 The first item of business this afternoon is portfolio questions. The portfolio on this occasion is education and skills. I would invite members wishing to ask a supplementary question to press their request-to-speak button during the relevant question. I can advise the chamber that there is an awful lot of interest, so could I appeal for questions to not have a lengthy preamble and not have a secondary and tertiary element and could I appeal to the ministerial team for brevity as far as possible in the responses and with I invite question number one, Marie McNair. To ask the Scottish Government what action it is taking to support the safe removal of asbestos from school premises. The statutory responsibility for the management of asbestos in schools rests with local authorities and we expect local authorities to provide a safe environment for all school users. As health and safety is not a devolved matter, the health and safety executive is responsible for ensuring that local authorities comply with the legislation and requirements in relation to asbestos and offer information and advice on complying with their duties. In addition, the health and safety executive undertakes school inspections to assess the management of risks from asbestos within the school estate. The presence of asbestos in school premises is a concern to me as an MSP for the town with high levels on asbestos-related illness because of our previous industrial heritage. Evidence suggests that the on-going threat to contracting illnesses like mesofiloma is a continued presence and potential exposure to asbestos in public premises. Does the cabinet secretary agree with me that more needs to be done to quantify the scale of the problem? Asbestos campaigners, trade unions and others are calling for a phase removal of asbestos from all schools. Can the cabinet secretary advise that this is being considered by the Scottish Government and COSLA? We expect local authorities to provide a safe environment for all school users and we recognise the hazard of asbestos. However, in line with the health and safety executive advice, it is very important to stress that asbestos is only dangerous when disturbed. All HSE guidance should be followed when planning and carrying out any removal. For example, local authorities must assess and manage the risks from asbestos and I require to know whether their school estate contains asbestos, where it is and what condition it is in. Earlier this year, it was reported that asbestos is still present in over half of Scottish schools. It is critical that this Government acts as quickly as possible to remove asbestos from Scottish schools and ensure that pupils, teachers and staff across Scotland are learning and working in a safe environment. What impact assessments have been made on the effect of asbestos in schools on the safety of pupils and staff? For the sake of brevity, I will leave it at the fact that pupils, students and all staff are working in safe environments in their schools. To ask the Scottish Government how the education system encourages a better understanding of circular economy principles and skills. Minister Jamie Hepburn, the education and skills system is essential in supporting the transition to a net zero circular economy. Scotland was one of the very first nations in the world to embed sustainability education as a cross-curricular entitlement for all learners within with our Learning for Sustainability programme. That programme brings together a range of themes such as climate change, social justice and the circular economy. In addition, the climate emergency skills action plan is clear that circular economy skills will be critical for the transition to net zero and will continue to work with key partners such as Skills Development Scotland, the Scottish Funding Council and Zero Waste Scotland to deliver those skills in our education system. In 2016, the Scottish Government said that Zero Waste Scotland would identify and support circular economy teaching champions. I asked for an update on that in 2020 and it turned out that there were fewer than 100 out of 24,000 secondary teachers. I asked about it again in 2020 and the minister agreed that the Scottish Government hadn't done enough. Can the minister provide an update today on what has been done over the past year and how many circular economy teaching champions there are now? I cannot give him that precise figure now. I can say that we continue to look at the curriculum that is in place, the offer that we have through the Learning for Sustainability programme. We are currently in the process of looking to strengthen our approach in that regard in terms of implementation. We expect to publish an update to the action plan in that shortly and that will look at those very matters. Zero Waste Scotland is able to provide a range of circular economy bite-sized resources already aligned to the curriculum for excellence and they range from the life cycle of a strawberry for primaries 1 to 3, which they love, to how to reduce energy at home for S1 and S2. Can the cabinet secretary set out how those resources can benefit the education of our young people in terms of links to the experiences and outcomes listed in the curriculum for excellence? Those are very practical and interesting and enjoyable ways to engage young people in learning about the challenges of moving towards a circular economy. I would absolutely commend their use, their disposal and availability for teachers and