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The independent STEMEC group was set up to take forward work arising from the earlier Science and Engineering Education Advisory Group report on school science and to help improve Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) education and learning in Scotland’s schools. The group last met on 18 December 2015 in Edinburgh. The purpose of that meeting was to agree the committee’s final report to the government which has now been received. Further meetings of the committee are a matter for the chair to determine.

 

The ScotXed Unit within the Scottish Government provide guidance notes to schools in Scotland responsible for reporting on the school/pupil census. This includes the reporting of pupils with additional support needs.The Scottish Government is committed, through the Advisory Group for Additional Support for Learning, to improve guidance to authorities on the reporting of pupils with additional support needs. Work to agree this is ongoing.The Summary Statistics for Schools in Scotland No.6: 2015 Edition indicates that 22.5% of pupils in Scotland's local authority primary, secondary and grant-aided schools were identified as having additional support needs.The current guidance notes can be accessed at the following link:

http://www.gov.scot/Topics/Statistics/ScotXed/SchoolEducation/SchoolPupilCensus/SurveyDocumentation

The published data for 2016 confirms that while outcomes for looked after children have been improving, the gaps are still big compared to all pupils and progress needs to be accelerated.

These differences are, in part, linked to the fact that looked after children tend to leave school at younger ages. In 2014-15 almost three quarters (73 per cent) of looked after school leavers were aged 16 and under compared to over one quarter (27 per cent) of the overall population of school leavers.

Since 2009-10 we have seen improvement in the proportion of looked after children achieving 1 or more qualification at SCQF level 5 (equivalent to a national 5 award), positive destinations, attendance figures for looked after children and exclusion figures. We also know that looked after children with the best outcomes tend to be those children in foster care, or with few placements, and looked after for the full year. However I acknowledge the gap between looked after children and other children is still too wide and regrettably children and young people looked after at home still have the worse outcomes.

Tackling inequality is at the heart of this government’s agenda. I informed Parliament on 27 June 2016 of our delivery plan for excellence and equity in Scottish education. This will help looked after children so they can reach their full potential during their educational journey and beyond. In addition, securing a safe, stable, loving and permanent home for every looked after child at the earliest opportunity is key to children succeeding in education. This means addressing our three priority areas, set out in our strategy ‘Getting it Right for Looked After Children’ (published November 2015) of early intervention, early permanence and improving the quality of care. These concepts underpin our work to accelerate recent improvements and close the outcomes gap that exists between looked after children and their peers, including those looked after at home.

Measures such as the launch of the Scottish Attainment Challenge, backed by the £100 million Attainment Scotland Fund, the development of a National Improvement Framework to improve the evidence available to us, and the introduction of the Education (Scotland) Act 2016, demonstrate our commitment to improving attainment. We want to ensure that action takes place at the right level - much of it local. To ensure this greater control will be given to head teachers and we will work to enable schools and clusters of schools to drive improvement. In addition, our policies aim to reduce the need for school exclusions; and since 2006-07 the rate of exclusions has halved. Whilst the rate of exclusions among looked after children is much higher than in the general school population it has been falling at a faster rate and continuing to fall.

Attainment is about much more than school: it includes early years opportunities, the experiences within and outwith the family, and youth work. We want every young person – whatever their background – to have an equal chance of attending university. That is why we established the Commission on Widening Access who have set bold proposals which we have committed to implement.

The Scottish Government has consistently maintained the employed status element of the modern apprenticeship (MA) programme here in Scotland, linking apprenticeship opportunities to real, sustainable jobs. The availability of places in any sector is therefore reliant upon demand from employers to participate in the MA programme.

Skills Development Scotland (SDS) publish statistical information about the modern apprenticeship (MA) programme on a quarterly basis. Year end statistics for 2015-16 were published on 7 June 2016, and can be accessed here:

https://www.skillsdevelopmentscotland.co.uk/media/41664/modern-apprenticeship-statistics-quarter-4-2015-16-2-1.pdf

From these published statistics, I can advise that modern apprenticeship starts in the construction and related framework grouping have increased since 2012-13, as shown:

2012-13: 3,787

2013-14: 4,435

2014-15: 4,409

2015-16: 4,894

Human rights are at the heart of Scotland’s constitutional settlement. They are fundamental to the work of the Scottish Government, our Parliament and all of Scotland’s public authorities. They are reflected in our national laws and directly inform public policy decisions.

The Scottish Government is already taking action in areas identified in submissions to the UN Committee, including tackling the gender pay gap, combatting poverty, mitigating the impact of welfare reform and improving access to housing.

