Chamber and committees

Throughout the estate general lighting is provided by modern fluorescent tube type fittings. A small number of traditional bulbs, less than 1% of the total, are used within desk task lights and some period light fittings.

The Scottish Government has a well established set of disaster recovery and business continuity plans (BCP), which are kept under constant review. These plans are being revised in the light of recent internal restructuring of the organisation. In addition, the Scottish Government Strategic Board has endorsed a refreshed business continuity planning policy and the Government''s centralised continuity plans are also being reviewed. As part of the programme of continual review, the strategic board has also agreed that the government''s Scottish Resilience Unit should invite directorates and agencies to undertake a self-evaluation of policy areas which contribute (or could contribute) to the long-term development of resilience policy, which will take cognizance of the guidance offered by the National Resilience Planning Assumptions (NRPAs) developed by the UK Cabinet Office in partnership with devolved government.

At a UK level, Cabinet Office is currently reviewing the way in which the new BCP (BS 25999) standard is to be treated within the civil service, in consultation with other branches of government, including the Scottish Government.

Over the period 1 April 2007 to 31 March 2008 the Scottish Government despatched mail to the value of £439,146. This is broken down as follows:

(a) Royal Mail “ 585,106 items at a cost of £283,509

(b) Other Carriers “ 21,548 items at a cost of £155,637.

In the last year, three people have been seconded to private sector organisations by the Scottish Government. In the same period eight people have been seconded from private sector organisations to the Scottish Government.

The officials entitled to use the Government Car Service (GCS) are the Permanent Secretary, the Scottish Government''s six Directors-General and HM Chief Inspector of Constabulary (HMCIC).

Costs are not available as GCS provides cars to ministers and senior officials on a pooled basis, rather than through individually allocated cars, and does not apportion costs between its core customers.

The Scottish Government welcomes the Prisons Commission''s challenging report. We have made it clear since the report was published on 1 July that this is a priority for the Scottish Government. We are considering how the report''s recommendations would contribute to the delivery of a coherent penal policy and will produce a detailed response as soon as possible.

At a recent meeting, with the Scottish Council of Independent Schools, I encouraged the independent sector to continue to work closely with local authorities (LAs) and schools across Scotland''s educational community to share and promote best practice for instance by supporting small special schools in the LA sector or by providing access to advanced highers to pupils at LA schools.

Independent schools, like all other registered charities must pass the public benefit test developed by the Office of the Scottish Charities Regulator to retain their charitable status. It is a matter for each independent school to make its case to the satisfaction of the regulator.

As stated in our new International development policy, published in May 2008, the Scottish Government is starting new programmes in Rwanda, Tanzania, Zambia and the Darfur region of Sudan, as well as the Indian subcontinent.

In addition, some programmes supported under previous international development funding rounds are still on-going in several countries of Sub-Saharan Africa as well as in Sri Lanka.

The following table shows the total amount due to the Student Loans Company at the end of financial year 2007-08 broken down by how long it has been outstanding.

Years in Repayment	Debt Outstanding (£ Million)
0 to 5 Years	1,158.1
6 to 10 Years	275.8
11 to 15 Years	20.6
15+ Years	0.2
Not Yet in Repayment	595.7
Total	2,050.3

Source: Student Loans Company.

Note: Outstanding debt figures are shown in millions and is rounded to the nearest 100,000.

The Scottish Government has no plans to carry out a survey of arrangements for providing school meals. We are providing local authorities with record levels of funding and allowing them to retain any efficiency savings. It is the responsibility of local authorities to ensure that appropriate arrangements are in place to deliver a school lunch service that meets local needs.

With regard to the nutritional content of school meals, under the Schools (Health Promotion and Nutrition) (Scotland) Act 2007 (the Act), local authorities must ensure that the food and drink provided in schools complies with The Nutritional Requirements for Food and Drink in Schools (Scotland) Regulations 2008. These regulations were approved by Parliament on the 25 June 2008 and came into force on 4 August 2008.

HM Inspectorate of Education will be involved in monitoring the implementation of the Act through their programme of inspections. Inspections will build on the activities that inspection teams undertook to evaluate aspects of health promotion and the implementation of Hungry for Success. They will focus particularly on the impact of actions taken by schools and local authorities to improve food provision in schools and the uptake of food provided. Self-evaluation by schools and local authorities will continue to be important in measuring impact, identifying effective practice and securing continuous improvement.