encourage them to engage in that area. Our colleges are crucial in the area of skills in the circular economy. Earlier this week, in our debate in the chamber, the minister said that £26 million of funding would be, and I quote, provided to colleges in the usual fashion. Does that mean that it will be delivered without additional ties and can be used for mainstream budget purposes? It means that the Scottish Funding Council will make an announcement shortly about its indicative allocations and that is the usual process. To ask the Scottish Government what mitigations the Scottish Qualifications Authority will have in place during this year's exam diet if at any senior phase pupils have been adversely affected by targeted strike action. The Scottish Qualification Authority confirmed in April 22 that existing modifications to national qualifications from 2022 are being continued into 2023 academic session. Those modifications vary by subject and level and include the reduction of course assessments, requiring less coursework than in a normal year and leaving more time for teaching and learning. The Scottish Qualification Authority has also confirmed that a sensitive approach to grading is planned, depending on the impact of any disruption on exam and coursework performance. While implemented to acknowledge the on-going impacts of Covid, those measures were also helped to mitigate disruption arising from the industrial action. Thank you. The cabinet secretary will know that all pupils misfied as a school due to strikes, but pupils in targeted constituencies, including in Glasgow south-side in the First Minister's constituency, missed the further three days. Some Scottish Labour MSPs, including myself, have been contacted by pupils who are worried about how that will affect their performance in exams and how exactly the SQE will take that into account. That was raised with you by my colleague Michael Marra, who said that engaging with all the appropriate local authorities to understand the impact of the action on their schools and explore what further actions can be taken. What exactly does that mean? Does it mean that those pupils who lost out will be identified for further support or not? The original question was about the work that the SQA has done, and that is relevant to young people right across Scotland. However, there is also work that is being undertaken, of course, by Education Scotland, including the national e-learning offer, which offers learners a searchable database of nearly 25,000 senior-phase resources for learners across hundreds of courses that are updated regularly. I have also ensured that I am kept up-to-date with what is happening in each of the areas in which targeted strike action did happen. I appreciate that two out of the three high schools that were targeted were managing to open to some extent during the targeted days, and that is important. The schools, local authorities and our agencies are working hard to ensure that we are providing support, not just to those in the targeted areas but across Scotland. However, I am paying particular attention to the work that we can do to support children and young people who were impacted by that targeted action. For a number of supplementaries, they will need to be brief, as will the responses first. Thank you, Presiding Officer. Can the Cabinet Secretary say something about the study supports that are available through the national e-learning offer, and the resources that are provided for senior-phase learners by Perth and Kinross virtual campus and, of course, the extra support that is being provided over the Easter break as a result of the very positive recent SNP administration budget decisions? Cabinet Secretary. I have already mentioned some of the work that is happening in the national e-learning offer in Cudan e-school, and that is available to young people with a mix of live teaching and recording lessons during the evenings, as well as study support over the Easter break, and schools in Perth and Kinross have been encouraging young people to sign up to that. In Perth and Kinross, I have also been advised that every school has sought to provide a range of on-going support to young people using the mix of online and in-person approaches, and I welcome their approach in doing so. I thank the cabinet secretary to be even more specific about the nature of the support that is being given, because I think that that was the content of the original question. For example, is she offering to some additional funding to councils to pay for one-on-one tutoring or group tutoring? Is she advocating that schools actively create virtual interactive tutorials for pupils so that they can get additional support? How about a library of video lessons? What about some peer support programmes? What specifically is the Government and its agencies doing it? Those things do not have to cost much. Cabinet Secretary, as I have said already, there is a searchable database of nearly 25,000 senior-phase resources for learners. That is the same scale of support as the Government was ensuring during the Covid pandemic. It is important that we recognise the fact that the Government has continued, through Education Scotland and particularly E-School, to provide support for children and young people at this difficult time. I thank everyone who is continuing to support our children and young people both in schools and virtually in the work that they do. If the SQA is willing to show willingness to mitigate