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Local authorities are responsible for monitoring education provision, including where there are barriers to accessing that provision.

We recognise that digital exclusion is an issue for some learners in Scotland and have undertaken exploratory work with local authorities through SOLACE, ADES and Cosla to understand the scale of the issue. Subsequently, we have committed to investing £30m to help ensure that learners without access to the internet or devices are catered for ahead of the 20-21 academic year and we are working closely with local authorities to take that forward.

Closing the poverty related attainment gap is the defining mission of this government, with equity remaining a key principle of the strategic framework on re-opening of schools and early learning and childcare centres which was published on 21 May.

That is why we are continuing with our commitment to invest £182 million from the Attainment Scotland Fund in 2020/21, including Pupil Equity Funding. For the first time, Pupil Equity Fund allocations have been confirmed for two years, with over £250 million committed to schools across 2020/21 and 2021/22. This will help to provide more certainty for head teachers and aid learning during the Covid-19 pandemic and beyond. This Pupil Equity Funding will benefit 97% of schools across every local authority in Scotland.

Due to the ongoing challenges currently facing schools and local authorities I have relaxed the guidance on Attainment Scotland Funding streams to support Local Authorities in deploying this funding flexibly to best support vulnerable children from the most deprived backgrounds. There are already a number of such examples, including the provision of laptops and/tablets to support digital learning at home, purchase and delivery of books and other learning material to children at home, providing transport to enable some learners to attend LA Hubs, and supporting home-school link workers to maintain regular contact with children.

We recognise that digital exclusion is a particular issue for some of our most disadvantaged learners. To help ensure as many children and young people as possible are able to connect with their schools, continue their learning, access support and engage with their peers, we are investing an initial £9 million which will provide devices and connectivity for 25,000 learners across Scotland. This is the first phase of our £30 million commitment to support digital inclusion for children and young people, which we are working closely with local authority partners to deliver.

We continue to monitor a range of evidence to help to inform our approach. This includes ongoing monitoring of the young person surveys conducted by Young Scot and the Children’s Parliament, both of which have addressed the theme of young people’s mental health and wellbeing.

In recognition of the central role of pupils’ mental health the Strategic Framework for Reopening Schools, Early Learning and Childcare Provision in Scotland states that authorities should protect “the physical, emotional and mental health and wellbeing of children and young people”.

https://www.gov.scot/publications/excellent-equity-during-covid-19-pandemic-strategic-framework-reopening-schools-early-learning-childcare-provision-scotland/

We have provided £105,000 to support Young Scot to develop enhanced digital content and resources on mental health and wellbeing. This will be updated based on what young people tell us they need.

The government will continue to work with young people organisations to draw on evidence from their surveys of children and young people in relation both to learning-related issues and wider issues.

Responsibility for the provision and monitoring of home learning rests with schools and local authorities. However, we are working closely with local authority partners, teaching unions, parent representatives and other stakeholders through the Education Recovery Group to support home learning. The Group allows stakeholders to share their knowledge and experience on current home learning provision, building the widest possible agreement as we plan the way ahead.

The four capacities at the centre of Curriculum for Excellence remain, however, learning and teaching practice has had to adapt to ensure children and young people can continue to progress in their learning whilst at home. Our ‘Supporting Pupils, Parents And Teachers – Learning During Term 4’ guidance outlines the steps that are being taken to ensure that learning can continue during term 4 of the current academic year.

We have also recently published a strategic framework on the re-opening of schools and early learning and childcare settings, which is designed to achieve the safe reopening of schools and provides consistency and equity in a national approach for children and young people that is underpinned by local planning and delivery. A suite of supporting guidance is being published to cover the practical issues that local authorities and learning settings must consider when developing local arrangements. This will include advice and guidance on implementation measures, preparing the curriculum offer, wellbeing support, and delivery of early learning and childcare. It will also include specific considerations for each sector, based upon the health evidence relevant to each age group.

The national online learning environment, Glow, is freely available to all learners and teachers from any internet connected device. Officials are working hard to make sure the platform is able to cope with increased demand and have provided a range of advice, guidance and support to local authorities on how best to make use of the Glow services.

Over and above the technical platform, Education Scotland are currently working on collation of a wide range of curricular resources which will be located in a single online source, to help teachers find the resources they need to deliver continuity of education.

In the run up to and following the formal closure of the Orkney Abattoir myself and my officials met and discussed the future options available for slaughter on Orkney with many local stakeholders. This included meeting with the Council leader, council officials, local MSP’s, butchers, NFUS, livestock market and farming representatives. At these meetings it was stated that the Scottish Government stood ready to work with any party who came forward with a viable and sustainable plan for the future.

Unfortunately, and following the Orkney Island Council launch of an ‘abattoir challenge fund’, no interested party came forward to reinstate slaughter provisions in Orkney. The Scottish Government remains open to discuss options with any potential provider.

As with all matters the Scottish Government will draw on legal advice as appropriate. In line with the commitment in the Programme for Government, the Scottish Government will publish a series of papers providing the people of Scotland with the information that they need to decide whether Scotland should be independent.

Travel support is based on an individual’s circumstances. This support includes rural delivery models’ eligibility for a rural uplift, and assistance with travel and/or overnight accommodation.

Skills Development Scotland have advised that their annual spend on travel and subsistence for Modern Apprentices in both of the last two full financial years is as follows:

2017-18: £1,091,538

2018-19: £1,055,840

Expenditure for the current year will be reported in due course.

Skills Development Scotland are able to provide the precise figures for travel and subsistence spend in 2017-18 and 2018-19 as the introduction of the Funding Information and Processing System in 2017-18 has given the functionality to extract this cost in isolation.

Due to a system change Skills Development Scotland are unable to provide the annual spend on travel and subsistence for Modern Apprentices in the years preceding 2017-18.

Details of what was budgeted for in the years preceding 2017/18 are available, but this does not reflect expenditure so cannot be directly compared to years after. The contract value for travel and subsistence for years 2009/10 (the first year that SDS put into place contracts for the delivery of Modern Apprenticeships) to 2016/17 is laid out below:

2009-10: £1.1m

2010-11: £940k

2011-12: £940k

2012-13: £960k

2013-14: £940k

2014-15: £950k

2015-16: £1.3m

2016-17: £1.3m

Throughout the Foundation Apprenticeship programme support has been available to fund participant travel. For the 2016-18, 2017-19 and 2019-21 cohorts, travel costs were included within the total funding awards. It is therefore not possible to provide travel costs for these cohorts. Travel costs are separate for the 2018-20 cohort. As delivery of this cohort is still ongoing and the total amount of expenditure is not yet available.