The Scottish Government is fully committed to working with civil society partners through Scotland’s National Action Plan for Human Rights (SNAP), and with the people of Scotland as a whole, to give further and better effect to the internationally-recognised human rights to which we are all entitled, and to realise the shared vision of a Scotland where everyone is able to live with human dignity.

It is unacceptable in 2016 that a gender pay gap still exists and that women continue to be paid less than men for work of equal value.

It is encouraging to see however that Scotland is making progress in addressing the gender pay gap. At 10.6% for the mean and 7.3% for the median measurements, Scotland has a lower gender pay gap than the UK (13.9% and 9.4% respectively) and we have plans to reduce it further.

We are using the powers available to us to ensure greater transparency in equal pay reporting in the Scottish public sector. Until recently the law applied only to public bodies with more than 150 employees in Scotland. However, in February 2016 the Scottish Government extended the law and it now applies to public bodies with more than 20 employees.

In relation to public sector boards in Scotland, the Scottish Government will also use additional powers as part of the Scotland Act 2016 to introduce legislation requiring gender balance on the boards of public bodies. In 2015, for the first time, Scottish Ministers appointed more women than men (54%) to the boards of regulated public bodies in Scotland. The Scottish Government does not however, have power to extend these legal duties to the private sector in Scotland but we are encouraging employers to sign up to voluntary initiatives such as the partnership for change. since its launch, 180 public bodies, third sector organisations and private companies have signed up to the partnership.

The Scottish Government, in partnership with our national skills body, Skills Development Scotland (SDS) undertakes range of activity to encourage more modern apprenticeships (MA) in construction and related sectors. This includes:

Prioritising key and enabling sectors, including opportunities in construction, within the annual MA target, which this year has increased to 26,000 starts;

The development of a skills investment plan (SIP) for construction published in March 2015. The construction SIP provides a blueprint for the public sector and industry to work collaboratively to address skills issues now and in the future, with a key focus on attracting future talent and building pathways into the sector.

Developing wider apprenticeship opportunities in the civil engineering area of construction though foundation apprenticeships in the senior phase of school and graduate level apprenticeships with Scottish Universities.

Working with construction industry training board (CITB) through the annual Scottish apprenticeship week campaign and the annual Scottish apprenticeship awards.

As a result there has been an increase in the number of construction related MA opportunities between 2010-11 and 2015-16, as set out in the following table:

MA Starts to Construction and Related Frameworks

Year	Starts
2010-11	3,109
2011-12	3,795
2012-13	3,787
2013-14	4,435
2014-15	4,409
2015-16	4,894

Data by industry sector is not held. However, the number of properties the large business supplement is estimated to apply to in respect of 2016-17, by local authority area and by property classification type, are as follows.

(a) by local authority area

Local Authority Area	Number of Properties
Aberdeen City	2,324
Aberdeenshire	1,107
Angus	405
Argyll and Bute	349
Clackmannanshire	144
Dumfries and Galloway	552
Dundee City	944
East Ayrshire	415
East Dunbartonshire	302
East Lothian	325
East Renfrewshire	225
Edinburgh, City of	3,910
Eilean Siar	117
Falkirk	676
Fife	1,618
Glasgow City	4,740
Highland	1,396
Inverclyde	303
Midlothian	369
Moray	364
North Ayrshire	500
North Lanarkshire	1,548
Orkney Islands	96
Perth and Kinross	720
Renfrewshire	963
Scottish Borders	421
Shetland Islands	146
Local Authority Area	Number of Properties
South Ayrshire	564
South Lanarkshire	1,476
Stirling	571
West Dunbartonshire	415
West Lothian	1,114
All Scotland	29,119

(b) by property type

Property Type	Number of Properties
Advertising	20
Care Facilities	986
Communications	90
Cultural	198
Education and Training	2,401
Garages and Petrol Stations	447
Health and Medical	756
Hotels	960
Industrial Subjects	6,082
Leisure, Entertainment, Caravans etc.	1,213
Not in Use	1
Offices	5,192
Other	342
Petrochemical	79
Public Houses	851
Public Service	1,251
Quarries, Mines, etc.	123
Religious	233
Shops	7,507
Sporting	59
Statutory Undertaking (utility)	328
All types	29,119

Based on number of properties on valuation roll as at 1 April 2016

The Scottish Government will monitor local discretionary rates relief awarded under powers created by Community Empowerment (Scotland) Act.

Ken Barclay has been appointed as chair of the group to review non-domestic rates and announcements on additional members will be made shortly.