 The next item of business is consideration of business motion 1428 in the name of Joe Fitzpatrick on behalf of the parliamentary bureau setting out a revised business programme for today. I would ask any member who wishes to speak against the motion to press their request to speak button now. I call on Joe Fitzpatrick to move motion 1428. Formally moved. Thank you. This motion moves decision time today to 5.30. I apologise to members for the lack of advance notice. It was raised and fully discussed at bureau, and the inconvenience of this was balanced against the fact that a number of members wished to speak in the housing debate and it would have been squeezed. The question is that motion 1428 in the name of Joe Fitzpatrick be agreed. Are we all agreed? We are agreed. The next item of business today is topical questions. I call question number 1, Jamie Greene. To ask the Scottish Government what plans it has to tackle homophobic bullying in schools in light of the recent survey by the Time for Inclusive Education group. Cabinet Secretary John Swinney, bullying of any kind, including homophobic, biophobic, transphobic bullying, is unacceptable and must be addressed swiftly and effectively whenever it arises. It is the responsibility of head teachers, teachers and other school staff and local authorities to decide on the specific actions to address cases of bullying in their schools. The Scottish Government established and holy funds respect me, a national bullying service to build confidence and capacity to address all types of bullying effectively, aligned to the national approach to anti-bullying in Scotland. Respect me provide direct support to local authorities, schools, youth groups and all those working with children and young people. It is jointly managed by the Scottish Association for Mental Health and LGBT Youth Scotland. The national approach to anti-bullying for Scotland's children and young people is currently being updated. This sets out a common vision and aims to make sure that work across all the agencies and communities is consistently and coherently contributing to a whole-school approach to anti-bullying in Scotland. LGBT Youth Scotland and Stonewall Scotland are part of the working group, and the updated guidance will be published soon. Jamie Greene I thank the minister for that response. I think that clearly there is broad consensus across this place to tackle this issue, but this survey paints a deeply worrying picture of homophobic and transphobic bullying in Scotland, with 27 per cent of respondents having attempted suicide and over 90 per cent experiencing some sort of bullying, yet only 4 per cent thought that the Scottish Government was doing enough. Will the Government accept that the current approach simply is not enough, and will they commit to a change of tack on this? Jamie Greene I agree with Mr Greene on the point that bullying of any sort and homophobic bullying is utterly repugnant, and it must be tackled and addressed and confronted. The Government has put in place a range of different interventions that are set out in my original answer, particularly around the establishment of respect me, which is designed to provide the resources, the materials, the information and the capacity to equip schools to handle this particular issue. The national approach to anti-bullying for Scotland's children and young people has been in place since 2010. The work is being updated as part of the review work that is undertaken to make sure that it is effective. We will consider carefully the issues that have been raised by the time for inclusive education survey and the issues that the group has raised. I am in fact meeting the group in the course of the next few weeks, and I will listen carefully to the points that are advanced by the group, but I can assure Mr Greene that the Government has every intention of ensuring that the measures that we have put in place are effective to address a situation that is clearly causing distress and anxiety to some young people in our society. Jamie Greene I thank the minister for his clarity on that and his intention to meet the group that conducted the survey. The report clearly highlights that we are not getting it right for every child. The current postcode lottery means that some schools are training teachers, while others are not. Given that the majority of teachers polled in the survey feel that they have not been adequately trained to tackle LGBT issues in school, can I ask the Government to say what specific plans it has to address this issue with teacher training? John Swinney There is a wide range of different interventions that we make to enhance the professional capability of teachers once they are through the teacher training qualifications and practising within our schools. The resources that I have raised there, particularly in relation to the national approach to anti-bullying for Scotland's children and young people, is the framework in which the various resources are put in place to enable that to happen. Education Scotland has specific materials that are available for teachers to access and to utilise to ensure that they are able to undertake the necessary development to tackle those particular issues. That fits into a wider wellbeing agenda, which I am glad that Mr Greene referred to the importance of getting it right for every child. As I made clear to Parliament last week, that will be the ethos, the vision with which I will deploy my responsibilities as education secretary, to ensure that whatever the circumstances and perspective of young people in our country, every single one of them is entitled to have their needs met by our services and particularly by our education services. I hope that that reassures Mr Greene of the steps that the Government is taking. However, we have a framework in place that is currently being updated. I will be very happy to discuss with Parliament in due course once that update is complete what further steps we can take to ensure that the circumstances highlighted in the survey are not experienced by any other young people in Scotland in the future. To ask the Scottish Government what plans it has to ensure the long-term future of mountain weather forecasting. Our clear priority is to ensure the long-term provision of critical mountain weather forecasting and ensure the future safety of all those who are active in Scotland's hills and mountains. The mountain weather information service has delivered an excellent service over the years and provided an accurate and essential service to all who use Scotland's mountains. Sport Scotland has been involved in discussions with the Met Office and the mountain weather information service about building a resilient mountain weather forecast provision for