Seòmar agus comataidhean

This is an operational matter for Scottish Enterprise. I have asked their Chief Executive, Adrian Gillespie, to contact you directly with a response.

In 2025-26 we are providing £37 million resource to support the expansion of free school meals to pupils in Primary 6 and 7 in receipt of the Scottish Child Payment. Agreement to the budget from parties across this Chamber will ensure this work continues.

The Scottish Government has prioritised this work to maximise the benefit to those in low-income households.

We are continuing work with local authorities to understand what a pilot proposal for provision in secondary schools might look like.

Whilst not aware of any specific actions at this time with regards to illegally modified e-bikes on our road network in Aberdeen, we are aware that the matter has been raised and discussed within the Road Safety North East Scotland (RSNES) Lead Officer Group, and at a national level via the Motorcycle Focus Group in conjunction with discussion on e-motorcycles. At this group, Transport Scotland statisticians were asked to obtain more specific casualty data about e-motorcycles to help understand the extent of the issue at a national level.

Addressing the role of modified e-bikes/e-motorcycles in antisocial behaviour, and serious and organised crime, is a matter for Police Scotland.

I would also refer the member to the answer to question S6W-32685 on 13 January 2025. 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.

The Scottish Government is committed to ensuring that effective support is in place for all children and families experiencing problems with drugs and alcohol. Our framework to improve holistic whole family support sets out principles of how we will improve support for families affected by drugs and alcohol by taking a whole family approach and using family inclusive practice. The framework is supported by investment totalling £6.5 million per year over the life of the Parliament.

We are investing nearly £4 million to expand the successful Grow your Own Routes model for young people aged 12-26. This model supports young people with substance use in their families, by helping them meet their own goals and break inter-generational cycles of addiction.

To further ensure children and young people are protected from the harms associated with drug and alcohol use, in 2024-2025 the Scottish Government provided £475,000 of funding to the Corra Foundation to deliver the Way Forward for Families Partnership Fund (WFFPF). WFFPF is match funded by the Corra Foundation and delivers funding directly to Third Sector organisations to support families affected by drug and alcohol use. These organisations deliver vital work across Scotland, ensuring the right support is available.

The National Child Protection Guidance details the responsibilities and expectations for all involved in protecting children and young people. The guidance supports the care and protection of children by including detailed information on how concerns are identified and should be responded to. Children and families affected by drug and alcohol use is listed as a specific support need and concern in the guidance and there is information for practitioners on how to support families.

The Scottish Government will continue to work with partners to ensure that robust child protection measures are in place across Scotland, and continue to be followed at all times.

The Scottish Government acts on many fronts to promote low-impact, sustainable sea fishing.

Our Future Fisheries Management Strategy sets out our vision for Scotland to be a world class fishing nation, delivering responsible and sustainable fisheries management, and actions we will take to deliver that vision. This ten year Strategy includes our Future Catching Policy which aims to develop new rules, in cooperation with stakeholders, to regulate activity at sea in order to support the increased accountability and sustainability of Scottish fisheries: Fisheries - future catching policy: consultation - gov.scot.

On a day-to-day basis our compliance and operational staff oversee compliance with regulation and administrative requirements (whether that be in our 18 coastal offices or marine protection vessels), and our scientists provide data to help inform management decisions at a Scottish, UK and international level.

The Scottish Government’s amended economic link conditions took effect in 2023 to increase landings of key stocks into Scotland and ensure there is a significant economic benefit to Scottish coastal communities from this fishing opportunity.

Indications are that the policy change has succeeded in delivering greater pelagic landings into Scotland – widening the benefit arising from Scotland’s fishing opportunities.

Economic link conditions apply to vessels greater than 10 metres in length and for 2025 requires vessels to land at least 55% of their total combined landings of herring, mackerel, Nephrops, haddock, anglerfish, cod, hake and whiting into Scotland or provide the Scottish Government fishing opportunities (in the following year) that we give to the broader fleet.

We monitor progress and compliance with the economic link conditions via established data gathering programmes, remote electronic monitoring is not required for that purpose.

In 2024 the Scottish Government launched the Inshore Fisheries Management Improvement Programme to develop a more agile, responsive and regional management framework. Our vision is that this framework will enable us to tailor a wider range of fisheries management tools to the changing needs of our marine environment and fishers, based on the best available scientific data.

This is a transformational project for inshore fisheries in Scotland, supporting delivery of locally appropriate management solutions. As such, the Scottish Government is not currently progressing proposals for a national cap on fishing activity in our inshore waters.

With regard to question a), the industry estimate that around 80% of venison sold is sourced from the annual deer cull.

With regard to b), the industry estimate that around 15-20,000 carcases are imported from New Zealand. This can be difficult to quantify because parts of carcasses are purchased rather than the whole.

With regard to c), we do not have figures on what proportion of venison sold comes from sources other than the annual deer cull or imports. However, there are around 15,000 farmed deer in Scotland (2023 figures).

Analysis has not been carried out to estimate average cost to upgrade social housing to an EPC C rating from a rating of (a) D, (b) E and (c) F. The findings from the Scottish Household Condition Survey in 2022 estimated that the majority of Social Rented Sector dwellings (66%) are already at EPC C or better.

It is Scottish Government’s policy to allow local authorities the financial freedom to operate independently. The vast majority of funding is provided by means of a block grant. It is then the responsibility of individual local authorities to manage their own budgets on the basis of local needs and priorities, having first fulfilled their statutory obligations and the jointly agreed set of national and local priorities.

As part of the monitoring for the third Scottish national Adaptation Plan (SNAP3), the number of published Coastal Change Adaptation Plans will be monitored. The outputs of the Coastal Change Adaption Fund case studies are shared on the Dynamic Coast website and webinars on coastal change are held so the knowledge is shared across key stakeholders.