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Any indications of concern would be raised with the local authority. The Scottish Ministers would consider how best to support the local authority including and may seek assurance that action would be taken to address concerns.

In a case of serious financial failure, such as bankruptcy, the Scottish Ministers may make use of legislative powers to ensure appropriate steps are taken to remedy the situation.

The Scottish Government announced the launch of the Young Person’s Guarantee in November 2020, with the aim to protect young people against the immediate economic effects of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Between November 2020 and March 2023, 1019 employers have signed up to the Young Person’s Guarantee, offering 35,790 opportunities to 16-24 years olds in Scotland.

The Scottish Government is committed to introducing a Bill on ending conversion practices in Scotland. A public consultation containing detailed proposals for legislative change will be published by the end of this calendar year. The consultation will allow us to provide clear and detailed information on our proposed approach in order to obtain views from stakeholders and the broader public.

In developing our proposals we are carefully considering a wide range of evidence and expert advice. This includes the report of the Scottish Parliament’s Equalities, Human Rights and Civil Justice Committee and the report and recommendations of the Expert Advisory Group set up by the Scottish Government.

The Scottish Government, in partnership with local authorities, has been pioneering the transition to net zero in schools through the £2bn Learning Estate Investment Programme (LEIP). The LEIP targets the reduction in operational energy - e.g. heat, light, power, catering and ventilation - in new and refurbished projects.

LEIP funding is predicated on the achievement of outcomes, including measuring the amount of energy consumed in comparison with a set target level. To better understand this issue, a comparison was carried out between schools constructed or refurbished to Building Regulation standards and the enhanced specification required to meet the LEIP level. This included, for example, improved insulation, higher levels of airtightness and controlled ventilation with heat recovery. While the cost of these measures varies depending on the individual project, an assessment indicated that costs were likely to be approximately 5-8% higher. While the target energy level is only mandatory with LEIP projects, local authorities have been adopting this approach in other projects across their estates, as well as looking at other measures that could be adopted such as the use of solar photovoltaics, heat pumps or wind turbines.

As the LEIP continues, further measures are planned to support the transition to net zero. These include using zero direct emissions heating systems, encouraging the use of electric vehicles by providing charging infrastructure and introducing a new target for embodied carbon. The cost of achieving these outcomes will vary with individual projects, however, an assessment has indicated a range of 6-7% extra might be required. Many of these initiatives are already being included in projects within the current phases of the LEIP and in local authority investment in their learning estate.

The dates of the announcement and establishment of the working groups that are currently active in the Education and Skills portfolio are as follows:

I met with the Music Venue Trust on 20 September to discuss the current situation and challenges of grassroots music venues in Scotland. Actions included raising the impact of the cost-of-living crisis on the sector with my UK Government counterpart to understand what can be done on reserved matters; discussing how the impact of rent increases is being handled across sectors with relevant Scottish ministers; and, providing a recommendation on the options for taking forward a roundtable discussion on a ticket levy in Scotland.

The information requested relates to Scottish Qualifications Authority (SQA) data and is not held by the Scottish Government.

SQA has advised that the information requested is available from their website at: https://www.sqa.org.uk/sqa/105160.12093.html .

Due to retention periods, this information is only available from 2018 onwards. The assessment arrangements data is broken down by arrangement type and not centre type.

We recognise the importance of Glasgow and the Scottish Events Campus as one of the world’s top conference and events venues. It is clear that Glasgow and the SEC make a vital contribution not just to the local economy, but to Scotland’s economy as a whole.

Glasgow City Marketing Bureau restructured, with the Glasgow Convention Bureau intact. The lead for researching, bidding for and securing UK and international conferences to Glasgow sits with the Bureau. This is the same approach for all of Scotland’s cities with a convention bureau. The concept of the city leading its conference business enables events to be established at the behest and preference of each city, rather than it being delegated to cities by VisitScotland.

VisitScotland supports Glasgow in its efforts to secure business events via the provision of Scotland-branded marketing platforms including tradeshows, enabling Glasgow and Scotland to promote itself to global markets.

In the past 7 years, Glasgow and has been exhibited on the VisitScotland stand at IMEX Frankfurt, IMEX America, The Meetings Show London, IBTM World and the Conference Hospitality Show. VisitScotland has also directly supported business events to come to Glasgow through the match funded National Conference Bid Fund. In the life of the fund 68 conferences have been supported through this route.

Glasgow has also been profiled at international industry events solely through, or jointly with VisitScotland in the past 7 years including: PCMA Convening Leaders; PCMA EduCon; MPI; Destinations International; PCMA Convening EMEA; ICCA World Congress; M&I Forums; and VisitScotland Association Receptions in Washington DC and Brussels.

A programme of communications and engagement is planned to promote the launch of the General Practice Armed Forces and Veterans’ Recognition Scheme. This will include working with key stakeholder groups, and through their networks, raising awareness of the scheme and encouraging take up by General Practices.

We recognise the value of this scheme and are working to ensure that awareness of the scheme is optimised among both General Practices and their patients.

General Practises keen to be involved can contact gp-afv@gov.scot for more information.

I have committed to updating the Scottish Parliament on Phase 3 of the Learning Estate Investment Programme by the end of October.