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Scottish Government committed to reviewing the home education guidance in December 2019. This has now been updated following thorough consultation with stakeholders and the general public.

The updated guidance will be published on 23 January 2025 on the Government website here https://www.gov.scot/isbn/9781836911357

The updated home education guidance reflects the changing context in which home education takes place in Scotland and sets out a child’s rights-based approach to home education.

Scottish Ministers want all those involved in a child’s education to be informed and equipped regarding home education, to better understand the circumstances and choices made by parents, and the responsibilities that parents take on when choosing to home educate.

With this updated guidance, Scottish Ministers continue to encourage local authorities and parents to work together to develop trust, mutual respect and a positive relationship that functions in the best educational interests of the child.

Students receive taught modules on mental health and psychiatry in years three and four of their medical degrees with the opportunity for specialist mental health units or clinical placements from year four onwards. There are significant core learning requirements in relation to mental health set out by the GMC and each University ensures these are fulfilled.

The GMC also require all medical schools to provide support for the consideration of postgraduate careers and each school has their own way of doing this. Each of the medical schools have a ‘PsychSoc’ attached to them. These societies are funded by the Royal College of Psychiatrists and work with the medical schools to encourage and support medical students into a career within psychiatric fields.

The Scottish Government are liaising with NHS National Services Scotland, as the contract holder, and are a member of their GPIT Incident Management Team which has specifically been established to lead on this matter. Through this, NSS are in regular contact with the Administrator. Assurances are continually sought from the Administrators on their plans to ensure continued performance and delivery of the Managed Services to NHS Scotland for the foreseeable whilst the administrators actively seek a buyer for In Practice Systems Ltd.

In the meantime, there remains no impact on GP service delivery and existing operational governance around Service levels is very much still in place. GP practices are advised to utilise the service and raise any queries through their usual health board escalation routes.

The Scottish Government launched a consultation on 20th December 2024, to seek views on how best to further regulate non-surgical cosmetics procedures.

The consultation has been informed by extensive work with a range of stakeholders, including beauty industry representatives, among others, but it is important we receive further feedback before the Scottish Government commits to any proposals.

In taking forward work on any potential new regulations, we will continue to seek views from, and consider the impact on, existing businesses.

Our proposals aim to be both robust and proportionate, protecting the public and supporting reputable business to operate safely.

The Scottish Government is a member of the Trading Standards Policy and Coordination Group. This Group is coordinated by the Convention of Scottish Local Authorities (COSLA) as the representative organisation for local government in Scotland. The Group seek to provide:

• strategic leadership of the trading standards function across Scotland;
• and effective co-ordination of trading standards priorities between local and national government and recruitment and retention of trading standards staff.

With the commencement of the Housing (Cladding Remediation) (Scotland) Act taking place on 6 January 2025, it is timely to set out a brief statement of our strategic priorities for action on cladding in 2025. 

In particular, we will be:

• continuing to take forward our current programme of action  
• taking action to increase both the pace and breadth of action on cladding 
• seeking to develop a collective, national endeavour to address the risks of cladding. 

On continuing action – completing work currently underway 

We will deliver assessment and remediation for properties that have been part of our 'pilot' programme and for which the Scottish Government is taking responsibility in the absence of an identified developer:

• we will deliver assessment and if required remediation for an initial set of ‘pilot’ buildings for which the Scottish Government is responsible.  13 Single Building Assessments are underway at the moment.  Based on their findings, we will set in train all necessary remediation action, putting interim safety measures in place where needed

• based on due diligence work currently underway, we will also take forward assessment and remediation for any additional pilot buildings within the scope of the Act for which it is confirmed that responsibility falls to the Scottish Government.  Where responsibility falls to others, we will identify and communicate this to those parties and to residents. 

We will complete implementation of the Housing (Cladding Remediation) (Scotland) Act 2024: 

• we are commencing the Act in its entirety on 6 January 2025 
• we will put in place practical arrangements for the long-term operation of the Cladding Assurance Register, building on the interim arrangements now in place 
• we will develop, consider and consult on proposals for a statutory Responsible Developers Scheme 
• as part of the response to the Grenfell Tower Inquiry phase 2 report, we will confirm our position on the use of Personal Emergency Evacuation Plans (including use of the powers provided by the Act). 

