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Education Maintenance Allowance (EMA) statistics are published annually with latest data covering the 2022-23 academic year - https://www.gov.scot/publications/education-maintenance-allowances-2022-23/

Information broken down by local authority area, back to 2006-07, can be found in the supporting documents area of the publication, within the ‘Spend’ and ‘Age’ background tables.

Whilst EMA was introduced in academic year 2004-05, data prior to 2006-07 is not included in the above publication as EMA in 2004-05 and 2005-06 did not cover all 16 to 18 year olds and therefore is not comparable. Historic data can be accessed on the Scottish Government archived website:

2004-05 - https://webarchive.nrscotland.gov.uk/20170831150034/http://www.gov.scot/Publications/2005/11/02112052/20531

2005-06 - https://webarchive.nrscotland.gov.uk/20170717072945/http://www.gov.scot/Publications/2006/11/13100200/0

Scotland has a network of 468 free public libraries and 37 mobile libraries which help to provide access to library provision for schools in rural areas or where there is no public library nearby.

Additionally, the Scottish Government provides annual funding towards the Public Library Improvement Fund (PLIF) and School Library Improvement Fund (SLIF) administered by the Scottish Library and Information Council (SLIC), to enable public and school libraries to undertake a wide range of pioneering initiatives within communities.

PLIF supports national programmes like Every Child a Library Member (ECALM). The ECALM initiative aims to streamline the library joining process for children across Scotland.

SLIF has delivered funding to support the development of libraries in early years settings, primary and secondary schools, and to support the implementation of Vibrant Libraries, Thriving Schools – the national strategy for school libraries in Scotland.

Social Security Scotland routinely releases information on Best Start Grant and Best Start Foods including the number and value of payments.

Since the introduction of Best Start Grant School Age Payment in June 2019, £34,086,106 has been paid to eligible clients. The following table shows the total number and value of School Age Payments made over each financial years since its introduction:

The Scottish Government does not hold this information centrally as local authorities are responsible for paying the Scottish Recommended Allowance for Foster and Kinship Carers.

I have asked Gerard Hart, Chief Executive of Disclosure Scotland to respond. His response is as follows:

The Scottish Government is committed to delivering the grade separation of Sheriffhall roundabout as part of its £300 million commitment to the Edinburgh and South East Scotland City Region Deal.

The latest scheme cost estimate, current at Quarter 4 2018 prices, indicated a total cost of approximately £116.5 million, excluding non-recoverable VAT.

We continue to progress the proposed scheme through the statutory process so we can deliver improvements at this key junction as soon as possible. Following the Public Local Inquiry for the scheme, the Reporter’s conclusions and recommendations have been submitted to the Scottish Government and are currently under active consideration before a decision is made by Scottish Ministers whether to progress the scheme.

As with other road infrastructure projects, the estimated cost of the scheme will be updated following completion of the statutory authorisation process and in advance of procurement commencing.

The Scottish Government publishes annual statistics on support staff in schools, including school library staff. From 2010-2016, figures were published as part of the Teacher census supplementary statistics - gov.scot. From 2017 onwards, figures on school library staff are published as part of the School support staff statistics - gov.scot.

We do not hold statistics from earlier than 2010.

Data on the amount local authorities spend on reading books is not collected centrally. The delivery of education is devolved to local authorities and funding is provided to local authorities via the “block grant”. Each local authority will have their own approaches to funding school reading materials, which will vary according to local needs and resources.

The Scottish Government’s role is to set the strategic policy for the NHS in Scotland and provide core funding to NHS boards. NHS boards have responsibility for deciding how to use this core funding to deliver services locally based on the needs of the people in their area.

The ambitions set out in our Cancer Strategy 2023-2033 align with those of ‘The Collaborative and Compassionate Cancer Care - The Cancer Strategy for Children and Young People in Scotland 2021–2026’. This sets out Scottish Government’s commitment to improving services nationally for children and young people specifically. This is delivered by the Managed Service Network for Children and Young People with Cancer (MSN CYPC).

Children, young people and their guardians have the opportunity to engage and share their experiences of cancer services to inform improvements, and to support delivery of strategy ambitions, through the MSN’s National Youth Advisory and Parent and Family Forums.