland (HES) Grant and Loan Scheme, which provides funding to install heat pumps and other measures to domestic owner occupied households in Scotland.

a) Table 1 outlines the number of heat pump applications i) received and ii) approved (i.e. legal commitments made to applicants) from 2022-23 until 28 February 2025.

Table 1:

No One Left Behind, has a key role to play in meeting our commitment to halving the Disability Employment Gap by 2038. Through a concerted focus on delivering person centred, place-based employability support, there has been significant progress in reaching and supporting disabled people towards and into work since the local delivery model was implemented in 2022. In the most recent quarter July to September 2024 32% of participants accessing the service reported a disability, which is the largest proportion in a single quarter to date, this is an increase of 6 percentage points from April to June 2024. We know there is more to be done to ensure our support remains accessible and meets the needs of disabled people who experience structural barriers to entering and sustaining employment. As set out in the Programme for Government 2024-25, we are introducing Specialist Employability Support for disabled people across Scotland by Summer 2025 underpinned by an uplift in funding of £5 million to Local Employability Partnerships to support delivery. We are building on past investment and engagement with employers across Scotland through an Apt Public Social Partnership to share learning and tools developed to support recruitment and retention of disabled people in employment.

We remain committed to continuously improving our services to ensure disabled people are effectively supported towards and into work, which includes working closely with disabled people and representative organisations to ensure that their voices and experiences help shape and guide policy.

Scottish Government remain in discussions with NHS Grampian to finalise brokerage to support a financial deficit in 2024-25. We have asked NHS Grampian for more information on what has driven the financial deficit together with assurance that financial sustainability will improve in future years. We await a response from NHS Grampian but expect the matter to be resolved in early course.

I have instructed ScotRail to continue to offer 20% discounts on season tickets until September 2025. The value for money of Flexipass remains permanently improved and recognising the increased popularity of this product since the end of the pilot, ScotRail has recently expanded its availability to cover all gated stations. ScotRail is committed to the ongoing development of this ticket type.

We are seeing an increase in passengers on our railway - passenger journeys on our publicly owned train services are up 4.5% for each 4-week period this year compared to the same period last year when the trial was running.

ScotRail will continue to develop fare initiatives to attract more passengers while providing savings and additional value to existing rail users, such as the launch of its new app ‘Tap&Pay’, which will automatically provide the best value fare.