The Scottish Government collect data on all 16-19 year olds through the Skills Development Scotland’s Annual Participation Measure and publish Labour Market Statistics for 16-24 year olds.

From April 2023 the Young Person’s Guarantee has been mainstreamed across Government, with activity across education, skills and employability supporting young people into opportunities. We therefore do not collect the data requested.

Data will continue to inform our approach to policy-making.

Funding for the Young Person’s Guarantee was allocated through Further Education, Higher Education, the third sector and Developing the Young Workforce. For the employability element of the Young Person’s Guarantee, funding was allocated through Local Employability Partnerships (LEPs) which then distributed funding based on local context and needs. We do not hold a breakdown of allocation to rural and remote areas.

From April 2023 the Young Person’s Guarantee has been mainstreamed across Government, with activity across education, skills and employability supporting young people into opportunities.

The Young Person’s Guarantee Measurement and Evaluation Framework was published in February 2022. This set out the approach envisaged at the time to monitor and evaluate the progress with the Guarantee, including Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) and a planned Implementation Evaluation. The framework is available at: Young Person's Guarantee: measurement and evaluation framework - gov.scot (www.gov.scot).

The Young Person’s Guarantee Implementation Progress Report (July 2021) and Update Report (March 2023) both highlight progress made over the 2 years. The reports also summarised developments at the time in relation to KPIs identified in the monitoring and evaluation framework. These reports can be found at:

Young Person's Guarantee - implementation: progress report - gov.scot (www.gov.scot)

Young Person's Guarantee: update report March 2023 - gov.scot (www.gov.scot)

The Scottish Government published the Implementation Evaluation of No One Left Behind & the Young Person's Guarantee in August 2023. This evaluation considered progress in implementation and delivery, the experiences of service providers and service users, barriers and enablers to implementation and identified lessons from early delivery.

The Implementation Evaluation of No One Left Behind & the Young Person's Guarantee is available at: No One Left Behind and the Young Person's Guarantee: implementation evaluation - gov.scot (www.gov.scot)

From April 2023 the Young Person’s Guarantee has been mainstreamed across Government, with activity across education, skills and employability supporting young people into opportunities.

Transport Scotland is in regular contact with Hargreaves, the developer for the Blindwells Development. The last meeting took place on 3 September 2024.

As with any litigation, the details of any settlement are confidential to the parties involved in that litigation. The Scottish Ministers however can confirm that the total costs incurred by the Scottish Ministers in relation to the cases of McMaster & Others v the Scottish Ministers and MacKay & Another v the Scottish Ministers is £1,033,302.75.

Scottish Ministers honoured the commitment to treat sympathetically the compensation claims of the tenant farmers in the court actions of McMaster & Others v Scottish Ministers and Mackay & Another v the Scottish Ministers. Settlement terms are confidential to the parties involved in a litigation and should not be disclosed.

Education Maintenance Allowance (EMA) is available at school and college for eligible 16-19 year olds supporting them to remain and progress in learning. For those at school, and under 17 who are not eligible for EMA, they may receive Free School Meals and/or the School Clothing Grant depending on their individual circumstances.

Similarly, for those young people studying a further education course at college, they may be eligible for discretionary funding, study costs and childcare funding. This support is assessed and administered directly by individual colleges.

In the instances where a young person under 17 opts to study a higher education course, they may be eligible to apply for tuition fee support, bursary and living cost grants to support them throughout their studies. Students over the age of 16 are also eligible to apply for a student loan. This support is assessed and administered by the Student Awards Agency Scotland (SAAS).

All young people and children living in Scotland aged 5-21 can apply for a card to access the Young Persons’ (Under 22s) Free Bus Travel Scheme.

The Scottish Government does not currently provide direct funding to Legion Scotland’s Veterans Community Support Service. The Service does, however, receive Scottish Government grant funding indirectly through the Unforgotten Forces consortium, which the Scottish Government has funded since 2020. In 2023 the consortium’s Scottish Government funding was extended for a further three years on the condition that they develop and implement a long term sustainable funding model from 2026 onwards, and we are liaising with the consortium to support them in that transition.

The consortium independently allocates funding from the Scottish Government grant amongst their partners each financial year, in line with grant conditions. Therefore, if the consortium have other funds available once the Scottish Government funding has ceased then the decision on whether funding continues to be allocated to the Veterans Community Support Service beyond 2026 will be made by them.

A possible alternative source of funding for the Veterans Community Support Service is the Scottish Government’s Scottish Veterans Fund. The Fund provides a total of £500,000 per annum for projects that support the Armed Forces and veterans community. Details regarding the 2026-2027 funding round will be announced closer to the time.

Maree Todd: The Scottish Government recognises the import role parents and carers play in supporting the mental health and wellbeing of children and young people. Because of this, we continue to invest in a range of initiatives to give parents and carers the confidence and skills they may require to support their children while looking after their own wellbeing.

The Scottish Government’s Parent Club web resource, and associated marketing campaigns, provide parents and carers with tips, advice and links to further information on how to support their children’s mental health and wellbeing from birth to teenage years. The website also gives information on how parents and carers can support their own mental wellbeing and maintain resilience. https://www.parentclub.scot/topics/mental-health-wellbeing

Parents and cares in Scotland can also access, free, online courses, expertly designed for parents, carers and grandparents on supporting the emotional wellbeing of their children. These courses are provided by NHS Education for Scotland, in partnership with the Solihull Approach. https://inourplace.co.uk/scotland/

In addition, since 2020, we have provided local authorities with over £50 million to develop and deliver Community Mental Health and Wellbeing Supports and Services, for children, young people and their families, with a further £15 million committed for 2024/25. The services are focused on prevention and early intervention and, where appropriate, offer an alternative to CAMHS by providing support in a community setting.

Community supports and services are available in every local authority area, with more than 300 now in place across the country. Local authorities have advised that over 58,000 people used the supports and services in the first half of 2023. This includes parents and carers who have received advice and assistance on supporting their children’s mental health and wellbeing through; mentoring services, digital services, whole-family supports, counselling services and spaces for peer learning and advice.