The Scottish Government does not hold this information, because it is statutory responsibility of local authorities to manage and maintain their school estate.

This government has a strong record on the school estate, working in collaboration with local authority partners. The 2023 school estate statistics show that 90.7% of schools were in a good or satisfactory condition in 2023, up from 90.4% in 2022 and 61.1% in 2007. Since 2007-08, 1,098 school builds or substantial refurbishment projects have been completed.

The Scottish Government’s £2 billion Learning Estate Investment Programme is being delivered in partnership with local authorities and will build on this progress.

We continue to support our local authority partners with £16 million per year to ensure all secondary schools have access to school counselling services. It is for local authorities to determine how they deliver the counselling service in their area.

In December 2020, local authorities confirmed that counselling services were in place across Scotland for all school pupils aged 10 and above.

School counselling is just one a range of services in place to support children and young people’s mental health.

Public Health Scotland (PHS) does not collect data on the waiting times patient experience for dyslexia screening.

The Scottish Government is currently considering next steps and will update the Scottish Parliament later this year.

The Scottish Government does not hold this information. I refer the member to the answer to question S6W-20534 on 6 September 2023. All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament's website, the search facility for which can be found at : https://www.parliament.scot/chamber-and-committees/written-questions-and-answers

We have met with the Scottish Council of Deans of Education to discuss their concerns.

The recent teacher pay deal is the largest in twenty years and was made against a challenging financial backdrop. It is in that context that we have had to review funding commitments across the programme.

We continue to value the importance of professional development for teachers as demonstrated by the range of professional learning and leadership programmes provided by Education Scotland and detailed on their website Education Scotland | Professional Learning and Leadership . In addition, we are investing £800,000 this year in the Into Headship programme to support future school leaders.

We are open to considering reinstating funding for masters-level learning for teachers should future budget provisions allow.

The programme is now in its third year following the initial pilot. In total 279 applications have been received from the General Teaching Council for Scotland (GTCS) registered teachers across Scotland. 166 have been successful in gaining a place on the programme since it began.

Pilot programme 2017 85 applications

Cohort 1 (2021-22) 56 applications

Cohort 2 (2022-23) 53 applications

Cohort 3 (2023-24) 85 applications

The SFC last undertook a review of the college estate in late 2017 through the College Sector Estate Conditions Survey. This identified that approximately one-third of the college estate required significant backlog maintenance, either through major repair or replacement of core elements of colleges’ estate. As a result, the college sector was allocated additional funding in 2018-19 to help fund very high priority maintenance needs.

The college sector capital funding allocation for 2023-24 increased by over 10% with £31.2m being allocated for backlog and lifecycle maintenance. The SFC offered greater flexibility by combining the two funding allocations. Additionally, the SFC has targeted £4.7m of capital maintenance funding to support the highest priority needs such as significant known and emerging health and safety issues, including making buildings wind and watertight.

The Scottish Government does not hold this information.

The SFC’s “College Infrastructure Strategy: The Approach to Delivering Scotland’s College Infrastructure”, published in November 2022, recognises that investment in college infrastructure is needed and will identify future infrastructure investment needed for a sustainable college estate. It is a collective approach between the SFC and colleges and aims to develop a 10-year Infrastructure Investment Plan for Scotland’s colleges. The work on delivering the strategy has begun and this will include baselining the condition of the college estate.

Our aims and principles make clear that there should be availability of counselling services during school holidays, to ensure continued support to vulnerable young people. However, it is a matter for local authorities to decide how to deliver the service to best suit the needs and circumstances of children and young people in their area.

It is important to highlight that school counselling is just one of a range of services in place to support children and young people’s mental health. Our work on supporting children and young people’s mental health and wellbeing is set within a context of much wider support for children and young people’s mental health within communities and in relation to specific concerns.

Through the children and young people’s Community Mental Health and Wellbeing Supports and Services Framework, the Scottish Government is providing local authorities with £15 million per annum to fund community-based mental health supports for children and young people aged 5-24 (26 if care-experienced), their family members and their carers. The services are focussed on prevention and early intervention, and include supports for positive mental health and wellbeing as well as for emotional distress.