First Minister, John Swinney, has presented his Programme for Government to the Scottish Parliament which includes a number of measures related to additional support for learning (ASL).
The Programme for Government, presented annually to Parliament, outlines the actions the Scottish Government have committed to taking in the year ahead, and beyond. It also includes details of the legislative programme for the next parliamentary year.
The Programme for Government 2025 to 26, presented to the Scottish Parliament on Tuesday 6 May, focuses on four key priorities – eradicating child poverty, growing the economy, investing in public services and tackling the climate emergency.
Improving education and support for learning
First Minister John Swinney has outlined a number of measures to improve the delivery of education, including funding and resourcing for additional support for learning. Some of these include:
- Supporting the recruitment, retention and training of the additional support needs (ASN) workforce, backed by additional funding of £29 million for both local and national programmes
- Holding a data summit with all local authorities in Scotland on ASL, focused on recommending actions for improving consistency of identification, support and reporting of children’s needs at local level
- Establishing the Centre for Teaching Excellence, hosted by the University of Glasgow, and delivering its full offer to teachers in the 2025 school year.
The role of Enquire
As part of the work around education, it was also confirmed Enquire have been commissioned to undertake additional work focused on communicating key information different audiences need about additional support for learning.
This additional work is very welcome and much needed, and we were pleased to see it specifically mentioned in the Programme for Government. Enquire are working alongside the ASL Project Board to create and deliver a national communications strategy which will build on existing work to learn about and better understand children’s rights, how these apply in the context of education and support for learning, and where and how to access support, advice and information.
Supporting children, young people and families with additional support needs
Amongst some of the other measures designed to support children, young people and families are;
- Additional funding for local authorities to deliver holiday playschemes and activity provision for disabled children
- Publication of an Early Years Speech and Language action plan setting out practical steps to support early speech and language development
- Bringing forward the Children and Young People (Care) (Scotland) Bill to support delivery of The Promise
- Improving mental health support for young people, including addressing issues related to backlogs within the CAMHS system
- Implementation of the Relationships and Behaviour in Schools Joint Action Plan 2024-27 with local authorities to report to Parliament on improvements annually.