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We have engaged with education authorities throughout the COVID-19 period and there has been significant progress in the delivery of the counselling through schools commitment. It is expected that all schools will have access to counselling services by the end of October 2020.

The accrual of interest on student loans is provided for in The Education (Student Loans) (Repayment) Regulations 2009, a UK Statutory Instrument that impacts on all UK borrowers.

There are currently no circumstances whereby interest would stop accruing (unless repaid in full, or written off). As a result, where a borrower is on maternity/paternity leave there is no provision in these UK Regulations to prevent or pause the accruing of interest in these circumstances.

However, the interest rate on student loans that impacts Scottish students is based on the lower of either the Bank of England base rate +1% or the Retail Price Index (RPI). The current interest rate for Scottish borrowers is 1.1%. This compares to other borrowers in the rest of the UK who are repaying on different plan types where the interest rate is 5.4%.

We remain fully committed to working with partners to undertake a review of the use of co-ordinated support plans to ensure that children and young people with the most significant additional support needs are receiving the support that they need to reach their full learning potential.

However, the Covid-19 pandemic has presented unprecedented challenges for our education system, and we recognise that as children and young people return to full time learning, it is critical that we do not make any additional demands on the system. Therefore, we will continue to keep the situation under close review and take forward this important work when it is appropriate to do so.

This work will be undertaken within the wider context of the independently chaired review of implementation of additional support for learning which will be used to inform the review of the use of Co-ordinated Support Plans. We anticipate that a response to this report will be published in the autumn.

We are deeply concerned by reports showing that people from some minority ethnic backgrounds have been disproportionately affected by COVID-19.

In order to improve our understanding of and respond to the risks and impacts, we have established an Expert Group Reference Group (ERG) on COVID-19 and Ethnicity, involving academic and experts, to consider the data and evidence and to challenge, inform and shape the Scottish Government’s future work. This will include how analytical partners across the Scottish Government, National Records of Scotland, Public Health Scotland and the NHS can improve and make the best use of data.

The recent report from National Records of Scotland on COVID-19 deaths by ethnicity, published on 8 July, starts to give us a better understanding. However, as highlighted in its methodology note , due to the degree of inconsistency in how individuals have reported, or have had reported on their behalf, their ethnicity, specifically between the “White Irish” and “White Scottish” categories over time and between datasets, it was not possible to carry out an analysis which would enable robust conclusions to be drawn on COVID-19 related mortality for the White Irish ethnic group.

The changes to basic disclosure under Part 2 of the Management of Offenders (Scotland) Act 2019 Act ("the 2019 Act") require operational changes to the system of disclosure certificates issued by Disclosure Scotland.

Disclosure Scotland activated their business continuity plan in light of Covid-19 and are focusing on their vital safeguarding role during these challenging times. This means commencement could not take place as had been planned for the summer of 2020. Disclosure Scotland and the Scottish Government have been working to set a new implementation date for the delivery of these important changes.

The Scottish Government is hopeful that Part 2 of the 2019 Act will be able to be commenced at some point in 2020, but that very much depends on the current situation. Once I am able to, I will announce when commencement of Part 2 of the 2019 Act will take place.

The Scottish Government recognises the importance of involving young people in decision making processes which affect their lives, including in decisions made regarding learning and education settings.

As such the Scottish Government has engaged with children and young people throughout the COVID-19 pandemic to gather their views and ensure these are reflected in planning and decision making processes.

This includes supporting the Scottish Youth Parliament, YouthLink Scotland and Young Scot to deliver the ‘LockdownLowdown’ survey of 2,418 young people which concluded in April 2020 and supporting the Children’s Parliament to deliver their ‘How are you doing?’ survey of 3,968 children which concluded in May 2020.

I also held a panel discussion meeting with a group of 19 children and young people on 17 June 2020 to discuss the impact of COVID-19 on learning and educating settings. Topics discussed included learners experiences of learning at home, additional support schools, local authorities and government can provide to help overcome barriers to learning during COVID-19, learner concerns regarding a return to school in August, learner hopes for the new school term in August, the mental health and wellbeing of learners during COVID-19 and any positive impacts of the COVID-19 crisis on learning or learners.

The Scottish Government are also working with partners in the third sector to establish an ‘Education Recovery Panel’ of children and young people who will represent the views of learners in the education recovery process throughout the recovery period.

The Scottish Government is doing all it can to support those in the Higher Education sector being disrupted by the COVID-19 outbreak. The Scottish Government have announced a support package including the one-off £75 million increase in capital funding for Scotland’s universities to ensure they can protect their world-leading research programmes against the financial impact of COVID-19.

As part of this funding the SFC have issued guidance on this significant investment which requires each university using this resource to assist PhD students whose studies have been affected by COVID-19. Additionally, universities are being asked to take action to mitigate negative and promote positive impacts and to advance equality of opportunity and diversity of research focus. The full details of the SFC guidance can be found here: http://www.sfc.ac.uk/publications-statistics/announcements/2020/SFCAN082020.aspx .

All PhD students supported by Chief Scientist Office grants have been offered 6 month stipend extensions, if required, to ensure they are not disadvantaged by disruption around the Covid-19 Pandemic. Where a PhD student has been funded through RESAS Underpinning National Capacity funding, that funding line has been extended by one year, so it will now end 31st March 2022. Individual educational decisions on PhD students remain with the institutes concerned.

Staffing matters are the responsibility of individual colleges and, whilst it is for the institutions themselves to make decisions on future staffing levels, I urge them to be sensitive to such negotiations during the coronavirus pandemic. Decisions on staffing may be based on the financial health of the institution or on the need to implement changes to the delivery of teaching and learning to reflect the changing needs of the local economy and industry skills demands.

We are aware that some colleges have continued to pursue voluntary severance schemes at this point in time and the Scottish Funding Council continues to work closely with the sector to ensure any actions taken are compliant with the Scottish Public Finance Manual and the Scottish Funding Council's Financial Memorandum. However, I am also conscious of the fact that several colleges have paused their voluntary severance scheme and I welcome this development.

As part of their restructuring, Forth Valley college recently undertook a consultation process which impacted on 67 members of staff, around 10% of the College’s workforce. The consultation concluded at the end of March, and due to the uptake of the Voluntary Severance Scheme, FVC have confirmed that there will be no redundancies.

However, some existing staff will transfer to the new Instructor Assessor posts. Those who do transfer will have salary conservation for four years and their current pension provider will remain the same.

Colleges are required to plan and manage their activities to remain sustainable and financially viable. It is for them to determine and respond to the economic needs of their region; ensuring resources are allocated to subject areas which meet the needs of learners and the economy. The Scottish Funding Council also works closely with the colleges to monitor their financial health and ensure all correct action is taken.

The Discretionary Funds are allocated out to individual colleges and universities to administer. Students apply direct to their institution for this funding, except in the case of private providers where students apply direct to the Student Awards Agency Scotland (SAAS). Institutions are required to provide SAAS with audited verification of appropriate funds issued and the number of students receiving assistance at set times during the year. This information is not normally expected to be next received by SAAS until October.

However, due to the current exceptional circumstances, SAAS have committed to monitoring spend on the Discretionary Funds over the coming months and will ask institutions for an update at the end of July.