Skills Development Scotland wrote to contracted training providers and employers in October 2021, setting out their intention to extend Modern Apprenticeships (MA) contracts. This extension was for a period of 12 months from 1 April 2022 to 31 March 2023. SDS can extend these contracts for a further 12 months from 2023 to 2024. Any extensions are subject to budget allocation for that financial year.

SDS have made clear that any organisation seeking to bid for MA contracts out with the commissioning period can do this as a sub-contractor, working with an existing contracted provider.

SDS may also extend other contracts such as for IT services or facilities, in line with normal practice for these type of contracts.

Prior to October 2020, Scottish local authorities could claim for subsidy from the EU School Milk Scheme to put towards their local school milk schemes. Following the United Kingdom's exit from the European Union, the Scottish Government committed to providing funding to allow Scottish local authorities to continue offering subsidised milk in their schools.

This funding arrangement will continue for the remainder of the 2021-22 school year during which time we will be working with our local authority partners to develop a free school milk scheme which provides for children’s dietary needs. Stakeholder engagement will take place appropriately during that process.

The arrangements for school inspections this academic year take account of the current situation with COVID-19. As announced on 16 September 2021 HM Inspectors of Education are taking forward a phased approach to scrutiny activity. Initially HM Inspectors are visiting over 90 schools awaiting a further inspection following an inspection before the pandemic. These visits are taking place currently and 64 schools have been visited so far with visits to the other schools planned. HM Inspectors of Education are also visiting schools as part of national thematic inspections. To date 61 school visits have taken place as part of national thematic inspections.

The Scottish Environment Protection Agency (SEPA) is responsible for regulating gravel extraction from rivers under the Water Environment (Controlled Activities) (Scotland) Regulations 2011 (CAR). Due to the cyber attack SEPA experienced at the end of 2020 it only currently has licence information available for 2021 until the impacted data is recovered for previous years.

In 2021 SEPA issued six licences where sediment management was one of the activities, as detailed in the following table. These activities fall into two main categories – either flood prevention (where there is no practical alternative e.g. clearing under a bridge or other pinch point) or as part of works to protect/ repair an asset.

In July 2016 it was agreed by Scottish Ministers and COSLA that from 2016-17 onwards 80% of the flood component of the general capital grant would be allocated to large scale projects and distributed according to the SEPA prioritisation of flooding schemes and works set out in the Flood Risk Management Strategies. There were 40 eligible schemes on SEPA’s prioritised list, which was published in December 2015. The Scottish Government is currently committed to funding these 40 schemes subject to the caveat that these remain viable projects. For an eligible scheme, grant funding will also cover all capital expenditure related to the scheme before building work has commenced. What is a capital cost is determined in accordance with proper accounting practice.

The Scottish Government has committed to Keeping The Promise by 2030 and will continue to work with The Promise Scotland, and partners to do so.

The consultation on the creation of a National Care Service closed on 2 November 2021 after receiving over 100 written responses, over 3000 people reached through engagement events. The consultation paper set out questions, which go further than the recommendations, made in the Independent Review of Adult Social Care, and propose that social work and social care services for children and young people should be considered as potentially beneficial for inclusion within the scope of the NCS.

Scottish Government need to consider how best to ensure the consistent delivery of services to all families, with a focus on those children and families in vulnerable situations. This is frequently related to the need for provision of joined-up support to families, and wellbeing needs arising where a parent/carer requires services for adults.

All views on the National Care Services and the inclusion of Children’s Services are welcomed and will be carefully considered in planning for the future design and delivery of the NCS. We are working with children’s participation groups to ensure that meaningful engagement can take place with children and young people.

The Scottish Government is committed to improving the lived experiences of young people who require additional support, and to ensuring that young people are at the centre of all transition planning for their future.

The Scottish Government has partnered with Association for Real Change (ARC) Scotland to deliver the Principles into Practice Trial Programme that sets out practical steps to be taken locally to coordinate planning and practice to deliver better outcomes for young people who require additional support to make the transition to young adult life, and to measure the difference they are making.

