The Scottish Government is working with local government partners on the Additional Support for Learning Project Board to deliver the recommendations of the 2020 additional support for learning review by March 2026. As outlined in our updated action plan , published in November 2022, we committed to revise GIRFEC policy and practice guidance, and to consider a single planning process for children and young people.

I refer the member to the answer to question S6W-15687 on 22 March 2023. All answers to written Parliamentary Questions are available on the Parliament's website, the search facility for which can be found at www.parliament.scot/chamber-and-committees/written-questions-and-answers .

The Scottish Government is working with local government partners on the Additional Support for Learning Project Board to deliver the recommendations of the 2020 additional support for learning review by March 2026. As outlined in our updated action plan published in November 2022, we are committed to enhancing implementation of additional support for learning including co-ordinated support plans. This work will be considered as part of the review of the statutory guidance on additional support for learning, which is already underway.

Progress can be followed through the published minutes of the Project Board.

The final report by the Short Life Working Group on Co-ordinated Support Plans sets out the key issues and barriers to CSP implementation.

As set out in the November 2022 update to the Additional Support for Learning Review Action Plan, the Scottish Government discussed with GTCS and SCDE the viability of a first teaching qualification in additional support for learning being available at the initial teacher education stage.

The conclusion of these discussions was that this type of qualification may not be considered attractive to those considering a career in teaching and that student teachers need to experience the full spectrum of school teaching during initial teacher education and probation before being in a position to make an informed judgement on specialising in additional support for learning.

The Scottish Government is working with local government partners on the Additional Support for Learning Project Board to deliver the recommendations of the 2020 additional support for learning review by March 2026. As outlined in our updated action plan , published in November 2022, we have committed to engaging with Audit Scotland on a national performance audit on outcomes for children and young people with additional support needs. This work will be undertaken by Audit Scotland, and is therefore for them to determine their timescales. I have asked officials to make Audit Scotland aware of your question.

Progress by the Additional Support for Learning Project Board can be followed through the published minutes . A further progress update is due to be published in May 2024.

The Association for Real Change (ARC) Scotland’s Principles into Practice trial programme, which was conducted in ten participating Local Authority areas, concluded on 31 March 2023. The revised Principles into Practice Framework will shortly be made available on ARC’s dedicated website, along with Compass - an online tool developed in partnership with young people and parents and carers during the trial programme, to help them, and the professionals who support them, to navigate the transition to young adult life.

Over the next two years ARC Scotland will continue the work of the Scottish Transitions Forum, including supporting the wider implementation of Principles into Practice across Scotland, through funding from the Scottish Government’s Children, Young People, Families and Adult Learning Third Sector Fund.

The most recent statistics report Poverty and Income Inequality in Scotland 2019-22 includes data tables showing a time series of poverty rates for children by whether the mother is under or over the age of 25. This report is available at Poverty and Income Inequality in Scotland 2019-22 (data.gov.scot) . However, it has not been possible to publish poverty rates for children where the mother was under 25 from 2016 onward due to small sub-sample sizes. The next report will be in March 2024.

The most recent statistics report Poverty and Income Inequality in Scotland 2019-22 , shows an estimated 36% of households with household heads aged 16 to 24 were in relative poverty after housing costs. Over the past decade, the estimates have fluctuated between 27% and 33% for this age group.

Whilst Poverty and Income Inequality in Scotland 2019-22 shows that the poverty rate after housing costs for all individuals in Scotland remained below that of the UK, we recognise too many people are living in poverty, and that is why tackling poverty and protecting people from harm is one of three critical and interdependent missions for this government.

We are committed to using our fixed budget and all the powers we have to reach our targets of substantially reducing child poverty, providing immediate support to families whilst also tackling the underlying causes of poverty.

Our second tackling child poverty delivery plan ‘ Best Start, Bright Futures ’, focused on the six priority family types identified as being at greatest risk of poverty - including families with a mother under 25. In August 2022 we published a focus report on households with mothers aged 25 or under , presenting further evidence of the drivers of child poverty amongst this priority group to inform future action.

We are already taking significant action to tackle poverty amongst families. This includes increasing the value of the Scottish Child Payment to £25 per week, per child, and opening applications to all eligible under 16s in November 2022. Our five family payments, including the Scottish Child Payment, could be worth over £10,000 by the time an eligible child turns 6. This compares to less than £2,000 for eligible families’ in England and Wales, with Scottish support providing over £20,000 by the time an eligible child is 16 years old.

Young families can also benefit from free bus travel for under 22s and the provision of 1,140 hours per year of funded, high-quality early learning and childcare for eligible children, which would cost families around £5,000 per eligible child per year if they were to pay for it themselves. Going forward, the Scottish Government is committed to building a system of school age childcare and developing a funded early learning and childcare offer for 1 and 2 year olds, focusing on those who need it most.

The Scottish Government also provides more targeted support for young families through the Family Nurse Partnership, which we have committed to expanding to all young first-time mothers aged 21 and under by the end of 2024, and, where capacity allows, targeting first time mothers aged 25 and under who are care experienced or from the most deprived communities. This expansion will support up to an additional 500 families per year by 2025.

This intensive relational based support provided to young families is holistic in nature, aims to address immediate health and wellbeing needs and build pathways into community supports and resources to address social and economic factors, such as housing stability, welfare, education, employment and money advice.

As at 31 March, almost 400,000 low income households had automatically received £50 in Winter Heating Payments to support them with their energy bills for this winter. All will have received a letter explaining their entitlement to the benefit.

Information on payments for Winter Heating Payment will be included within Official Statistics that will be published on 6 June 2023. These will be available on Social Security Scotland’s statistics publication page at:

https://www.socialsecurity.gov.scot/about/statistics/social-security-scotland-statistics-publications

A first release of Official Statistics on Winter Heating Payment will be published on 06 June 2023, covering up to 31 March 2023. Subject to disclosure control, the publication will include breakdowns of applications and payments by channel, including paper forms. The figures will also be reported as percentages of total applications received. These will be available on Social Security Scotland’s statistics publication page at:

https://www.socialsecurity.gov.scot/about/statistics/social-security-scotland-statistics-publications .

In line with the Code of Practice for Statistics, care will be taken to ensure that these publications are produced to a level of quality that meets users’ needs. Published data will be subject to disclosure control methods to protect the confidentiality of the data.

Data on the number of people who are eligible for the payment is not available.