4. To ask the Scottish Government what assessment it has made of any link between nutrition and behaviour in its work to address violence in schools. (S6O-02635)

The Scottish Government’s programme for government restates our commitment to ensuring that our young people have access to the right nutrition, and we will continue to work with partners to ensure that that is realised.

The latest behaviour in Scottish schools research, which is being published in November, will provide teachers’ insights into factors that may underlie behaviour in our schools. We are also currently working with Young Scot and YouthLink Scotland to understand the impact of the cost of living crisis on young people’s readiness to learn. The Scottish Government will consider those findings carefully to identify any actions that should be taken to address the concerns that have been raised.

I am grateful to the Cabinet secretary for her response and for recently meeting me and the Scottish Trades Union Congress women’s committee to discuss some of these issues.

Today, I was pleased to attend an event in Parliament, sponsored by Jim Fairlie MSP, celebrating Scotland’s school meals and front-line caterers. Speeches by Assist FM and Food for Life Scotland reinforced the importance of feeding and nourishing young minds.

With the national good food nation plan coming to consultation, does the cabinet secretary agree that the roll-out of universal free school meals has never been more important? Can she update Parliament on when universal free school meals will be piloted in secondary schools?

I thank the member for her question. We had a really worthwhile meeting with the STUC a few weeks ago, at which we discussed the issue of school nutrition. I touched on some of the work that I hope to take forward with Mairi Gougeon in the space of the Good Food Nation (Scotland) Act 2022, recognising the opportunities that the act provides us to ensure that there is appropriate nutrition in our schools, particularly in relation to our roll-out of free school meals, as the member has touched on.

We have recently established a joint ministerial working group on food, which will enable us to have a cross-Government approach to those matters. I specifically asked for there to be an agenda item that relates to school nutrition. That is in addition to some of our broader work that supports the food for life programme, which aims to increase the amount of healthy, locally sourced food that is served by local councils and schools, and which currently operates in 17 local authorities. That provides another option to work more closely with the Convention of Scottish Local Authorities in relation to the 2022 act.

The member asked for an update on the secondary school pilot. I do not yet have a date for its roll-out, but I am more than happy to write to the member on that. We discussed the pilot in some detail when we met recently.

The Deputy Presiding Officer:

There are a couple of supplementaries.

T he roll-out of universal free school meals for all pupils in primaries 1 to 5 and in additional support needs education settings has been startling. Will the Cabinet secretary provide an update on the uptake of free school meals in general?

The Government is pleased that we can support families at this very difficult and challenging time through our free school meals scheme. I can confirm that our latest pupil census shows that more than half of pupils are now registered for free school meals, with the proportion of eligible pupils increasing to just over 70 per cent. I would like to see that figure increase, so we will continue to work with COSLA on ensuring that that happens.

This year’s healthy living survey also found that 2,301 free school lunches were provided to children and young people on survey day. That represents an increase on the previous high of free school lunches that were provided in 2022. However, again, I am keen to work with COSLA to ensure that we see a continued increase across the piece.

We recognise that uptake has been impacted by changes in relation to behaviour at school as a result of the pandemic, but undoubtedly there is more work to be undertaken with COSLA on increasing that figure further.

Not only is good nutrition linked to tackling violence in school, it is also linked to physical and mental health, attainment and the prevention of malnutrition—I am sure that we are all fed up of seeing queues of schoolchildren outside the chip shop at lunchtime. It is not just about ensuring high-quality school meals, but about encouraging the uptake of school meals, which is too low, especially in urban areas.

What will the Scottish Government do to promote and encourage school meals uptake?

I thank the member for his question. I recognise his interest, particularly in relation to physical exercise and the impact that that can have on raising attainment more broadly.

I provided an update in response to Michelle Thomson’s question. The proportion of eligible pupils has increased to around 70.4 per cent. However, we will need to do more to work with local authorities, particularly in urban areas. I recall the chip van that used to be parked outside the school when I was at school, so it is not a new problem that schools are facing.

It is imperative that we engage directly with local authorities and headteachers who know our school communities and can put in place the encouragement that is needed to see a further increase in the uptake of school meals.

The Deputy Presiding Officer:

Question 5 has been withdrawn.