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Education Maintenance Allowance (EMA) is an entitlement in Scotland which means that any applicant who meets the eligibility criteria will receive EMA support. The budget level is set in line with recent spending trends. We increased the EMA budget to £39.6 million for 2016-17 from its previous year’s budget of £29.6 million to accommodate any increase in the number of EMA recipients resulting from the amended eligibility criteria introduced in January 2016. We have also provided additional support to Local Authorities to promote the EMA funding and to inform parents and student about the changes to the eligibility criteria.

The Education Maintenance Allowance (EMA) is an entitlement and a demand led programme. Any young person who has reached the age of 16 can apply and if they satisfy the eligibility criteria they will receive the award. We do not collect data on the number of school pupils or college students who could be eligible for EMA. The recent edition of the EMA statistical publication shows fluctuations in the number of EMA recipients over the years. There is likely to be several reasons why the number are fluctuating, including the numbers of young people at college and school. Changes to the number of recipients does not necessarily indicate the rate of uptake has decreased. Since piloting the programme in 2005 there has been changes to the EMA eligibility criteria. This has had an impact on the numbers of young people who are eligible to apply for the support, which makes it difficult to draw a direct comparison between each year of the programme.

Since piloting the Education Maintenance Allowance (EMA) programme in 2005 there has been a number of changes to the EMA eligibility criteria. These include the removal, following the consultation into ‘16-Plus Learning Choices – First Step Activity and Financial Support (2008)’, of the bonus payment and tiered payment structure in 2009 and the revised household income thresholds in 2016.

These changes mean that it is difficult to make any accurate comparisons and draw conclusions about average EMA payments across different years.

In the coming year, the Scottish Government will appoint a new national coordinator of childhood bereavement services to review and advise on next steps to improvement. Any assessment of the number of children affected by bereavement will be made as part of this review.

Currently, much of the funding awarded to third sector organisations providing support services for people affected by grief or bereavement is not focused specifically on children and young people; rather, it is intended to support services for anyone affected by grief or bereavement. Many third sector organisations provide grief or bereavement support as part of a range of services.

The specific funding mentioned in the answer to S5W-01444 for Richmond’s Hope (to help establish their new Glasgow Govan centre) amounted to £90,000 over the financial years 2014-15, 2015-16, and 2016-17; and for Cruse Bereavement Care Scotland (to assist their work to reintegrate children and young people into society after a loss) the award was for £43,000 in 2016-17. Additionally, in 2016-17, a grant of £100,000 was awarded to Child Bereavement UK to build the capacity of professionals and organisations to support bereaved children, young people, parents and families, and to operate a helpline and website accessible to bereaved families in Scotland.

Also, while not targeted at bereavement specifically, in December 2015 the Scottish Government announced that 118 third sector organisations supporting children, families, and adult learning had been awarded £14 million from the Children, Young People and Families Early Intervention and Adult Learning and Empowering Communities Fund. This will benefit thousands of children, families and communities across Scotland, including children and young people who may have been affected by bereavement.

Information on the number of patients who have been diagnosed with malnutrition is not held centrally. The number of people admitted to hospital with a diagnosis of malnutrition in each calendar year since 2011 by age group and NHS board is shown in the following table.

Please note that most people with malnutrition who are admitted to Scottish hospitals are suffering from some other medical condition that causes malnutrition. In addition many other cases are diagnosed and treated in a primary care setting.

*Indicates values that have been suppressed due to the potential risk of disclosure and to help maintain patient confidentiality.

The Scottish Government continues to be committed to supporting breastfeeding. Across Scotland the proportion of babies being breastfed at their first visit has increased over the last 10 years (44.1% - 49.3%). Twenty four local authorities had increases in breastfeeding rates at 6-8 weeks, from the previous year.

The increase in overall breastfeeding rates and in the most deprived areas is mainly due to an increase in the percentage of mothers who breast and formula fed rather than exclusively breastfed. The rates varied across Scotland and were lower in more deprived areas and amongst younger mothers.

The Gross Ingredient Cost for the supply of omeprazole on NHS prescription is set out in the report Prescription Cost Analysis, published annually by National Services Scotland Information Division, which can be found on their website at:-

www.isdscotland.org/Health-Topics/Prescribing-and-Medicines/Community-Dispensing/Prescription-Cost-Analysis/

The Scottish Government is committed to supporting breastfeeding by new mothers through a range of activities which include:

A number of stakeholder events and a breastfeeding summit have taken place over the last 18 months, to share information, gather views and make recommendations. We have taken significant steps to act on these recommendations, and will continue to do so.

The Scottish Government took the decision to fund a Lead Officer post from UNICEF to support the implementation of the UNICEF BFI Standards across Scotland, and this has been highly successful.

The publication of the Improving Maternal and Infant Nutrition: A Framework for Action (2011). As part of the implementation of the Framework the Scottish Government appointed a National Maternal and Infant Nutrition Co-ordinator to coordinate the breastfeeding improvement activity and to link with other partners across Scotland and the rest of the UK.

The Scottish Government launched a replacement of the previous Feedgood factor website in June 2016. http://www.feedgood.scot

The Scottish Government also provides funding to support the National Breastfeeding Helpline. http://www.nationalbreastfeedinghelpline.org.uk/

This is a key appointment that will play a pivotal role in achieving the Government’s ambitions on widening access to higher education. It is therefore essential that we identify a candidate with the necessary skills, experience and availability to succeed.

The Commission on Widening Access recommended that an appointment be made by the end of the year; but we are working to progress this as a matter of priority.