7. To ask the Scottish Government what support it can provide to any local authorities that are struggling to meet the rising costs associated with providing school transport, so that children and young people can travel to school in a safe, efficient and affordable manner. (S6O-03238)

The Scottish Government is providing record funding of more than £14 billion to local authorities in 2024-25, including more than £600 million of additional revenue funding for day to day services, including the provision of free home-to-school transport for eligible children.

It is the responsibility of individual local authorities to manage their budgets and to allocate the total financial resources available to them on the basis of local needs and priorities. Decisions about the provision of home-to-school transport services rest with local authorities.

Notwithstanding the funding that the cabinet secretary has mentioned, and without giving away our exact ages, the Education (Scotland) Act 1980 is older than me and the cabinet secretary and many people believe that the act’s minimum home-to-school provisions are no longer fit for purpose.

Changing legislation takes time, but my young Lanarkshire constituents and their families need action right now. I am pleased that Jim Fairlie, who has ministerial responsibility for buses, has agreed to meet locally with me and some of those families. Many children now face difficult walks of up to six miles a day between home and school, which is not fair on those children, so we need to find solutions. Will the cabinet secretary agree to take part in those talks?

I am more than happy to engage with the member on that substantive point, although I place on record the fact that the issue that she raises is fundamentally a matter for the relevant local authority, which I hope she recognises.

The member cites the age of the legislation, but it is important that local authorities are encouraged to engage on the issue of school transport with the communities that they serve.

The Deputy Presiding Officer:

There is a brief supplementary question.

I have been proud to stand with the local children, young people, parents and carers who have staged a brilliant campaign against South Lanarkshire Council’s unsafe and unworkable proposals to increase the qualifying criteria for school bus provision.

The Scottish Government is providing South Lanarkshire Council with record funding this year, although the legacy of Labour’s toxic private finance initiative continues, costing the council around £40 million every year.

With the school transport consultation now closing, will the cabinet secretary urge the Labour council in South Lanarkshire not to shirk its responsibilities, but to heed the concerns that communities have aired?

Although it is, as I said to Ms Lennon, ultimately up to the council to make local decisions on how best to deliver its services, Clare Haughey is absolutely right that South Lanarkshire Council is receiving record funding from the Scottish Government. That includes more than £752 million to fund local services, which equates to an extra £46.6 million or an additional 6.6 per cent compared with the 2023-24 budget, as well as the council’s share of the additional funding that the Deputy First Minister announced recently. There is, therefore, no financial reason for the council to take that unpopular decision. I am sure that people in South Lanarkshire will reflect on a Labour Party that is cutting front-line services and an SNP Government that is investing in communities.