the impact of strikes, can the cabinet secretary indicate how the SQA can take in to account the double whammy that some Shetland senior-phase pupils have experienced with adverse weather, resulting in school closures for up to 10 days, as well as schools with chronic staff shortages, which has meant in some cases no dedicated subject teacher for a full school year? Material that I have already mentioned, both from the SQA and the national e-learning officer offer, is available right across Scotland. It is important that there is a role for all members to encourage their constituents to be aware of the support that is out there for them. There is also a role for councils, and I recognise that there are challenges in some areas to attract teachers in specific subjects. That is certainly where we would expect the councils to ensure that they are also providing support for schools in that manner. On top of everything that has already been provided by the national agencies that I have mentioned in the previous question. Question 4, Douglas Lamont. Thank you for giving me permission to leave the session early and apologies to the chamber. To ask the Scottish Government what action it has taken to reduce bullying in schools. Bullying of any kind is unacceptable. It is for schools and local authorities to decide how to address bullying for each individual case and in their own area. However, with regard to national support, we continue to fully fund respect to me, Scotland's anti-bullying service, to build confidence and capacity to address bullying effectively. Education Scotland completed a thematic inspection of recording and monitoring bullying in schools recently, and we take the findings of that very seriously and have put in place a range of actions immediately to respond. We have also begun a review of our national guidance, respect for all, and we have established a working group of stakeholders to support that. Inspectors will also undertake a second phase of the inspection work that will look at good practice in how schools are addressing bullying. I thank the cabinet secretary, but if you cannot measure it, you cannot improve it. From the data that we have obtained through a freedom of information request from schools in Aberdeen, there are huge disparities between how bullying cases are recorded from school to school. Some record and only confirmed bullying incidents, while others record all incidents prior to investigation. Can I ask the Government to take the issue seriously and urgently issue guidelines to all local authorities so that we can start measuring the problem consistently and start improving the situation? Douglas Drummond makes an important point that every single teacher should be encouraged to record any bullying behaviour that is going on, and that is taken seriously within the school and local authority setting. That is exactly why I set out in my original answer. The work that Education Scotland has done on thematic inspections is because we recognise that it is inconsistent in recording and monitoring bullying schools, and we are now taking action to respond to that. At the heart of bullying lies a victim who has had their human rights, abused on 16 March, so the second anniversary of the UNCRC waiting to become law in this Parliament, and a very helpful blog to young people from the minister who is here to explain what the situation is. Can the cabinet secretary tell us when that bill is returning to this Parliament? Of course, as the member will be aware, and as the minister has already set out, we are continuing to work with the UK Government on proposed amendments to that bill. There is no one in the chamber that disagrees with the fact that the bill should be brought back to the Parliament as early as possible, but it is important that we try to work together with the UK Government to ensure that we are aware of any concerns that it may have on this. It is an important issue that we need to get right. It is frustrating that it is taking the time that it is, and I very much look forward to bringing the bill back to Parliament. To ask the Scottish Government what action it is taking to improve childcare support. In 2023-24, we will invest around £1 billion in delivery of our funded early learning and childcare offer. Scotland is the only part of the UK to offer 1140 hours a year of funded early learning and childcare to all three and four-year-olds and eligible twos. We are progressing plans to expand the childcare offer in Scotland by expanding free early learning and childcare to one and two-year-olds, starting in this Parliament with children who will benefit most. We have already started to design and deliver funded school-age childcare services with targeted communities across Scotland as part of our commitment to build a system of school-age childcare and fund it for those on-lose incomes. I thank the minister for that response. Last week's UK budget certainly caught out leadership hopeful Humza Yousaf, who tried to pass off a plan to give 22 hours of free childcare a week to one and two-year-olds as a new announcement. In fact, that promise was made by the SNP before the 2021 Hollywood election. That is now two years ago, and the SNP is no closer to honouring this pledge, while the UK Government will start rolling out free childcare in April next year. Will the minister commit to using the extra funding from the UK budget to match and accelerate the UK Government's childcare offer for nine months to