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As outlined in my statement to the Parliament on 29 June 2011, I will set out a wider package of reforms on post-16 education later in 2011. Any legislation on higher education would be brought forward next year as a result of this wider package of reform.

Scottish ministers are proud of the actions we have already taken to provide free school meals in Scotland, which last year extended eligibility to an additional 17,000 children and young people. In time we will look at ways of expanding current provision.

Plans for the Scottish Futures Fund are a matter for the Spending Review, which will report in autumn 2011.

The national roll out of Life Begins at 40 commenced in February 2011. The service will cost approximately £285,000 in the 2011-12 financial year.

This is a matter for education authorities. However, we will look to work with local authorities to identify steps we can take in the future to improve support for low income families to help meet the costs associated with school, for example, school uniforms and school trips.

The Scotland Exchange has been in beta testing mode since 2010. On 24 March 2011 members of the Global Friends of Scotland were invited to join the new Scotland Exchange network. The network is still being developed and new members are welcome.

Scotland Exchange sits on the Ning platform, at an annual cost of $500 (£321 at current exchange rates). Additional start up costs for branding and developing the site were £10,000.

Future funding will be set on an as needed basis.

The Scotland Low Carbon and Environmental Goods and Services Sector study estimated that there were 73,960 people employed in the low carbon economy in 2008-09.

These are broken down as follows:

Further sectoral and regional breakdowns are available in the consultant’s report at:

http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Resource/Doc/344829/0114756.pdf.

The Scottish Government has provided an additional £2.5 million for a new Export Support Package for 2011-12. The new Export Support Package funding is complementary to the support already provided through Scottish Development International.

Funding to the Export Support Package for 2012 will be subject to future spending allocation decisions.

There are currently no plans to provide funding to the Maldives from the Scottish Government’s International Development Fund.

Our aim is to launch an experimental prototype of the DirectScot portal in 2011 in order to gain valuable feedback from users. We are committed to improving access to public services and information.