We will enable the assessment and remediation of affected properties by the relevant larger developers: 

• we will seek swift agreement with the larger developers on the ‘Developer Remediation Contract’, enabling them to take forward assessment and remediation on properties for which they have accepted responsibility 
• as part of an ongoing process of engagement with the larger developers, we will track, assure and gather information on their remediation progress.

We will continue to improve communication with residents and owners affected by cladding: 

• we will continue to produce a quarterly newsletter aimed at residents along with monthly updates, backed by up-to-date information on the Scottish Government website including ‘Frequently Asked Questions’ 
• we will fully observe the new statutory duties on communication with owners and residents in buildings for which assessment and remediation is being taken forward under the new Act. 

On new action to increase pace and breadth

In parallel, we will work with partners to develop and deliver two new schemes of assessment and remediation:

• we will issue a new 'open call for further properties which may require Government-led assessment and remediation. This will enable residents faced with problems of potentially unsafe cladding, but for which no owner or developer is willing or able to undertake assessment and remediation, to bring this to the attention of Government, and to be considered for Government-led assessment and remediation
• we will also develop a further scheme designed to identify and address those buildings which appear to be at an elevated risk from cladding. In doing so, we will work with local authorities and fire services to help identify the buildings which should be prioritised, and will consider where responsibility for taking forward assessment and remediation should lie - including, where the Scottish Government has a part to play.

More generally, we will bring partners together to seek to make action on cladding a national, collective endeavour:

• we will engage proactively with local authorities, the fire service and other partners, to harness the skills, knowledge and capacity of all to greatest effect. In doing so, we will develop the clearest possible picture of the position across sectors in Scotland, and the action being taken. We will seek assurance where appropriate, and be prepared as Government to play our part where this is needed
• we will consider the circumstances of properties which are partly owned by a Registered Social Landlord or local authority but have a mix of tenure including private owners, or where the owners are not in a financial position to be able to take forward remediation. In these and similar situations, we will consider the potential need for Government funding on a case-by-case basis
• we will also work with partners to explore the potential for new, more effective delivery models for assessment and remediation.

We will publish a renewed plan of action in March, setting out how and when we will be delivering these priorities.

Interested parties can at all times sign up to receive our regular newsletter, and/or raise specific cladding issues with us on our website.

The Scottish Government recognises that the work of the Scottish Powerchair Football Association and Scottish Para-Football is extremely valuable in providing opportunities for people with a range of conditions to participate in football and to promote inclusivity in the game.

An ongoing priority is for the Scottish Government is to support participation across all groups and tackle inequalities in participation. We recognise the power of sport and the positive impact which sport can have on a person's physical and mental health and that those with disabilities are less likely to feel connected to their local community.

Through sportscotland we invest in the Scottish Football Association (SFA) to support the development of football. In financial year 2024/25 our investment is almost £1.35 million. This investment supports the national partnership agreement with the SFA which includes "empowering community football clubs to become sustainable, adaptive and inclusive", but the agreement does not dictate the detail of the expenditure.

I recently met with Scottish Para-Football to discuss current issues and priorities. I will continue to work with Scottish Para-Football to help promote, and support access to all elements of para-football, including powerchair football.

On 14 May 2024 Reach Advocacy wrote to the Scottish Government requesting to become a ‘Nationally Commissioned Advocacy Training Body’. The Scottish Government replied to Reach Advocacy on 28 May 2024 seeking to fully understand the basis on which Reach Advocacy were requesting this.

On 15 October 2024 Reach Advocacy submitted a business proposal to ask for funding from Scottish Government to deliver Reach Advocacy’s ‘Advocacy Practice Award’ and human rights-based training.

This proposal was submitted for consideration to relevant directorates under the responsibility of the Minister for Drugs and Alcohol Policy, the Cabinet Secretary for Social Justice, the Minister for Children, Young People and The Promise, and the Minister for Social Care, Mental Wellbeing and Sport.

Scottish Government Officials from each directorate assessed that the request for funding was not the most appropriate means by which the Scottish Government’s current priorities and objectives would be achieved.

On 6 November 2024 a response was issued to Reach Advocacy to inform them of the decision and rationale.