two-year-olds? We are progressing our plans to expand the childcare offer in Scotland, including one and two-year-olds starting in this Parliament with the children who will benefit most. It was good to see the UK Government has finally caught up to the importance of investing in childcare, which is so critical to children and families and essential for our economy. Ministers will look carefully at what consequential funding is available to Scotland as a result of this budget. My understanding is that it will be very limited and only around £20 million. It will of course be for the new First Minister to set out details of her plans for any further investment in childcare in this Parliament. As minister said, Scotland is currently way ahead of anything that the UK Government provides in terms of childcare. We know where to look for instruction and example when it comes to childcare. Independent states such as Denmark have the levers to fully provide for their childcare. Does the minister look forward, as I do, to the day when Scotland's children can benefit from the investment and progressive policies of an independent Scottish Government? If that is possible, minister. As Jo FitzPatrick said, Scotland already has the most generous childcare offer anywhere in the UK. We believe that all children should be entitled to high-quality funded ELC, regardless of their parents' working status or of those of our carers. Under the UK Government plans, a child's access to funded childcare will depend on the working status of their parent or carer. Of course, in an independent Scotland, the Scottish Government would have access to the full range of levers through tax and welfare systems to give children the best possible start in life and plan for their needs holistically. 6. Jamie Halcro Johnston How many school pupils in the Highlands and Islands are currently being taught in schools that are not of a good or satisfactory suitability? Statistics on the suitability ratings of the school estate are collected on a local authority basis. On total across the five local authorities that make up the bulk of the Highlands and Islands, a total of 11,989 pupils are in schools that are not of a good or satisfactory suitability. Jamie Halcro Johnston The cabinet secretary will be aware that there are 64 primary schools across the Highland Council error rate in poor condition. I have been contacted about one school in this category, done vagant primary school on Skye, and concerns over damp, mould and regular flooding, as well as a number of other conditions, with less than one in five primary schools being ranked in good condition. It may come as no surprise to the cabinet secretary that the Highlands have the lowest levels of literacy and numeracy across the whole of Scotland. As the Scottish Government continues to squeeze council budgets across Scotland, can I ask the cabinet secretary when primary school pupils in the Highlands will be able to be taught in safe school buildings that help rather than risk hindering their learning? It is very important to recognise the work that the Government has already done on the learning estate. We have seen the learning estate investment programme, for example, follow-on from the success of £1.8 billion schools for the future programme, which delivered 117 new or refurbished schools. Of course, there are 37 projects that have already been announced through phases 1 and 2 of that programme, including projects in the Highlands and islands, for example the 10, 13 to 18 campus, the Broadford primary school and Nairn academy. Those are important investments that are being taken forward in the school estate. I am delighted that the Scottish Government can support local authorities in doing so. Thank you. Last month, ambitious plans for a new school and community facilities in Broadford went on display for the first time, and this, a replacement Nairn academy and campus for Tain represent key investments in my region. Can the cabinet secretary give an update on the status of those projects and set out what improvements will be delivered through this investment in the education of young people in the Highlands and islands? The 10, 13 to 18 campus is currently in construction and due to open to pupils in early 2025, while both Nairn academy and Broadford primary school are in the development phase with designs progressing. I was delighted to visit Broadford in October of last year to speak to the teachers and young people there and share their excitement and enthusiasm for the new school that is now being developed. To ask the Scottish Government what consideration it has given to increasing the income threshold for free school meal eligibility for families not currently covered by any free school meal entitlement. All primary school pupils in primaries 1 to 5 and eligible pupils in primary 6 through to S6 can benefit from free meals in Scotland as the most generous provision anywhere in the UK and saving parents £400 per eligible child per year. In December, we announced additional investment to fund the expansion of free school meals to primary school pupils in receipt of the Scottish child payment as the next steps towards universal provision for all primary school children. Cabinet Secretary for that answer, we know that the last update just over two-thirds of those eligible for free school meals actually took them up. We also know that the Scottish Government does have control over eligibility threshold and could increase