Scotland. We are committed to ensuring that everyone can continue to receive these vital forecasts, building on the skills and expertise that are in the MWIS. In the short term, Sport Scotland and our officials will continue discussions with MWIS over the provision of their service, while we develop a sustainable mountain weather forecast, recognising that the familiar and trusted forecast should be available to all who look to enjoy Scottish mountains and wild landscapes. My officials have spoken to Geoff Monk, who is the lead forecaster at the MWIS, and this morning to ensure that we take account of the concerns that are being raised in order to find a long-term solution. I will be meeting Sport Scotland to discuss the on-going developments and examine the provision of mountain weather forecasting to ensure that the concerns that are raised by MWIS are fully addressed. As part of that, I shall also be formally meeting with the mountain weather information service to ensure that they are part of the solution and that there is a long-term legacy of their fantastic service, which has undoubtedly saved lives and improved the safety for everyone who has enjoyed Scotland's wild landscapes. Andy Wightman The minister will be aware, obviously, of the concerns that have been expressed over the weekend at reports that Sport Scotland is to end funding of the mountain weather information service. As the minister confirms, it is a service that is provided trusted, detailed forecasting for mountain users for 13 years, and Sport Scotland has funded it since 2007. It is a service that is trusted and relied upon by hundreds of thousands of users of Scotland's mountains every year. However, across the outdoor community, there is confusion about its future and concerns over reports that it will end just as winter begins. Does the minister agree that the safety and enjoyment of those who use Scotland's mountains is utterly dependent on accurate reliable and above all trusted sources of weather forecasting? Will she confirm that Sport Scotland told MWIS that its funding would end on 31 December 2016? Does she agree with her predecessor at Sports Minister Stuart Maxwell, who applauds Jeff Monk and his colleagues for their selfless work in helping to ensure the safety of all those who make use of our wonderful natural environment? MWIS I will happily put in record my thanks to the dedication and commitment that has been shown over the past, I think, 13 years by Jeff Monk, who has been providing an excellent service that has saved undoubtedly a number of lives through the work that he has done to accurately report and forecast the weather to allow people to enjoy Scotland's mountains and wild landscapes. We are having discussions around how we can ensure that we have a sustainable mountain weather forecast. Jeff Monk and the expertise that he brings from MWIS will need to be part of those discussions. We have invested significantly to ensure that people can go out and enjoy Scotland's wild landscapes and mountains safely. We will make sure that we can continue that dialogue to ensure that that can continue into the future and make sure that people can have that reassurance and comfort that, when they go out and enjoy Scotland's wild landscapes, they are doing so safely with accurate weather. I think that that is something that we all want to see happen. We will continue to make sure that we engage with the member about how those discussions and dialogue progress. Andy Wightman Together with the Scottish Avalanche Information Service, MWIS has contributed to saving lives and providing more informed decision-making among walkers, mountaineers and skiers. Does she agree with the Mountaineering Council of Scotland, who, on Sunday, called for all parties to reconvene their dialogue to ensure that there is continuity, especially with the onset of winter, and that there should be a continuity in future for the daily production of Scottish mountain weather forecasts, which are publicly funded, available free to users and which provide at least the same range of forecast features as MWIS? Will she answer my previous question to confirm whether Sport Scotland told MWIS that its funding would end on 31 December 2016? Will she engage with the outdoor community to keep it informed or should she commit to keeping Parliament informed of progress? I will absolutely ensure that members who have an expressed interest in that. In fact, we all will have an interest in that, because we all want people to go out and know that they can enjoy the outdoors as safely as they can. We want to make sure that there is a sustainable way to ensure that people get daily accurate reports about the condition of the weather so that they can go out and use the mountain safely. We will continue to have discussions and dialogue around the investment that needs to go into providing that. On the avalanche interests, I am happy to meet those people again so that they can contribute their views into the dialogue and on-going discussion. Again, I will place on record my thanks to Geoff Monk, who has shown complete commitment in providing a service that has undoubtedly saved a number of lives across the country. He brings with him expertise and knowledge that we should all be grateful for. He and my officials are in discussions at the moment. I will meet him as well and I will meet Sport Scotland to make sure that we can have a sustainable solution going forward to ensure the continued safety of people who are using Scotland's mountains. Brian Whittle The last two winters have certainly proven the value of the service. To take it away would put tens of thousands of those of us who enjoy an active outdoor lifestyle and an increased danger. This service is funded through Sport Scotland, which in turn is funded through this Government. It is within the scope and power of this Government to safeguard this important service. I ask the minister, will they? I have said a number of times that we want to ensure that there is a sustainable way in which we can forecast the weather so that people can go out and enjoy the mountain safely. The work and effort and dedication of the MWIS through Geoff Monk and others is something that we have put on record, my gratitude to him and for his work. We will continue to work with him and others to find a sustainable way going forward. It is in our best interest to make sure that we have that long-term vision, but in the meantime I have said on the record an answer to Andy Wightman that I will be meeting with the Mountain Weather Information Service, I will be meeting with Sport Scotland to discuss the issues. We want to make sure that we find a solution to some of the issues that have been raised and the concerns that have been raised by MWIS.