To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on what steps are being taken to tackle bullying in schools. (S6O-03347)

Bullying of any kind is unacceptable and must be addressed quickly and efficiently. In order to support schools, we continue to fully fund respectme, Scotland’s anti-bullying service, to build confidence and capacity to address bullying effectively.

We are reviewing our national anti-bullying guidance, “Respect for All: The National Approach to Anti-Bullying for Scotland’s Children and Young People”, which is for all adults who work with children and young people. The update includes consideration of the definition of bullying, online bullying, recording and monitoring of incidents, and prejudice-based bullying. The updated guidance is expected to be published by the end of the year, and the national action plan on behaviour in schools will be published in the coming weeks.

More children and young people have been identified as having additional support needs, and we know that, since 2007, there has been an eightfold increase in the number of children with ASN who spend all their time in mainstream primary school classrooms.

A lack of tailored support can result in behavioural concerns arising from the inability of the mainstream setting to accommodate support needs. What is being done to ensure that children with ASN receive appropriate support in an educational environment that benefits them?

I very much recognise that the number of children and young people who are identified as having an additional support need continues to increase year on year. It is also important to highlight that spending on additional support for learning by local authorities reached a record high of £926 million in 2022-23.

Since 2019-20, the Government has continued to invest an additional £15 million per year to help local councils to respond to the individual needs of their pupils. We also provide an additional £11 million of funding every year to directly support pupils with complex additional support needs and services for children and families.

On behaviour specifically, as members will be aware, the national action plan is currently being developed through the Scottish advisory group on relationships and behaviour in schools and is due to be published this spring. In addition, the additional support for learning project board will consider the actions relating to additional support for learning. That will include consideration of the Education, Children and Young People Committee’s report on ASL, which I understand will be published soon.

As the Cabinet secretary will be aware, bullying in Fife schools is an on-going issue, with Fife Council’s policy saying that those who attack and abuse other children should not experience “negative consequences”. The NASUWT teaching union has labelled that policy as counterproductive and has said:

“There needs to be serious consequences for serious misbehaviour.”

Does the Scottish Government agree with the teaching unions? Will the cabinet secretary outline what more the Government can do to give local authorities a strong message to toughen up their anti-bullying policies?

I thank the member for her interest in the issue, which she has raised with me in the chamber on a number of occasions. As I intimated in my response to the previous question, we will, in the coming weeks, publish the national action plan, which will set the parameters for national Government and for local authorities. It is worth while to note that the teaching unions, including the one that the member cited, have been included in the development of that plan.

I thank the Cabinet secretary for the constructive discussion that she had with Opposition spokespeople. I think that she understands the scale of the problem of bullied children, bruised teachers and—this is really important—disrupted education. Does she agree that we need a clear message about the power of the classroom teacher and the back-up resources that they can expect in order to manage such behaviour, distress and violence?

I broadly agree with the points that Mr Rennie has made. As he said, I had a very helpful meeting with Opposition members last week to talk about progress with the national action plan. It is worth while highlighting that teachers have a number of powers at their disposal right now to respond to challenging behaviour. I know that teachers across Scotland are really good at managing to defuse challenging situations—that is part of the job of being a teacher. However, I recognise the challenge, as the member knows, and I hope that the national action plan will provide more clarity on the issue.

On a point of order, Presiding Officer. I seek your guidance on a matter relating to the answer to my question this afternoon to the Minister for Higher and Further Education; and Minister for Veterans, in which I asked for his response to the £12 million deduction from the student support budget for colleges.

On 28 March 2024, the Scottish Funding Council published “College Indicative Funding Allocations 2024-25”, in which it set the student support budget at £123 million. In the previous year, that budget had been set at £135 million, thus leaving a £12 million cut. Presiding Officer, I ask for your guidance on how the minister—who said that he was unaware of that and could not, therefore, answer the question—could update the Parliament on his response to that and, indeed, answer the question.

Thank you, Ms Duncan-Glancy. You will be aware that that is not a point of order or a matter for the chair. You have your point on the record. The Minister will have heard what you said and will, I am sure, respond accordingly.