this further. With free school meals a flagship policy of this Government, but a third of those eligible are not using them, while children from low-income families are still going hungry during the school day, with Aberlour reporting that thousands of those ineligible families have now accued school meal debt, while the Cabinet Secretary therefore considered increasing the eligibility threshold beyond the already promised extension to P6 and P7 to tackle hunger and support low-income families in the south of Scotland region and beyond. There is, of course, a very important role for councils in also encouraging those within their schools to recognise the current eligibility settings that there are and encourage take-up of that. We are making progress in our provision of free school meals. We recognise that the number of local authorities are facing challenges and planning for that substantial expansion of school meals. That is exactly why we have seen provision in the Scottish Government budget for 2023-24, not just for revenue funding but also capital funding to support that. It is not the only thing that the Scottish Government is doing to ensure that we are supporting families on low incomes that are struggling during the cost of living crisis. I would point to the £3 billion that we provide through a range of measures that help to mitigate the impacts of the cost of living crisis, including, of course, the very important Scottish child payment. We already have the most generous provision of free school meals anywhere in the UK, and we would like to go further and would do so but for the fiscal constraints of devolution, a situation in which Labour endorses. Can the cabinet secretary set out how many children will benefit from the recent additional investment that will expand free school meals to all primary six and seven pupils who are in receipt of the Scottish child payment? Modelling carried out by the Scottish Government estimates that, around 28,000 children will be able to benefit from our additional investment to expand free school meals to primary six and seven pupils in receipt of the Scottish child payment. I wonder whether the cabinet secretary has given consideration to when giving out free school meals to perhaps looking at breakfasts as free school meals, because we know that education establishment is the key battleground in tackling health inequalities and perhaps tying up with activities such as sport, art, music and drama at the same time that would encourage children to come to school early. One of the aspects that we are also working on, including the issue that is wrapped into this, is our wraparound childcare provision, because it is important that we do not just look at the provision of breakfast, but that we are also ensuring that we are providing wraparound childcare that will assist not just that child or young person but their family perhaps to get into employment. It is an important aspect that we are looking at. I take the point also that Brian Whittle has mentioned about the importance of provision of sport and the importance of exercise and encouraging young people to do that. I recognise his continued commitment on that. To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on the developing the young workforce programme in Fife. The DYW Fife successfully piloted implementation of DYW school co-ordinators, and today has signed up 19 employers to the young person's guarantee. Between April and December 2022, DYW Fife reported around 12,000 interactions between employers and young people. One example has recently been the 120 high school pupils from Fife taking part in a traditional trade skills day. The Scottish Government values the impressive work of DYW Fife and the DYW network in helping young people to achieve positive post school destinations. In Fife, 94.8 per cent of 2021-22 school leavers won a positive destination, such as work training or further study, three months after the end of the school year. This is up from 93.9 per cent a year before, and the highest since 2009-10. I thank the minister for his answer, and I very much welcome the progress that is evidently being made. However, can the minister advise us to what steps are being taken to further actively encourage more businesses in Fife, both to get involved in the programme and to stay involved, such that young people in my county-based constituency have the best possible life chances? That is part of the core purpose of our DYW regional groups, and that is why we continue to fund them to undertake that activity. The school coordinators that we have now supported the funding of in all mainstream secondary schools will play an important role in that regard. One really good way to achieve that, I believe, is having business-to-business engagement. Those businesses who are already involved in the network are engaging with other businesses to talk to them about the benefit of that. In that regard, Fife regional groups are holding a session very soon for new employers to hear from existing employers about the benefits of engaging with young people to share best practice, and I would encourage Ms Ewing to say to businesses in another area to sign up and to take part. Thank you very much, minister. I thank members and ministers for their co-operation and getting through so many questions in this portfolio of questions. There will be a brief suspension or a brief pause while the front bench has changed before we move to the next item of business.