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In 2020-2021, there was a total of £118.9m spent on accommodation-based services for children and young people. A breakdown by provider is not available for this year.

In 2021-2022 there was a total of £133.4 million spent on accommodation-based services for children and young people. This can be broken down to £110.5 million for care homes run by the council and £22.9 million for care homes not run by the council. A further breakdown by voluntary and private providers is not available.

In 2022-2023 there was a total of £139.6 million spent on accommodation-based services for children and young people. This can be broken down to £115 million for care homes run by the council and £24.6 million for care homes not run by the council. A further breakdown by voluntary and private providers is not available.

The data for 2023-2024 will be published in February 2025.

The implementation of the Scottish Recommended Allowance for Foster and Kinship Carers was an agreement between Scottish Government and COSLA. Part of this agreement was that where local authorities were already paying above the national minimum allowance, this would continue so that kinship or foster carers currently in receipt of the allowance would not be worse off because of this commitment. Therefore, while the national rate has been implemented, the allowances paid by local authorities may still differ. Officials are working with Social Work Scotland to ensure that all local authorities are publishing their allowances online, so that rates paid are transparent.

The wellbeing and safety of children and young people is always paramount, and the Scottish Government is clear that the use of restraint should always be a last resort in exceptional circumstances when it is the only practicable means of securing the welfare or safety of the child or another person.

The Scottish Government does not hold information on how many looked after or care experienced young people have been subject to restraint.

The Care Inspectorate oversees reporting and monitoring on the use of restraint in care services and collects data on the number of restraints that occur in registered care settings, such as care homes for children and young people, school care accommodation services and secure accommodation services. In order to improve monitoring and reporting of restraint of children in these settings, the Care Inspectorate intend to publish its data on restraint annually. The first report is due to be published shortly.

The Scottish Government does not monitor the financial health of private providers of residential children’s homes. Local authorities are responsible for the placement of children and young people and decisions that relate to the most suitable options for meeting their needs.

The Care Inspectorate range of powers include that they can require providers to make proper provision for children’s needs. However, how private providers do that and how they are funded is their responsibility.

We continue to engage with the UK Government, the Welsh Government and the Northern Ireland Executive on a regular basis to understand and learn from how responses to this issue are developing across the UK.

Statistics on school exclusions are collected and published biennially.

In 2020-21, there were 1,650 exclusions of children who had been looked after within the last year. In 2022-23, there were 1,912 exclusions of children who had been looked after within the last year. As children can be excluded more than once per year, a single child may be counted more than once in these figures.

A link to the latest statistics is provided here: Education Outcomes for Looked After Children 2022/23 - gov.scot (www.gov.scot)

The Scottish Government does not hold this information.

Local authorities are responsible for the placement of children and young people and decisions that relate to the most suitable options for meeting their needs.

The Promise is clear that there is no place for profiting in how Scotland cares for its children. The Scottish Government is committed to Keeping The Promise and we are working alongside COSLA and local government to consider what further steps could be taken in Scotland.

We recognise the enormous contribution the Murray family has made to tennis in Scotland and we are committed to delivering a tangible and fitting legacy.

sportscotland’s provisional allocation of up to £5m for the development of a potential tennis facility at Park of Keir remains in place to deliver a suitable Murray Legacy in Scotland.

We will work with sportscotland, the Murray family, and wider partners, to ensure that we capitalise on the achievements of one of Scotland's greatest ever athletes.

I refer the member to the answer to question S6W-29676 on 18 September 2024. All answers to written Parliamentary Questions are available on the Parliament's website, the search facility for which can be found at https://www.parliament.scot/chamber-and-committees/written-questions-and-answers.

It is important to acknowledge that vaccines are medicines and like all medicines they can have side effects and, on rare occasions, cause injury. Thankfully, most side effects are mild and short lived, but the Scottish Government recognises that some are not.

The Scottish Government has corresponded with the Scottish Vaccine Injury Group on several occasions, and has routinely signposted members of the public to the vaccine damage payment scheme when they have raised issues of vaccine–related injury. The safety of medicines, including vaccines, and the subject matter of the Vaccine Damage Payments Scheme are matters which are reserved to the UK Government, therefore we are unable to comment on individual cases.

The Scottish COVID-19 Inquiry is currently underway and the forthcoming Module 4 of the UK COVID-19 Public Inquiry on Vaccines and Therapeutics will consider vaccine safety and other aspects, such as potential reforms to the Vaccine Damage Payment Scheme.

The Scottish Vaccine Injury Group is a core participant of both the UK and Scottish Inquiries and as such has a central role. Due to the group’s involvement with the Inquiries, it would not be appropriate for Ministers to meet with them at this stage.

I advised through recent correspondence with the Scottish Vaccine Injury Group that I would be open to meeting with representatives of the group once Module 4 of the UK Inquiry has concluded, and after Baroness Hallett has issued my recommendations. This would facilitate a full and open discussion to take place between both parties, where recommendations could be discussed, especially if there were any the group felt weren’t full addressed as part of the inquiry.