Seòmar agus comataidhean

In the 2 years of SEEP Test and learn Scottish colleges and universities planned to collaborate with over 100 international partners across 38 countries. Please see a list below of countries partnered with in year one and year two.

1.Argentina

2.Australia

3.Belgium

4.Brazil

5.Canada

6.China

7.Czech Republic

8.Denmark

9.Egypt

10.Estonia

11.Finland

12.Flanders

13.France

14.Germany

15.Ghana

16.Greece

17.Hong Kong

18.India

19.Indonesia

20.Ireland

21.Japan

22.Italy

23.Lithuania

24.Malaysia

25.Nepal

26.Netherlands

27.Pakistan

28.Singapore

29.Spain

30.South Africa

31.South Korea

32.Sweden

33.Taiwan

34.UAE

35.Uruguay

36.USA

37.Valencia

38.Vietnam

The information requested is not held centrally.

Information on university retention rates is published by the Scottish Funding Council (SFC) in the statistics publication Report on Widening Access. There is no breakdown by those with teacher assessed grades.

The latest publication is available on the SFC’s website: https://www.sfc.ac.uk/publications/report-on-widening-access-2022-23/.

The Scottish Education Exchange Programme (SEEP) Test and Learn Project was launched in 2023.

In year 1 the project did not directly fund any student exchanges. Institutions prioritised staff mobility projects supporting the development of sustainable partnerships.

Projects in year 2 of the test and learn provided opportunities for students from Scottish institutions who would not meet the criteria for Turing Scheme funding to participate in a mobility project.

Year 2 projects concluded on 31 March 2025. Institutions are currently submitting end of project reports which will feed into the external evaluation of the project, the report from which is due to be published late summer.

Additional information on the year 2 projects can be found on the Scottish Government website: Scottish Education Exchange Programme: - Test and Learn: funded projects - gov.scot.

This year Extended Producer Responsibility for Packaging (pEPR) will commence payments to local authorities to support efficient and effective collection services for household packaging waste. There will be no reduction in the local government finance settlement as a result of extended producer responsibility for packaging payments in the first year of the scheme (2025-26). This additional funding will ensure that local authorities are supported to deliver household collection of packaging waste across Scotland.

The Circular Economy Route map commits Scottish Government to co-design the new Code of Practice to create modern, efficient, and affordable waste and recycling service standards that are deliverable. This includes ensuring the most effective approaches to implementing kerbside collection of plastic film and flexible packaging in Scotland. Individual local authority performance targets and pEPR payments will also help underpin increased collection and aggregation. The Recycling Improvement Fund has already helped two authorities to collect flexible plastic from households across their full authority area (Fife and Perth & Kinross).

The UK Plastic Packaging Tax incentivises the use of recycled plastic by taxing plastic packaging components containing less than 30% recycled plastic. From April 2027 changes to this tax will mean that pre-consumer plastic waste will not count towards this percentage, further acting as a “pull” to increase use of recycled content. The tax has increased from £210.82 per tonne in 2023 to £223.69 per tonne on April 1, 2025.

The Task and Finish Group was established by the Scottish Government and NHS Scotland Planning and Delivery Board. In line with other Task and Finish Groups, NHS Board regional lead Chief Executives were asked to nominate regional representatives with a range of experience to sit on this Group. Therefore the Scottish Government was not directly involved in determining who should join the Group.

However, the Scottish Government expects that the Group members will engage with a range of staff in their region and other stakeholders where appropriate. Task and Finish groups may create subgroups of the main group, including inviting clinicians with specific training and/or experience, where they require specific clinical expertise or knowledge to help inform the final model.

The Scottish Government values the input of clinicians in informing any recommendations regarding abortion services. The Scottish Government works closely with services through the Scottish Abortion Care Providers network in particular to identify contributors with suitable clinical backgrounds to be involved in any groups convened by the Scottish Government regarding abortion services.

The Scottish Government’s supplementary Financial Memorandum, to reflect the scaled-back care reform proposals for the Care Reform (Scotland) Bill, was published on the Health, Social Care & Sport Committee’s website on 25 March 2025.

Currently there are 110 Full Time Equivalent (FTE) Civil Servants in the NCS Programme working on wider social care reform. Within the 110 (FTE) we have four staff working on the Care Reform (Scotland) Bill.

The Scottish Government has provided specific funding to NHS Boards for the development of a thrombectomy service to treat ischaemic stroke: £6.6 million in 2021-22; £7.2 million in 2022-23; £10.1 million in 2023-24 and £12.1 million in 2024-25. 2025-26 thrombectomy funding allocations will exceed the funding provided in 2024-25.

In addition, the Scottish Government has provided funding to support the delivery of the Stroke Improvement Plan and wider stroke improvement work: £182,980 in 2021-22; £174,489 in 2022-23; £185,507 in 2023-24 and £175,150 in 2024-25.

While we know thrombectomy procedures are not currently available overnight, stroke care is available and we expect NHS Boards to provide safe, effective and person-centred care for those who have experienced a stroke, at all times.

Dualling of the A9 will improve connectivity of the Highlands with the Central Belt of Scotland, reducing journey times and improving journey time reliability. Whilst dualling of the A9 between Perth and Inverness is likely to support delivery of some of the projects identified in the Project Willow report, where those entail transportation of materials by road to or from the Highlands, it is unlikely that dualling would be necessary for delivery of those projects.