Chamber and committees

At present, free school lunches are available during school term-time for all 281,856 children in primaries 1 to 5 and special schools, as well as eligible pupils from primary 6 to secondary 6. We are working with our partners in local government to plan for the expansion of free school meal provision to primaries 6 and 7, and this work is being supported by £30 million of capital funding in this financial year to support expansion of catering and dining facilities to prepare for the anticipated increase in uptake.

I recognise the current cost of living crisis is having an adverse impact on many household budgets, therefore we will be offering further support to low income families through an increase in the Scottish Child Payment to £25 per eligible child, per week starting from 14 November. On this date, the Scottish Child Payment will be extended to include families with older children aged 6 to 15. This support is not available anywhere else within the United Kingdom and I would urge all eligible families to apply for it in the coming weeks in order to start receiving it.

The Scottish Government is committed to making universal free school lunches available for all primary school children during the course of this parliamentary term. In addition, we are committed to a pilot of free school meals in secondary schools to support our consideration of further expansion.

I refer the member to the answer to question S6W-11288 on‎ 19 October 2022. All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament’s website, the search facility of which can be found at Written questions and answers | Scottish Parliament Website

Scottish Enterprise (SE) and Scottish Development International (SDI) are continuing to work closely in partnership with Scottish Power, owners of the former Longannet Power Station in Fife, as they formalise their strategy for future use of the site. SE and SDI will continue to introduce enquiries to the company where they fit with the site’s attributes and potential for development.

I refer the member to the answer to question S6W-11301 on‎ 21 October 2022. All answers to written Parliamentary Questions are available on the Parliament's website, the search facility for which can be found at https://www.parliament.scot/chamber-and-committees/written-questions-and-answers
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The effect of the provisions in The Civic Government (Scotland) Act 1982 (Licensing of Short-term Lets) Order 2022 are that new hosts cannot operate without a licence after 1 October 2022. The effect of this is that it placed a statutory duty on local authorities to have licence schemes opened in their areas by 1 October.

As set out in my letter to local authorities, dated 21 September, I explained that while there are no penalties under legislation for local authorities that failed to meet this deadline, there is of course a risk that local authorities could be challenged by new hosts, or anybody acting on their behalf, if they are unable to submit an application for a licence due to their local authority’s scheme not being open.

The recently re-established Headteacher Recruitment and Retention Working Group works jointly with education stakeholders to develop, agree and take forward actions to help improve the recruitment and retention of headteachers in Scotland. The group has been meeting on a quarterly basis since January 2022 with the last meeting taking place on 7 September 2022.

I wrote to all local authorities on 21 September reminding them of the importance of establishing licensing schemes in their area by 1 October. In that letter I explained that while there are no penalties under legislation for local authorities that failed to meet this deadline, there is of course a risk that local authorities could be challenged by new hosts, or anybody acting on their behalf, if they are unable to submit an application for a licence due to their local authority’s scheme not being open.

My officials spoke with Aberdeenshire Council on 26 September to understand the timeline for consideration of consultation responses and sign-off of its draft policy. These have been tabled for consideration by council sub-committees ahead of a full council meeting later this year. Prior to 1 October 2022, Aberdeenshire Council ensured its websites had information about its licensing scheme including its draft policy, a draft application form, and an email address to submit enquiries to.

I refer the member to answer to question S6W-08832 on 7 June 2022. All answers to written Parliamentary Questions are available on the Parliament’s website, the search facility for which can be found at - https://www.parliament.scot/chamber-and-committees/written-questions-and-answers

We continue to work with local authorities on plans to ensure every school-aged child has access to a device and connectivity by the end of this parliamentary term in 2026.

Since the answers to S6W-10436 and S6W-10437 on‎ 21 September 2022 were published, a small number of local authorities informed us that their elected members would not be able to meet to ratify their draft short-term let policies until after 1 October 2022. In these cases local authorities have ensured their websites have supported prospective applicants by having information about their licensing scheme including the draft policy, draft application forms, and an email address to submit enquiries to.

All answers to written Parliamentary Questions are available on the Parliament's website, the search facility for which can be found at https://www.parliament.scot/chamber-and-committees/written-questions-and-answers

In the lead up to the commencement of short-term let licensing on 1 October 2022, we spoke to local authorities about their readiness to implement licensing schemes. This included regular group meetings and individual discussions.

A small number of local authorities informed us that their elected members would not meet to ratify their draft short-term let policies until after 1 October 2022. In these cases local authorities have ensured their websites have information about their licensing scheme including the draft policy, draft application forms, and an email address to submit enquiries to.