The Scottish Funding Council’s (SFC) funding helps learners with additional support needs to overcome difficulties they may encounter in the course of their studies. Their Access and Inclusion strategy facilitates the SFC to outline areas of strategic importance and to direct funds to address these priorities. The Access and Inclusion Fund is an integral element of colleges’ core funding and is used to support the teaching and learning of disabled students.

The college funding formula also contains a bespoke price group which recognises the higher cost of teaching students who have greater difficulty in learning than the majority of other students and who have been assessed as requiring additional support. The bespoke courses delivered through this price group have smaller class sizes, and the funding model provides the college with additional resource to recognise the additional costs involved.

For 2021-22, SFC also issued clarification that students with disabilities, supported learners and students whose educational development does not match a standard progression model may be supported over an extended timeframe and on a non-standard pattern of progression.

The Scottish Government are undertaking a range of measures to support disabled young people to access positive post-school destinations, including introducing Scotland’s first National Transitions to Adulthood Strategy in this Parliamentary Term. The Strategy is jointly led by the Minister for Equalities & Older People and the Minister for Children and Young People, to focus on supporting our disabled young people. As part of our commitment to improving transitions for young people, the Scottish Government has been working in partnership with ARC (Association for Real Change) Scotland to develop and deliver the Principles into Practice trial programme, a trial of ARC’s transitions framework.

In addition, we are implementing the independent Morgan Review recommendations for Additional Support for Learning, to ensure improvements are being made to effectively implement legislation and policy across Scotland. On 1 November we launched the Getting It Right For Every Child guidance refresh consultation, which includes the role of the Lead Professional. This refresh will include developing practice guidance on planning for children.

The Young Person’s Guarantee also has an important role in supporting young disabled people into education, training and employment, including supported employment. Since the Guarantee’s launch in November 2020 we have provided additional funding of up to £130 million, with the aim of supporting at least 24,000 new and enhanced opportunities. This includes over 11,000 employability and training opportunities for young people through Local Employability Partnerships (LEPs).

LEPs are prioritising support for disabled young people through employer recruitment incentives and specialist programmes, with some offering targeted support for those with complex additional support needs. Many partnerships are working with specialist organisations such as Project Search and Penumbra.

Through Developing the Young Workforce and Enable Works, Young Person’s Guarantee funding is also connecting over 1,000 disabled young people to fair work, education and opportunities designed to ensure a successful transition into adult life and work.

The Scottish Government and Skills Development Scotland recognise that disabled people can face additional challenges in their career journeys, therefore enhanced contribution rates are available for Modern Apprentices up to the age of 29 who self-identify as disabled. SAAS administer the Disabled Students’ Allowance to support disabled students and those with additional learning needs and may have extra costs because of their impairment. Furthermore, many colleges and universities provide support to disabled young people while they are studying.

The Young Person’s Guarantee is part of a basket of interventions designed to support disabled young people that will contribute to the refresh of A Fairer Scotland for Disabled People – Employment Action Plan , due for publication next Spring.

The Scottish Government remains committed to improving the educational experiences of young people with complex additional support needs.

Students with disabilities or additional support needs can access a variety of support to assist their access to Further Education and Higher Education. The Additional Support Needs for Learners Allowance in Further Education and the Disabled Students Allowance (DSA) in Higher Education, provide financial assistance which can be used to facilitate support which is individual to the student’s needs.

Student Awards Agency Scotland (SAAS) are currently leading a project on behalf of the Scottish Government, reviewing the disability related student support element, encompassing both Further Education and Higher Education.

The project aims to deliver a suite of recommendations which will seek to improve the provision of support and increase parity across the sector. This will include improvements to the Higher Education Disabled Students Allowance (DSA) administered by SAAS and the Additional Support Needs for Learners Allowance which is available to students in Further Education.

The Scottish Funding Council (SFC) Outcome Agreement Guidance for 2021-22 sets out that SFC expect institutions to comply with their legal duties including setting and delivering equality outcomes.

I refer the member to the answer to question S6W-04204 on 19 November 2021. 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