 The first item of business is general questions in order to get in as many people as possible. I'd be great for short and succinct questions and responses to match, and at question number one I call Paul O'Kane. To ask the Scottish Government what its response is to the recent report by the charity Magic Breakfast, showing that four in ten Scottish schools have no breakfast provision at all and that breakfast provision in Scotland reaches the fewest disadvantaged pupils per school of any UK nation. Cabinet Secretary Shirley-Anne Somerville. We are committed to the expansion of free school meals to all pupils in primary and special schools, as well as introducing free year round breakfast and lunch provision to support eligible children and young people outside of the school term. Currently breakfast club provision in Scotland is delivered through a mixed model of local authority, private and voluntary services, which may be delivered in school or within wider community facilities. Services often combine food provision with early morning childcare. We want to improve that picture and ensure that all children in primary and special education schools in Scotland have equal access to breakfast if they need it. The preparatory work will begin this year to map the extent of the current breakfast provision across Scotland, and from this we will plan what a future breakfast offer will look like, ensuring that this is informed by what parents, carers, children and young people need, and is aligned with a future system of funded school-age childcare where this is appropriate. I thank the cabinet secretary for that answer. Last week, we had a debate in this chamber about the cost of the school day, and yet again the Government pledged itself to free breakfast. It is manifesto that the Scottish Parliament election last year, the SNP pledged to provide free breakfast all year round and for all children in state-funded schools, was reiterated in their local government manifesto in the past few weeks. Lots of promises, but we know that the Government has rolled back on its pledge to extend free school meals to all primary pupils in time for the start of the 2022-23 school year, and has yet to set a new delivery date. We have no clarity on free breakfast, which are vital, even more so in the cost of living crisis. Magic Breakfast has estimated the cost of providing free breakfast at £28 million and pointed to underspending PEF as a way to achieve that. When will the Government keep its promise and deliver free breakfast in Scotland, as has been the case in Wales for years? I am not sure if Mr Kerr is suggesting that we take money away from Scotland's headteachers that are given to them through the pupil-to-equity funding, because it is up to headteachers to decide how to spend that PEF funding, and we believe in the empowerment of schools. We have obviously seen major improvements in the introduction of universal free school meals for primaries 4 and 5, and we are considering the practical considerations that are needed to ensure that we deliver that for primaries 6 and 7 and the capital expenditure that will require with our local authority partners. As I said, in my original answer, both on free school meals where we have taken action in primaries 4 and 5 and our determination to move ahead with wraparound childcare and breakfast clubs, we will fulfil our manifesto obligations in this parliamentary term. Does the minister agree that Glasgow City Council's big breakfast service, which delivers 6,000 breakfasts daily across all Glasgow primary schools, forms a crucial part of the SNP strategy at all levels of government to tackle child poverty and support reduction of the attainment gap? I would very much commend the work of Glasgow City Council, which supports so many primary school children to access breakfast daily across the city. That evidence does show us that free breakfast provision, as is being delivered in Glasgow and in many other local authorities, does increase children's health and wellbeing by reducing hunger and improving the quality of access to nutritious food. That is why the Scottish Government is determined to ensure that we deliver in a like manner across Scotland. To ask the Scottish Government what its response is to the report, a just transition, the voices of oil and gas flickers. The Scottish Government welcomes the report, which will help inform the actions needed to support our transition to a net zero climate resilient in the Farer Scotland. I congratulate the member, Gillian Martin, on producing the report, which highlights a number of really important issues. We are committed to supporting a just transition for the oil and gas sector and will be engaging widely over the coming months on the development of a refreshed energy strategy and first just transition plan. Gillian Martin. I thank the minister for that answer. We had over 560 oil and gas workers responding to the survey. One thing that stood out was that many were not even getting interviews when applying for jobs in the renewable sector and many felt that this was because they were from an oil and gas background. Many had also invested their own money in retraining and certification and still weren't getting into an interview chair. I would like to ask the minister how the Scottish Government works with stakeholders in renewables and recruitment agencies to ensure that they are seizing the opportunity of recruiting highly skilled workers in oil and gas and that transferable skills mapping across the sectors is assisting individuals to make successful applications. I want to assure the member that a lot of good work is taking place. For instance, we are working very closely with the industry, skills and training body, OPTO, who have their own integrated people and skills strategy, which has three action plans below it. One of those is focused on aligning offshore energy standards, for instance, and there are key milestones that have been mapped out with different delivery dates, with also the delivery of a skills passport in the third quarter of 2023. Many of the issues that the member raises are very important issues, and I will discuss them