In Scotland local authorities have a duty under the Education (Scotland) Act 1980 to make such arrangements as they consider necessary for the transport between home and school of pupils residing and attending schools, in their area. In considering these arrangements, authorities are required to have regard to the safety of the pupil.

The distribution formula used to allocate individual local authority funding allocations from the Scottish Government takes into account various measurements of need. The main indicator used in the formula in respect of school transport is the population aged 5 to 15 but in recognition that it costs more to provide school transport in more rural areas, a secondary indicator is used which is based on the dispersion of the population. The impact of this secondary indicator is to increase rural local authorities’ allocations at the expense of the more urban communities.

Any decision on specific travel arrangements including the provision of free school transport for pupils out of school hours would be for the local authorities to determine and it and it would not be appropriate for Scottish Ministers to comment.

While it is ultimately the responsibility of local authorities, we are taking a number of actions to help recruit teachers. These include the delivery of our teacher recruitment campaign to encourage more people into the profession, increasing student teacher intake targets for the fifth year in a row and the setting of targets to train teachers in the subjects where they are needed most. To support this we are spending £88 million this year and next to make sure every school has access to the right number of teachers. In addition we have:

• Supported the University of Aberdeen’s distance learning primary initial teacher education which enables partner local authorities, including Moray Council, to develop existing staff as teachers

• Supported the University of the Highlands and Islands who are offering initial teacher education in secondary subjects at Moray College

• Encouraged innovative approaches to initial teacher education. and on the 30th of November I announced a package of new and innovative routes to teaching, supported by £1 million from the Scottish Government. Students will be recruited to the new routes in 2017.

• Worked with the General Teaching Council for Scotland to make the registration process easier for teachers who have qualified outside Scotland.

The following tables show primary and secondary teacher vacancies at September 2016 in each local authority area, listed by ranking:

*Full-time, part-time and temporary vacancies excluding Headteacher and Deputes

*Full-time, part-time and temporary vacancies, excluding Headteachers and Deputes.

This information is taken from a survey of the vacancy situation as at September 2016 undertaken by COSLA and the Scottish Government to inform the teacher workforce planning process and does does not form part of the formal national stat

The overall vacancy position for primary and secondary teachers represents 2% of the total teaching workforce, a breakdown of which is:

Primary 0.8%

Secondary 1.2%

The Scottish Government has welcomed the final report by the European Commission's Agricultural Markets Taskforce as a further attempt to strengthen farmers' position in the food supply chain. We will now consider the recommendations in detail and discuss their relevance with stakeholders.

The Scotland Food & Drink partnership has developed an Export Plan which was launched in March 2014 to help the industry achieve export growth and build Scotland’s international reputation as a “Land of Food and Drink” by targeting specific market opportunities across the globe. The partnership has identified 15 priority markets for Scotland, including ‘top prospect’ markets where we have dedicated Food & Drink specialists to open doors with customers, provide market insights and make connections with Scottish suppliers. The Scottish Government is committed to contributing to funding of the £4.5m plan until March 2019.

The Scottish food and drink industry has set itself an ambitious target of reaching £7.1billionn in Exports by 2017. The Scotland Food and Drink Partnership is in the process of developing the next industry food and drink growth strategy, which will cover the period 2017-2030. The strategy is expected to be published in early 2017 and will include further detail on export opportunities for the sector.

The Scottish Government wants to see all children and young people having positive outdoor learning experiences in a variety of settings. Education Scotland’s Development Officer for Outdoor Learning and Health and Wellbeing Team support educational establishments and practitioners across all 32 local authorities to incorporate outdoor learning into learning and teaching. As part of the Scottish Attainment Challenge, a number of local authorities are using outdoor learning to raise the attainment of young people from deprived areas.

Outdoor Learning is a key component in the delivery of Curriculum of Excellence. The outdoor environment has massive potential for learning and we are keen to see all of our children and young people having positive learning experiences in a variety of settings. Community groups and social enterprises have a clear role in helping to deliver this.

(a) The People and Communities Fund, £10.775 million in 2016-17, provides support for community-led regeneration. Current examples which promote outdoor learning include:

• The promotion of confidence, self-esteem and resilience for children and young people by providing activities to engage with the natural world, whilst offering challenge in a calm and therapeutic environment.

• Community gardening programmes offering training and skills development support for local school-children, young adults with learning difficulties or mental health issues, adults and older people.

• Partnership working with local schools to deliver bike maintenance and proficiency training and out-of-school sporting activities for secondary school-aged pupils to encourage positive lifestyle changes.

The Scottish Government also supports community groups within the youth work sector to promote outdoor learning through a range of sources.

The Children and Young People Early Intervention Fund provides core and project funding for youth work organisations, including those who provide outdoor learning opportunities for example uniformed organisations, the John Muir Award and the Duke Of Edinburgh’s Award.

The National Support Fund for National Voluntary Organisations, administered by YouthLink Scotland on behalf of the Scottish Government, supports development and training and has supported youth work organisations such as the Ocean Youth Trust and Scripture Union Scotland to develop new services including a teacher training modules.

Additionally, funding to support Outdoor Learning has been given to a number of Outdoor providers under the Youth Work programme and through Education Scotland’s support for social studies and learning for sustainability within Curriculum for Excellence.

(b) In the coming weeks, the Scottish Government will launch a new ten-year Social Enterprise Strategy for Scotland. Co-produced with the sector with wide consultation, including ten thematic roundtable discussions, over 200 written submissions, an online consultation (receiving more than 3,000 votes) and rural and minority ethnic community focus groups, this publication capitalises on the sector’s energy and passion and sets strategic direction for the next decade.

Over the last decade, sustained investment and strong leadership has helped establish Scotland’s internationally recognised ‘eco-system of support’ for social enterprise. This year, the Scottish Government has maintained direct investment of £24.5m in the Third Sector, which includes support for social enterprise.

A range of support is available to social enterprises, including those involved in outdoor learning in nursery and school settings, through for example the Social Entrepreneurs Fund, Just Enterprise, and the Developing Markets Programme.

This information is not held by the Scottish Government. The enforcement of speed limits is an operational matter for Police Scotland and the administration of fines is the responsibility of the Scottish Courts and Tribunals Service.