The Scottish government has announced £11.6 million funding to help raise the attainment of children and young people in care.

Last year, the Care Experienced Children and Young People fund was used to provide mentoring programmes, provide young people in care up to the age of 26 with laptops to aid their home learning during the COVID-19 pandemic and outdoor and play-based learning activities.

This year, local authorities will work with Chief Social Workers and Directors of Education to decide how this year’s funding will be used.

Local authorities will have the flexibility to redirect some of this Care Experienced Children and Young People funding from existing plans to best support the most vulnerable and disadvantaged families, with a continued focus on equity in education, to help mitigate the impact of COVID-19.

Deputy First Minister John Swinney said: “Improving the education and life chances of all our children and young people is the defining mission of this government.

“The challenges presented by the current pandemic mean that efforts to deliver equity in education are more important than ever.

“We know that there are still many barriers facing young people in care and that they are not always able to access the same opportunities as their peers.

“This funding will help remove those obstacles and allows local authorities to provide targeted help for some of our most disadvantaged pupils,” he concluded.