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The Scottish Government does not monitor the financial health of private providers of residential children’s homes. Local authorities are responsible for the placement of children and young people and decisions that relate to the most suitable options for meeting their needs.

The Care Inspectorate range of powers include that they can require providers to make proper provision for children’s needs. However, how private providers do that and how they are funded is their responsibility.

We continue to engage with the UK Government, the Welsh Government and the Northern Ireland Executive on a regular basis to understand and learn from how responses to this issue are developing across the UK.

Statistics on school exclusions are collected and published biennially.

In 2020-21, there were 1,650 exclusions of children who had been looked after within the last year. In 2022-23, there were 1,912 exclusions of children who had been looked after within the last year. As children can be excluded more than once per year, a single child may be counted more than once in these figures.

A link to the latest statistics is provided here: Education Outcomes for Looked After Children 2022/23 - gov.scot (www.gov.scot)

The Scottish Government does not hold this information.

Local authorities are responsible for the placement of children and young people and decisions that relate to the most suitable options for meeting their needs.

The Promise is clear that there is no place for profiting in how Scotland cares for its children. The Scottish Government is committed to Keeping The Promise and we are working alongside COSLA and local government to consider what further steps could be taken in Scotland.

After a 20 month independent review, the Hearings System Working Group (HSWG), chaired by Sheriff Mackie, published its report on 25 May 2023.

Following detailed analysis, The Scottish Government published its response to the ‘Hearings for Children’ report in December 2023. Of the 138 ‘Hearings for Children’ recommendations, 63 were accepted in full, 26 were accepted with conditions, 42 were identified as requiring further exploration or consultation, and 7 were not accepted.

In January 2024, a strategic redesign board was then established to drive forward the non-legislative components of system redesign by 2026. Co-chaired by Scottish Government and COSLA, membership comprises the National Convener of Children’s Hearings Scotland, the Principal Reporter of the Scottish Children’s Reporter Administration and Social Work Scotland.

In addition, a public consultation on the legislative elements of the redesign of the children’s hearings system launched on 26 July. That will run for 13 weeks and close on 28 October 2024. The Scottish Government intends to introduce legislation later this Parliamentary term. If passed, the legislative elements and the overall system redesign programme, will be introduced by 2030.

The Our Hearings Our Voice Board (OHOV) worked closely with Sheriff David Mackie and The Promise Scotland during the development of the ‘Hearings for Children’ report. Scottish Government officials have continued to build on this relationship and are keen to ensure OHOV members continue to amplify the voice of those with lived and living experience of the hearings system throughout the redesign work. Further engagement with children and young people is also being undertaken through the Children and Young Persons Participation Framework. Who Cares? Scotland and Barnardo’s have been appointed to lead.

Within the Green Industrial Strategy, published on 11 September 2024, we set out how the people of Scotland will see maximum benefits from Scotland’s energy transition, including identifying Scotland’s wind economy as one of the five opportunity areas.

Seabed leasing for offshore wind is administered by Crown Estate Scotland (CES), which sets the terms of lease. Leasing terms may vary between leasing rounds to ensure that such agreements remain fit for purpose and reflect the latest statutory requirements and policy positions.

As part of the ScotWind bidding round, applicants were required to submit a Supply Chain Development Statement (SCDS) to CES. The SCDS outlines the commitment and ambition for supply chain activity within Scotland, the UK and overseas, across four project phases – development, manufacturing and fabrication, installation, and operations & maintenance.

The Scottish Government and CES will continue to review the leasing requirements for future leasing rounds, informed by best practice to deliver the best outcomes for Scotland and in line with our social, economic and environmental principles, including the need for any legislative changes to support the updated leasing conditions.

The Scottish Government is committed to maximising the economic opportunity for the Scottish supply chain from our offshore wind potential. We expect developers to honour their commitments set out in the Supply Chain Development Statements (SCDS) which were a condition of their being awarded Option Agreements.

The SCDS process has been carefully designed and is managed by Crown Estate Scotland (CES) to ensure focus is maintained on supply chain capacity and capability to develop and deliver offshore wind projects in Scotland.

The ScotWind SCDS were updated within 12 months of signing the Option Agreement, and must be updated at least once every 3 years thereafter. The first updates made in 2023 have resulted in an increase from £1.4 billion to £1.5 billion in projected average spend per project.

Failure by developers to deliver on their commitments can trigger remedies ranging from financial penalties to an inability to progress to a seabed lease.

The Scottish Offshore Wind Energy Council (SOWEC) drove efforts to create a Collaborative Framework Charter to increase collaboration within the offshore wind industry. The primary output of that work is the Strategic Investment Model (SIM).

A strong pipeline of port infrastructure and supply chain projects has emerged through the industry-led SIM process. 38 project proposals were developed through the SIM, with a combined total capital expenditure of around £6.5 billion.

The industry-led SIM process has identified ten priority projects so far; five are port facilities, four are supply chain proposals and one is an equipment project. Further progress has been made with nineteen “progress” projects being identified through the SIM.

This approach will help deliver supply chain and port investment critical to the expansion of Scotland’s offshore wind capacity, while supporting the deployment of ScotWind.

32 of the 38 projects progressed through the industry-led Strategic Investment Model have consented to being published and a list is available online at: Strategic Investment Model Stage 2 projects announced | Offshore Wind Scotland

Ten priority projects have been identified through the industry-led SIM process: five are port facilities, four are supply chain proposals and one is an equipment project.

A list of SIM priority projects is available online at: Full SIM Stage 2 List published | Offshore Wind Scotland.

The prospectuses and the details within them belong to the individual project proponents, however taken together the total capital expenditure of SIM projects is around £6.5 billion.