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I am advised that Education Scotland’s draft Professional Learning Framework has been an iterative process, developed as a result of formal and informal feedback from a wide range of practitioners and other users who have participated in Education Scotland’s professional learning. This includes direct work with Local Authorities, schools, teachers, Senior Managers in schools, and other stakeholders. Evaluations from these activities and discussions with users over a two-to-three-year period, has shaped our current offer.

Some of the stakeholders involved in shaping the concept and content of the draft Framework are:

• ES Inclusion Link officers National Network. Almost all 32 local authority officers attended a presentation of the Professional Learning Framework and provided feedback.
• ASLO (Additional Support for Learning Link Officer) National Network, which been involved in commenting over the development phase of the framework. Almost all authorities are represented on this Network.
• Social Emotional and Behavioural Needs National Network representing 31 Education Authorities.
• Complex Needs National Network. 32 Local Authority representatives working with the most challenging children and young people, have provided feedback.
• Evidence from recent Collaborative Improvement Activity with Renfrewshire, North Lanarkshire, and Scottish Borders, helped to identify gaps in resources, and where a refresh of resources and/or focus was required in current materials.
• Cheryl Burnet National Parent Council.
• National Network comprising Children’s Parliament, Young Scott, UNICEF, Children in Scotland all of whom are part of a and helped us to identify strengths and gaps in resources.
• SG Programme boards in Inclusion, behaviour, anti-racism, gender, Hate Crime, and LGBTI.

The Office of the Public Guardian (OPG) is part of the Scottish Courts and Tribunal Service (SCTS). As such, operational decisions regarding power of attorney applications are the responsibility of SCTS under the leadership of its independent board headed by the Lord President.

The Scottish Government has provided SCTS with additional funding since 2021 to support OPG recovery and further additional funding last year to support the replacement of the Office of the Public Guardian IT system.

Work on the new OPG IT system, which is expected to reduce processing times for power of attorney applications, is progressing as planned and it is expected that the first phase of the work will be completed this year.

The Scottish Government typically meets OPG once every 3-6 months to discuss ongoing business matters, including registration of powers of attorney.

The Royal Blind School receives annual grant funding from the Scottish Government, which is used to support the direct delivery of specialist education and care provision for children and young people with complex additional support needs, including those with visual impairment. The key recurring grant objectives set out for the school in their annual grant letters since 2019-20 are:

• Provide high quality education and / or care to the children and young people who attend the Royal Blind School and Sight Scotland education outreach services.
• Continue to develop the delivery of peripatetic support to local authorities, children and young people with visual impairment.
• Identify collaboratively, the development objectives with all pupils, staff and stakeholders.
• Evidence and maintain the Royal Blind School’s leading position and its value to the provision and enhancement of good practice in education, learning and care for school age children with Visual Impairment and particularly those with complex additional support needs.
• Ensure the ongoing viability of the school, continue to be committed to attracting and developing alternative sources of income through commercial activity and partnership working.
• Improve and develop partnership opportunities with all stakeholders of the Royal Blind School.
• In addition to the core objectives set out above, two further objectives were set within specific years. These were not recurring objectives and were met within the years set.
• Throughout 2020-21 implement the actions/activities in the School Improvement Plan to ensure children and young people who attend the Royal Blind School receive high quality education and care.
• To continue to develop and operate the Learning Hub in order to provide support to local authorities, children and young people with visual impairment and their families and other agencies with visual impairment across Scotland; and provide by 31 March 2020 an evaluation of progress in the 2019-20 outcomes report.

In February 2023, the Scottish Government published its Draft Agricultural Reform List of Measures outlining the intention to develop future agricultural support conditionality options, which could recognise appropriate uptake of methane suppressing feed products by farmers. We are continuing to work with industry to establish options for recognising use of these products and other practices which can reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

We agree with Audit Scotland on the scale of the challenge to decarbonise heat in our buildings. That is why we are consulting just now on proposals to prohibit the use of polluting heating systems in Scotland’s homes and buildings by 2045. This, alongside our proposals for standards for social housing, the development of heat networks and the introduction of a New Build Heat Standard, will transform the way we heat and insulate our buildings.

Education Scotland do not undertake individual characteristic impact analysis on our resources.

The new draft Inclusion, Wellbeing and Equalities Professional Learning Framework will be reviewed in April through to June 2024 and user feedback will be included in a formal Equality Impact Assessment.

As announced in the statement to the Scottish Parliament on 12 December 2023 His Majesty’s Chief Inspector of Education will arrange for HM Inspectors to carry out a national thematic inspection of mathematics in 2024, which will report in autumn 2024.

A national thematic inspection of literacy and English will begin in 2024. The timescale for reporting currently being finalised by HM Inspectors.

The final thematic reports will be developed by HM Inspectors and will be published on the Education Scotland website and shared with schools and local authorities. The reports will summarise the findings of HM Inspectors and highlight what is working well, and what needs to improve.

We have begun engagement with trade unions and other stakeholders in preparation for the wider co-design process which will start this month. We anticipate the design process will take approximately six months to ensure this is a collaborative endeavour. This will feed into the identification of a suitable host institution, followed by a launch once appointed. Specific timelines will follow once the specification of the Centre has been developed through the co-design process.

Since 2013 the Scottish Government has provided local authorities and third sector partners with funding of over £50m in support of the implementation of the 1+2 languages approach in schools.

From 23 March 2022 to end September 2023, 15,765 homes have been delivered towards the 110,000 affordable homes target, of which 12,188 (77%) are homes for social rent. The next set of quarterly statistics, to end December 2023, will be published towards the end of March.

Inflationary pressures, Brexit impacts and wider market conditions have combined to trigger various issues including rising construction costs and workforce challenges. The housing sector has done incredible work to deliver homes in these circumstances and we continue to work with partners to mitigate these impacts.

We remain focused on delivering 110,000 affordable homes by 2032 and to support that we will bring forward the review scheduled for 2026-27 to 2024, which will concentrate on deliverability.

And we are accelerating work with the financial community in Scotland, and elsewhere, to boost private sector investment and help deliver more homes.