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The Additional Support for Learning Code of Practice is statutory guidance which explains the duties on education authorities and other agencies to support children’s and young people’s learning. It provides guidance on the provisions of the Education (Additional Support for Learning) (Scotland) Act as well as on the supporting framework of secondary legislation. Education authorities and agencies involved in advising or supporting children and young people with additional support needs and their families, should encourage and support their employees in gaining knowledge of the content of the code and understanding of its application in their day-to-day work. To ensure that it continues to fully support schools and local authorities to fulfil their duties under the ASL Act, we have committed to a refresh of the Supporting Children’s Learning Code of Practice during this parliamentary term. The update will take account of the incorporation of UNCRC.

In terms of funding to support local authorities, spending on additional support for learning by authorities reached a record high of £926m in 2022-23 an increase of £386m in the last 10 years. We have invested £75m since 2019-20 to help schools respond to the individual needs of children and young people, which has contributed to the highest recorded level of support staff in Scotland. We also provide over £11m of funding each year to directly support pupils with complex additional support needs and services to support children and families.

The early resolution of concerns and disagreements is actively encouraged. Where this is not possible, the Additional Support for Learning legislation sets out a range of dispute resolution mechanisms and the Scottish Government provide for a range of services to support parents, carers and young people through this process.

In response to the Additional Support for Learning Review in 2020, Scottish Ministers are committed to ensuring that Additional Support for Learning legislation is UNCRC compliant, and will deliver this through the Additional Support for Learning Action Plan.

Fairer Deliveries For All: An Action Plan was launched in November 2018, with a focus on tackling unfair parcel delivery practices, and understanding the root causes of over-charging for these services.

The plan identified eight action points to be taken forward by the Scottish Government and its partners:

1. We will develop an interactive data hub to allow users to measure the fairness of delivery pricing to improve transparency and drive behaviour change.

2. We will develop the Scottish Parcel Delivery Map to understand consumer experiences and target interventions.

3. We will celebrate best practice by retailers and parcel delivery companies.

4. We will work with industry to explore how to increase the impact and reach of the Statement of Principles.

5. We will make it easier for consumers to know and exercise their rights.

6. We will improve the accuracy of postcode classification tools.

7. We will establish the Improving Consumer Outcomes Fund to explore new approaches to tackling long-standing consumer issues, including misleading and unfair delivery charges in rural and remote areas of Scotland.

8. We will shape UK Government action to further strengthen consumer protection.

In August 2020, the Scottish Government published a progress update on the eight action points, which can be found here: Fairer deliveries action plan: progress statement - gov.scot (www.gov.scot) .

At the time of the publication, the Scottish Government launched a consultation on the creation of a new public body to tackle the causes of consumer harm in Scotland. As a result, Consumer Scotland came into existence in April 2022, impacting on the role and remit of the Scottish Government in relation to consumer issues.

Work on the Action Plan concluded in 2022 in response to the establishment of Consumer Scotland and its role considering consumer detriment in Scotland. Post and delivery services are key priorities for the organisation as set out in its work programme, which can be found here: Work Programme 2024-2025 (HTML) | Consumer Scotland . As part of this, Consumer Scotland works with UK Regulators, governments and partner organisations to ensure that the parcel delivery market is meeting the needs of current and future consumers living in Scotland.

Postal services is a reserved policy which places a limit upon actions that the Scottish Government and Consumer Scotland can take.

In August 2020, the Scottish Government launched an interactive website, fairdeliveries.scot, which provided users with information allowing them to measure the fairness of delivery pricing, improve transparency, and drive positive behavioural change from parcel delivery companies.

In January 2023, fairdeliveries.scot was decommissioned as the low levels of traffic did not represent best value for money. As an alternative, Highland Council Trading Standards runs the Delivery Law UK website which provides comprehensive information for consumers and businesses on their rights and obligations in relation to parcel delivery.

Postal services is a reserved policy which places a limit on any actions that the Scottish Government can take. We will continue to work collaboratively with our partners in Consumer Scotland and Trading Standards to advocate for a fair approach to parcel delivery for both households and business.

The Scottish Government is supporting housing associations to retrofit their housing stock through the Social Housing Net Zero Heat Fund. We are making available up to £200m this Parliamentary Session to support clean heat and energy efficiency projects in socially rented homes.

‎ Projects are eligible for up to 60% of the costs of clean heating systems and 50% of energy efficiency measures, including Mechanical Ventilation with Heat Recovery (MVHR) which also helps to prevent the occurrence of mould and condensation.

The Scottish Government monitors grant funded projects closely, requiring frequent updates to ensure they are implemented effectively and that benefits are realised.

The Scottish Housing Quality Standard requires social landlords to meet minimum energy efficiency standards and to have in place satisfactory ventilation, as well as ensure that there is no rising or penetrating damp. The Scottish Housing Regulator wrote to all Social Landlords in December 2022 on the importance of appropriate systems to identify cases of mould and damp.

Earlier this year the Scottish Government consulted on a new Social Housing Net Zero Standard. This included proposals to require landlords to devise a ventilation and monitoring strategy to accompany energy efficiency interventions where mechanical ventilation isn’t installed. We are now considering the consultation responses received before progressing.

The Royal Mail and postal delivery services are reserved matters.

Postal delivery companies are commercial organisations, operating in an unregulated market. The Scottish Government has long called for an end to unfair delivery charges, but only the UK Government has the power to regulate them. Where there are opportunities to do so, the Scottish Government urges these companies to be fair and transparent in their pricing policies.

The Scottish Government supports the maintenance of the Universal Service Obligation (USO) and makes regular representations to the UK Government and Royal Mail on behalf of Scottish consumers.

I will meet with Royal Mail in September and will continue to seek assurances that any reform of the USO does not cause detriment, particularly to consumers in rural and island communities.

The Scottish Government welcomes the advisory opinion and the clarity that it provides on the specific obligations of State Parties to the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) in relation to climate change and ocean acidification.

The relationship between climate change and ocean health is long-established in Scottish legislation and action to tackle the impacts of climate change is at the heart of decision making for the marine environment. Under the Marine (Scotland) Act 2010 Scottish Ministers and public authorities must act in the way best calculated to mitigate, and adapt to, climate change in exercising any function that affects the Scottish marine area. Further, the Climate Change (Scotland) Act 2009 requires that the climate change plan must set out the Scottish Ministers' proposals and policies regarding the consideration of the potential for the capture and long-term storage of carbon, known as blue carbon, when designating marine protected areas.

The Scottish Government’s commitment to ending Scotland’s contribution to global emissions by 2045 at the latest is unwavering. We are already around half-way there and continue to decarbonise faster than the UK average.

I understand the SRUC report ‘Island and Agricultural Development: Maximising the potential in the islands of Orkney, Shetland and Outer Hebrides’, will be published very soon. This report will add to the available pool of evidence on island and rural development.

The Good Food Nation (Scotland) Act 2022 requires relevant authorities to publish a Good Food Nation Plan within 12 months of the date that Section 10 of the Act comes into force. It is the Scottish Government’s intention to commence this part of the legislation at around the same time as the final version of the national Good Food Nation Plan is published in 2025. Relevant authorities will therefore be required to publish their own Plans in 2026.

ScotRail operates 18 trains per day - an hourly service between Elgin and Inverness, which includes 7 return services between Inverness and Elgin and 11 services between Aberdeen and Inverness. Providing additional services between Elgin and Inverness was possible due to a £330 million investment from the Scottish Government, which was completed in December 2019.