Chamber and committees

The responsibility for the delivery of free school meals is a matter for local authorities. This duty under Section 53 of the Education (Scotland) Act 1980 sets out that local authorities must provide, or secure the provision of, a school lunch free of charge to pupils who meet the eligibility criteria set out within that Act. The national eligibility criteria for free school meals is available through the following web link: Free school meals - mygov.scot .

We are committed to the expansion of universal free school meals in primary schools. The next step in this expansion is to P6 & P7 pupils in receipt of the Scottish Child Payment from February 2025, followed by universal provision in P6 & P7 during 2026.

We are also committed to delivering a pilot of universal free school meal expansion in secondary schools. This pilot will provide evidence which will assist us in our considerations of any future expansion of provision.

It is an offence in Scotland, as it is in England and Wales, for utilities to fail to secure the safety of road works by ensuring that those works are adequately guarded and lit and that appropriate traffic signs are placed to guide and direct persons using the road. The Scottish Ministers may issue or approve codes of practice giving practical guidance to utilities in respect of these duties and this is incorporated in the Safety at Street Works and Road Works Code of Practice 2013. A failure to comply with the Code of Practice is evidence of a failure to discharge the relevant safety duties and accordingly evidence that an offence has been committed. These requirements for utilities arise from the New Roads and Street Works Act 1991.

For roads and highway authorities the equivalent legislation is the Roads (Scotland) Act 1984 (covering Scotland), and the Highways Act 1980 (Covering England and Wales). While the 1980 Act also included a provision for a mandatory Code of Practice on safety, the 1984 Act did not, and so it was not previously possible to prescribe a mandatory Code for Scottish roads authorities on this topic. As this omission predates the formation of the Scottish Parliament, we cannot provide detail of the policy rationale of the time. This was rectified in 2019, when the Scottish Government made the necessary legislative changes to the Roads (Scotland) Act 1984 to extend the requirement to follow the mandatory safety Code of Practice to Scottish Roads authorities. The legislation which requires Scottish roads authorities to follow the mandatory Code of Practice has now been in force since 10 January 2022. The 2013 version of the Code of Practice is currently under review, which will result in an amended foreword, including Scottish road authorities in the list of bodies the Code applies to.

The Scottish Government is committed to working with our international partners to secure a global transition to a net zero and resilient future in a way that is fair and just for all.

COPs are an important opportunity for international partners to come together, share lessons and agree action. Scotland will continue to play our part at COPs, making the case for greater inclusion of devolved governments and ensuring climate justice is at the heart of international climate action.

No decision on SG attendance has yet been made in relation to COP29. A decision regarding ministerial attendance will be taken in due course.

The appointment of a new ministerial team has presented an opportunity to simplify portfolio titles across all parts of government. This in no way changes our commitment to the principles of a Wellbeing Economy, as set out in the National Strategy for Economic Transformation.

A growing economy that is fair and green supports delivery of our other priorities to work towards eradicating child poverty, delivering sustainable public services and tackling the climate emergency. These are and will continue to be the key focus for the Scottish Government.

We are working with key partners to identify and quantify the resources currently focused on attracting mobile capital investment at scale. As part of a wider update on the implementation of the investor panel recommendations, we expect to be able to report initial findings, alongside the initial steps we can take to better define roles and responsibilities across the public sector.

The BT Subsea Team has confirmed that there have been no recorded faults or repairs required to the R100 subsea cables to Scottish islands since deployment in 2022.

I refer the member to the answer to question S6W-27283 on 28 May 2024.. This year’s public awareness campaigns will build upon and enhance those of 2023.

The Scottish Outdoor Access Code education pack was refreshed in 2023 and is aimed at teachers, leaders and others working with young people, with viewing figures of nearly 13,000 times since it was updated. This year NatureScot will focus on raising awareness of this resource amongst uniformed groups such as the Scout Association and in relevant university and college courses.

NatureScot are also working with the Scottish Advisory Panel for Outdoor Education and the Outdoor Learning network to improve guidance and ensure consistency in messaging about fires in the outdoors.

Young Scot have created a series of animations conveying key messages from the Scottish Outdoor Access Code. During 2023-24, there were over 1500 visits to these webpages. Young Scot are presently planning the social media campaign for summer 2024 with an outdoors focus.

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 .

Scotland’s natural environment, the conditions of vegetation and the weather in Scotland at certain times of year lend themselves to fires starting and spreading quickly.

Addressing those risks is a key priority for both the Scottish Government and the Scottish Fire and Rescue Service. Through the Scottish Wildfire Forum, chaired by the Scottish Fire and Rescue Service, and VisitScotland’s Visitor Management: Scotland's Plan & Objectives | VisitScotland.org our agencies and partners come together to plan for and collaborate on issues such as wildfire education.

The Scottish Government is responding to the full range of climate risks identified for Scotland through our 2019 Adaptation Plan, which sets out more than 170 policies and proposals to build resilience to the impacts of global climate change as part of our Just Transition to net zero emissions by 2045. In Autumn 2024 we will publish a third Adaptation Plan, recognising the increased nature of climate risk and planning for a climate resilient Scotland.

Since 2020, SG has invested £66m to restore 18,500 ha of degraded peatlands across approximately 230 projects/sites spread all across Scotland [1] . The Wildlife Management and Muirburn (Scotland) Act 2024 strictly regulates the use of muirburn, with exceptions to allow fuel load management. It also requires those carrying out muirburn to have completed an approved training course.

As we work to combat the effects of the climate crisis, we will continue to consider how our agencies and partners work together to address the risks of wildfire.

[1] Figures from 2020 to 2023.

The Scottish Government’s public agencies are running promotional campaigns to support responsible enjoyment of the countryside, as part of the wider national visitor management strategy co-ordinated by VisitScotland. This includes messaging which relates to responsible lighting of fires, strongly emphasising for example the use of camping stoves. It also highlights the need to follow any relevant local guidance and promotes sensible behaviours. The campaigns are being taken forward through both traditional and social media, including work with online influencers to help reach audiences that are otherwise difficult to engage.

Figures show there has been widespread public engagement with these campaigns over previous summer periods. For example, in 2023 NatureScot's social media influencer videos on responsible camping and fires had over 82,000 plays, and media campaigns by Forestry and Land Scotland and Cairngorms National Park Authority had a combined readership of over 3.1 million. It seems likely that the presence of rangers at key hotspots is important in allowing regular face to face interaction with visitors.

In addition, land managers have been advised to use time limited local signage or other communication methods to inform people when there are high risk conditions, working with local authorities and National Park Authorities. The fires messaging framework has recently been refreshed.