3. To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on the support and services available for children and young people with additional support needs in mainstream education across Central Scotland. (S6O-02706)

Our most recent figures show that local authority spending on additional support for learning has reached a record high of £830 million. We have also invested £15 million per year since 2019-20 to support the recruitment of pupil support assistants and to help them respond to the individual needs of children and young people. In addition, the Scottish Government provided more than £11 million of funding to directly support pupils with complex additional support needs and services to children and families.

We work with a number of partners across Central Scotland to ensure that advice, support and resources are available to the parents and carers of children and young people with additional support needs, the children and young people themselves and the practitioners who support them.

The truth is that many children are in learning settings that do not suit their needs. Parents have contacted me to say that, due to long waiting lists for ASN diagnosis, many children are being refused a transfer to ASN specialist schools and nurseries. The fact of the matter is that our school and nursery estates are not equipped to deal with the number of young people who have complex additional support needs. ASN parent councils in my region have raised that issue, but their voices are being ignored.

What will this Government do to reduce the time that families spend waiting for an ASN diagnosis? Does the Minister agree that a full review of the ASN estate is long overdue?

The member raises a really important point, particularly in the light of the number of pupils who now have an identified additional support need. More than a third of our young people now have an identified need, which changes the types of learning and teaching that happen in our classrooms and affects the needs of our young people, their parents and carers.

I am sorry to hear about the experience of the campaign group in the member’s region. I would be more than happy to engage with that group and, indeed, have engaged directly with the ASN reform Scotland group on the matter.

The member also makes a number of points about diagnosis. Under the Education (Additional Support for Learning) (Scotland) Act (2004), no diagnosis is required for additional support to be given, but we very much recognise that having a diagnosis can help young people and their families.

In 2021, we published guidance on the national neurodevelopmental specification for children and young people. The member has asked for a review of that guidance, but I suggest to her that it might be prudent to consider that more fully as part of the education reform process, recognising that that process must reflect the recent changes in our classrooms. ASN is part of that change and I am committed to working with the member, and with members from across the chamber, on how we can better support teachers, parents and carers in relation to additional support needs.

Presiding Officer, I apologise for being slightly late for general questions.

Cabinet secretary, should the discussion about involving parents not include involving parents and carers in the decision-making processes regarding their young person, instead of just keeping them informed?

I agree with the member’s suggestion in relation to decision making. As I alluded to in my response to Meghan Gallacher, we provide support to parents, but if the member has any suggestions on how we can better influence that through the education reform process, I am more than happy to listen to them.

This Tuesday, we launched the consultation on the issues surrounding the legislation that will come forward next year. There is an opportunity to strengthen that legislation, particularly in relation to parental rights, and I am more than happy to consider that suggestion through the consultation process.