with OPTO and other stakeholders. Yesterday, BP revealed that it will invest up to £18 billion in the UK's energy system to turbo boost our energy security, our net zero ambitions and ensure a just transition for oil and gas workers. Does the minister agree that anything that could discourage and reduce funds available for that and similar investments and hinder the just transition that Gillian Martin rightly raises such as the ill-conceived windfall tax should be avoided? I think that the member should spend a lot more of his effort in trying to persuade his own Government and Westminster to help ordinary people to cope with the cost of living crisis. In the meantime, the Government will continue to reflect the country's priorities and the priorities for a just transition for the north-east of Scotland that the member represents. The latest report reveals that just one in 10 oil and gas workers feel that they have enough opportunities to switch to work in renewables. After decades of inaction from industry, what we need is ministers who will champion the interests of workers over market forces. We need them to hold industry to account for the promises that they make. Will the minister demonstrate his commitment to oil and gas workers by providing regular updates to Parliament on the progress of skills transferability? I thank the member for her question. I gently point out that Greenpeace used the Scottish Government's transition fund as a case study of a successful transition. I am sure that Greenpeace, like the member, believes a lot more that can be done to address this issue, and we will do that. In the meantime, I am happy to consider how we can keep Parliament updated on this issue, but a whole lot of work is underway at the moment to ensure that we can support oil and gas workers, attain the appropriate skills and train the reclier, and support for that to work in other energy sectors. To ask the Scottish Government what its position is on the transition to secondary school and flexi-schooling models for pupils with additional support needs. Cabinet Secretary Shirley-Anne Somerville. We are committed to supporting children and young people at key transition points in their learning. The additional support for learning act places duties and education authorities to plan for the transition of children and young people with additional support needs, including, of course, from primary to secondary school. Education authorities are also responsible for identifying meeting pupils' learning needs and have flexibility in the delivery of support and curriculum to meet their individual needs. Further guidance on supporting transition and provision of flexible learning opportunities is within the statutory code of practice on additional support for learning. I have been contacted by a parent council in the central region regarding the statutory six-month transition period for ASN pupils as this appears to differ between local authority area. In addition, another parent from outwith my area contacted me about the flexi-schools model for ASN pupils as the local authority rejected her child's application without a valid reason. When I submitted questions to the minister regarding these issues relating to ASN provision, I was given a short answer saying that the Scottish Government does not record certain data for ASN provision despite the Government setting the guidance for councils. So can I ask the cabinet secretary why the Scottish Government does not properly record as vital information and is it time to review ASN provision across Scotland to ensure that our young people and families are supported? Of course data is held in many areas. Yes, it can be held by national government but much of the responsibilities in this area is quite rightly for local governments and there will be differences between different local authorities on news policies. That is the case. I am happy to hear from Megan Gallacher in writing if she wishes to provide me with further details of the individual case of the constitution. I wish me to have a look at that to investigate if there is more that can be done at a national level on this. I would also highlight that we have the progress report on the additional support for learning action plan that was published on November 21. A further update will be provided in autumn 2022. If Ms Gallacher has any further suggestions about what more we should be doing in this area, I would be happy to receive those in correspondence. To ask the Scottish Government whether it plans to accelerate energy efficiency and other measures in the coming months ahead of a further potential increase in the price cap in October. In March, in response to the cost of living crisis, we announced further help on energy efficiency through our existing programmes. We are including more people in our flagship warmer homes Scotland programme, increasing grant levels in local authority area-based schemes and expanding the Home Energy Scotland advice service capacity to support an extra 12,000 households this year. We continue to explore further ways in which more people can be supported by building on our substantial programmes that have benefited more than 150,000 fuel per households in the last decade. Does he agree that the UK Government must recognise that this is a cost of living and energy price crisis now and that the Chancellor, saying that it is silly to give more support on energy bills now, is complacent and completely out of touch with the reality that our constituents are facing? I do and I suspect that most of the chamber agrees that the UK Government has failed to respond both to the scale and urgency of the cost of living crisis. The Scottish Government has written repeatedly to UK ministers setting out detailed proposals to act now to support households who are struggling today with further cost increases looming as Fiona Heslop rightly indicates in the autumn. Those actions include the UK Government cutting back on fuel bills, increasing benefits, reinstating the £20 cut on universal credit and implementing a broad-ranging windfall tax on super profits. In the meantime, the Scottish Government will continue