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The Scottish Government accepted the Investor Panel's recommendations and published its initial response alongside the Panel’s recommendations in November 2023. Officials have since been working with key partners to progress the development of a properly costed, shaped and prioritised pipeline of projects. The Scottish Government has committed to publishing an update on progress and the development of an investment pipeline will form a key part of this.

Scottish Ministers have no role in the conclusion of voluntary wayleaves in relation to electricity infrastructure and are only able to act on applications made by licence holders for Necessary Wayleaves under the Electricity Act 1989.

Telecommunications is a reserved matter to the UK Government and the framework for wayleaves is legislated for in Schedule 3A of the Communications Act 2003 (The Electronic Communications Code). The Code gives Code operators rights to apply for a wayleave agreement to be imposed by the courts if one cannot be reached voluntarily with a landowner.

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 .