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The Scottish Government is committed to strengthening our approach to parental engagement to ensure there are a range of opportunities for parents and carers to shape and influence policy development. There is a need to establish a broader, more representative model to support meaningful engagement from parents and carers and this is what the National Parent Panel will do. It will play a critical role in informing policy, and providing advice and challenge to Government as we drive improvement in our education system.

The Scottish Government recognises some duplication in how parents and carers are engaged by a range of parental focused organisations at local and national level, including the National Parent Forum of Scotland and Connect. However, we must ensure that, at this critical juncture for education reform, meaningful engagement draws on a wide range of perspectives and experiences from all parts of Scotland. As such, we have concluded that there is a need to establish a broader, more representative model to support engagement from parents and carers through the National Parent Panel.

The Chair of the National Parent Forum of Scotland was informed on 14 May 2024 that the Scottish Government would not be continuing to grant fund the organisation beyond 2023/24.

Under standard and ongoing grant management arrangements, the National Parent Forum Scotland (NPFS) has had many opportunities to provide advice and challenge to a range of Scottish Government policies since the organisation was established in 2009.

Data on Fracture Liaison Services across Scotland are not centrally held by the Scottish Government.

In 2023 Scottish Government committed to carrying out a scoping exercise across Health Boards to consider the FLS audit through Scottish National Audit Programme (SNAP) with Public Health Scotland (PHS).

Scottish Government committed to funding up to £150,000 for this scoping exercise and a potential audit in year 1. This has now been completed and PHS have put forwards a Business Case to Scottish Government which is currently being considered.

The Digital Start Fund was established in 2019 and ran for three years. Scottish Government provided SDS with £3,083,383 for the Digital Start Fund programme.

(a) The eligibility criteria for the Digital start fund required applicants to meet at least one of the following conditions:

? Unemployed

? In receipt of a low income benefit such as Universal Credit

? Employed on an income of £16,000 or less

? Experience two or more barriers or disadvantages as defined by Scottish Government’s European Structural and Investment Funds Participant Guidance .

SDS, who administered the fund, do not hold the data necessary to determine how many participants met each of these specific criteria.

(b) Over three years, the Digital Start Fund supported 468 individuals with 380 candidates completing training. Their employment status when starting the training is broken down as follows:

? Year One: unemployed individuals 55.7%; employed 28.7%

? Year Two:unemployed individuals 71.3%; employed 18.3%

? Year Three: unemployed individuals 50.9%, employed 35.3%

The SQA publish information on the number of entries to Higher subjects by male and female candidates on the attainment statistics pages of their website: Attainment Statistics - SQA

Based on this the percentage of entries to Higher computing science by female candidates in each year between 2021 and 2023 can be found in the following table.

Table: Percentage of entries to Higher computing science from female candidates, 2021 - 2023

Education Scotland published the results of a deep dive on attendance in November 2023, which sought to understand the current barriers and challenges which influence school attendance and make recommendations on how local authorities can support increased attendance. All 32 local authorities were consulted as part of the work, with 14 local authorities and 18 schools taking part in case studies. The case studies indicated that pupil mental health is a key concern and is believed to be a significant driver behind absence.

Im proving attendance: Understanding the issues (education.gov.scot)

The Behaviour in Scottish Schools Research (BISSR), published in November 2023, included insights into behaviours that were related to attendance and engagement in school. Attendance and school avoidance was identified as a significant issue post-COVID 19 by school staff and local authority representatives. Across local authority areas, representatives spoke about a small but persistent cohort of students who had experienced difficulties in returning to school post-COVID-19 and were continuing to learn online and in the community. The research found that some school staff felt that the disruption had made pupils feel that in-school attendance wasn’t important, while others felt that low attendance was related to mental health issues as a result of the pandemic.

Behaviour in Scottish Schools 2023 (www.gov.scot)