to do everything that we can, as well as increasing help through our major programmes of investment to make homes warmer and cheaper of heat, which I just mentioned. In terms of the wider cost of living crisis, we have increased the ground-breaking Scottish child payment and will do so again before the end of this year. We have committed to doing what we can to mitigate the benefit cap and implemented our pioneering free bus travel for young people. The Chancellor may think that measures like those are silly, but I think that most people in Scotland will think that they are helping those who desperately need it. 5. Martin Whitfield To ask the Scottish Government when it last met representatives from the hospitality sector. Minister Tom Arthur The Scottish Government works closely with sectoral organisations like the Scottish Tourism Alliance, UK Hospitality, Nighttime Industries Association, Scottish Fear and Pub Association and the Scottish Licensed Trade Association. We engaged extensively with sector representatives over the course of the pandemic to respond to the challenges facing industry and are fully appreciative of their input. The most recent meeting with key representatives took place on 13 April 2022. Attendees discussed measures post Covid-19, impact, support for the sector and planning guidance regarding outdoor spaces. We will continue to engage on support and recovery. 5. Martin Whitfield I'm grateful to the Minister for that answer. There are many different parts of the hospitality sector, but all are linked. The pandemic brought similar challenges to the whole sector. Hospitality was not seen as safe by customers, even when business has implemented expensive protective and social distancing measures. 6. Will the Scottish Government endorse and support this sector? Will it emphasise the safety of hospitality? Will the Scottish Government commit to spending money on messaging and advertising to encourage people to attend hospitality events and venues and remove the fear but not drop the guard? The member raises a series of important points. I would full-heartedly recommend that we all take full advantage of our outstanding hospitality sectors right across Scotland. Since the start of the pandemic, we have provided over £4.6 billion support to business, including £1.6 billion of rates relief, including £802 million of rates relief in this current financial year. We also provided £375 million of business support recently in the wake of the Omicron variant, of which £113 million was for eligible hospitality and leisure businesses. Further, we have provided £80 million to local authorities for the Covid economic recovery fund. I think that I demonstrate quite clearly the support that this Government has provided to businesses across Scotland, including the hospitality sector. I would fully encourage people across Scotland to use our fantastic hospitality service. To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on the A96 dualling project. The Scottish Government remains committed to improving the A96 corridor and will take forward an enhancements programme that improves connectivity between surrounding towns, tackles congestion and addresses safety and environmental issues. The current plan is to fully dual the A96 route between Inverness and Aberdeen. However, we have agreed to conduct a transparent evidence-based review of the programme, which is already under way and will report by the end of 2022. The dualling of the A96 was first promised to the north-east in 2011. According to an FOI, £78 million of taxpayers' money has been spent so far on the project. Green campaigners have said the latest move that we just heard about delaying the scheme by the SNP Green coalition demonstrably represents the end of dualling the A96. Will the minister confirm that the A96 dualling will go ahead, or has this Government scandalously wasted £78 million of taxpayers' money on something that the party with six MSPs has now blocked? That is an inaccurate representation of the situation as it stands. We are not delaying the scheme. As Mr Kerr will know, the Butehouse agreement sets out that we will take forward a transport enhancements programme on the corridor itself. We have already undertaken substantial development work on the programme, which tells us that dualling the entire A96 will involve substantial off-line new roads, which essentially means changing the route of that part of the current road. All roads projects in Scotland, including the A96 programme, are subject to a detailed review and assessment work to ensure that we deliver the right schemes and keep impacts on the environment to the absolute minimum. I am sure that Mr Kerr will agree that the climate emergency necessitates that all Governments, irrespective of their politics, ensure that future road building is not detrimental to our environment. For the information of all Members and their families, and indeed Parliament staff, and visitors to public gallery, in my constituency, the beautiful coastal town of Nairn is a splendid holiday destination, which one may well choose for a staycation this year. Does the Minister agree that its attractiveness will be even further enhanced once there is the promised bypass and the dual connection with Inverness, and that the Scottish Government's unwavering commitment is to make that happen? I listened to Mr Ewing extolling the virtues of his constituency. I joined with him in that regard. He will know that the A96 Inverness to Nairn, including the Nairn bypass scheme, which runs from Inverness to Hardmure, is separate to the wider A96 review process, which is currently being undertaken, and indeed we met recently to discuss this process. We do continue to progress the preparation stages of the scheme to enable that completion of the statutory processes and subject to no legal challenge being received. Ministers will then have the relevant powers to acquire the land necessary to construct. Minister, sorry if I could just ask your forbearance for a moment while we tackle this noise. If Minister Jenny Gilruth would like to complete that response, it will be a brief suspension while we investigate further.