Chamber and committees

This information is not held centrally. Procurement arrangements for school food are managed by local authorities themselves.

The Schools (Health promotion and nutrition) (Scotland) Act 2007 requires Local Authorities to consider the principles of sustainable development when providing food or drink or catering services in schools. In addition, the food and drink in schools (Scotland) Regulations 2008 requires Education authorities to ensure that all food and drink served in schools meets strict nutritional requirements.

This information is not held centrally. Procurement arrangements for school food are managed by local authorities themselves.

This information is not held centrally. Procurement arrangements for school food are managed by local authorities themselves.

This information is not held centrally. Procurement arrangements for school food are managed by local authorities themselves.

The Schools (Health Promotion and Nutrition) (Scotland) Act 2007 requires Local Authorities to consider the principles of sustainable development, such as those set out in “Catering for Change – 2011”, when providing food or drink or catering services in schools. This will help to ensure that decisions about what food and drink to serve in schools will be influenced by good practice such as local food sourcing which can help to reduce food miles.

The Minister for Youth Employment visited the Engine Shed in Edinburgh on 26 April 2012, to hear more about its work from its chief executive and two of the young people in training there.

There is no record of what the minister specifically said during her visit.

As set out in the Government Economic Strategy (GES), the Scottish Government’s Purpose is to focus government and public services on creating a more successful country, with opportunities for all of Scotland to flourish, through increasing sustainable economic growth. The priorities in our GES continue to inform our policy and spending decisions in order to support the recovery, employment and sustainable economic growth throughout Scotland.

Under the Nature Conservation (Scotland) Act 2004 it is the duty of every public body and office-holder, in exercising any functions, to further the conservation of biodiversity so far as is consistent with the proper exercise of those functions. Section 44 of the Climate Change (Scotland) Act places duties on public bodies, including the Scottish Government, relating to climate change including a duty that in exercising its functions a public body must act in a way that it considers most sustainable. The Act also requires that net levels of Scottish greenhouse gas emissions are reduced from a 1990-1995 baseline by at least 42% in 2020 and 80% by 2050. Also Sections 32 (1)(a) and (b) the Public Services Reform (Scotland) Act 2010 places specific duties on each public body listed in schedule 8 to the Act to publish a statement of the steps that it has taken during the financial year to promote and increase sustainable growth through the exercise of its functions and to improve efficiency, effectiveness and economy in the exercises of its functions.

There is no regulatory requirement for animal products such as meat, fish, milk and eggs to be labelled to identify whether the animals have eaten Genetically Modified (GM) feed. This is because such products do not meet the definition of GM food and therefore fall outside the scope of the EU Regulation on GM food and feed, which sets out the requirement for GM foods to be labelled. Furthermore, there are no provisions for mandatory labelling of food to indicate the types of animal feed that might have been used.

Mandatory labelling of food is controlled at EU level by the Food Information for Consumers Regulation and this makes no provision for national rules regarding the labelling of food from animals that have eaten particular types of feed. FSA in Scotland therefore has no powers to require labelling.

Whether or not GM or non-GM feed is used in the rearing of livestock intended for food production is a commercial decision for food businesses. As stated in the Chamber in response to a point raised by Rob Gibson, the Scottish Government intends to hold a debate, in Plenary, following summer recess, to allow for a discussion and exploration of issues such as food authenticity and labelling.

The main source of emissions in Scotland from the energy supply sector is electricity generation at power stations. Scottish Ministers have decision making powers relating to applications for large scale thermal power stations under Section 36 of the Electricity Act 1989. The Scottish Government policy for reducing emissions from thermal generation is that Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS) should be fitted to new or existing coal power stations by 2020, and provided it has been demonstrated that CCS is economically deliverable and technically proven, then and in these circumstances it should be progressively fitted to all coal and gas thermal plants thereafter by 2030. Conditions are applied to the consent for new thermal power stations in line with this policy.

However, decarbonisation will be achieved through a range of policies and will be dependent upon a number of factors. We need to remain flexible on how best to deliver our target in light of progress in the world climate change talks, integration of the EU energy market, Electricity Market Reform, developments in grid technology and storage, progress in cost reduction of renewables and CCS and progress in energy efficiency and demand side management.

Investment decisions relating to developing and building new generation, and the extension or closure of existing generating plant are commercial decisions for generators in Scotland.

The Draft Second Report on Proposals and Policies presents emissions and generating capacity based on a plausible generation scenario in Scotland to 2027. This scenario is based on a range of factors, including credible assumptions about, thermal plant extension, build and closure dates, average annual running times and: the development and deployment of Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS). The scenario presented is not definitive and designed to give an indication of emissions from the sector by varying the amount of coal, gas and CCS on the system.

While the Emissions Performance Standard is a useful tool we are clear that on its own it will not deliver the Scottish Government’s 2030 decarbonisation target and should be seen in the context of wider policies and powers.

Our current consenting policy on Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS) already imposes conditions for progressively fitting CCS to all coal and gas thermal plants following successful demonstration at commercial scale in relation to both economic viability and technical operability. The delivery of our 100% renewable electricity target together with developments in grid technology and storage and progress in demand reduction and energy efficiency will all play a crucial role in the delivery of our long-term decarbonisation target.

The modelling for the draft second Climate Change Report on Proposals and Policies shows that successful delivery of the 100% target plus the progressive deployment of CCS through the 2020s means that our decarbonisation target could actually be achieved earlier than 2030.