Implementation of The Education (Additional Support for Learning) (Scotland) Act 2004: report to Parliament 2013

The cost of providing support

Funding for Additional Support for Learning is included in the block grant which the Scottish Government provides to all local authorities as part of the annual local government finance settlement. It is the responsibility of each local authority to allocate the total financial resources available to it on the basis of local needs and priorities having first fulfilled its statutory obligations and the jointly agreed set of national and local priorities including the Scottish Government's key strategic objectives.

The Scottish Government has committed to a preventative spend approach focusing on spend in the early years and on early intervention aligned with the Early Years Framework. The work to make provision to meet the learning needs of children and young people through the additional support for learning framework contributes to this agenda.

The Local Government Finance Statistics 2014 indicate that education authorities spend just over £4.5bn on education in Scotland. Of that £0.5bn is spent on additional support for learning. This equates to just over 11% of the overall spend on education in Scotland.