Chamber and committees

The Deposit Return Scheme consumer campaign, which will be led by Circularity Scotland Ltd, has yet to begin. It will commence in the run up to the scheme’s launch next year to ensure consumers are aware of the launch date and how the scheme will work.

Following on from BREXIT, the UK Governments decision not to be involved as an associated third country – i.e. on the same footing as EU Member States – has radically reduced the number of opportunities for Scottish students to benefit from the Erasmus+ cooperation projects and exchange in the areas of education, training, youth, and sport.

All projects selected under the Erasmus+ programme 2014-2020 will continue until their completion on the same basis under which they were selected. All four year projects funded in the 2020 cycle must be complete by the 30 of June 2024.

While a limited number of opportunities from 2021 onwards remain open to Scottish and EU students, simply because they are open to institutions or individuals from all over the world, this is ultimately an example of the UK Government's BREXIT decision limiting the richness and variety of experiences open to our students.

We have no plans to introduce such a requirement. It is a matter for those relevant public bodies collecting information on sex to establish the best approach in their individual institutional settings. In the case of those committing crime, this approach will rightly be shaped by how Police Scotland, the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service and Scottish Courts and Tribunals Service operationalise both the wider legal context (where for example an arrested person is not legally required to answer questions on their sex or gender) and any associated guidance on collecting data about sex and gender.

The information Police Scotland record on the sex of people, which flows through to partners as any criminal proceedings are taken forward, has no impact on how cases are investigated or prosecuted. It will be based on how people present, unless an alternative gender is disclosed. In respect of the offences of rape and attempted rape, the law requires that there is penetration or attempted penetration of the complainer’s mouth, vagina or anus by the perpetrator’s penis, which includes a surgically constructed penis.

The Equally Safe in Colleges and Universities Core Leadership Group, which I chair, has established a short-life working group to consider institutional enrolment and safeguarding processes, including with regard to students subject to criminal proceedings.

The short-life working group includes representatives from Police Scotland, Universities Scotland, Colleges Scotland, Rape Crisis Scotland and Emily Test.

The Scottish Government will continue to work at pace with stakeholders on this issue.

It is imperative that all institutions support victims of sexual assault, and that victims feel comfortable in reporting incidents to their institutions and to the Police.

The Scottish Government has received assurances from the Principal of the University of Edinburgh that it is committed to tackling gender-based violence, and that it would not discourage a student from making a report to the Police. Further discussions with the institution are planned.

The Parking Standards Guidance document relating to the enforcement of the new parking prohibitions contained in the Transport (Scotland) Act 2019 is being developed in consultation with local authorities through the Parking Standards Stakeholder Working Group and will be issued to local authorities at the same time as the Enforcement Regulations come into force. This is expected to be in December 2023.

Despite ongoing significant pressures, we continue to see progress in reducing long waits following the introduction of targets in July 2022. The latest Public Health Scotland data shows:

• The total number of patients waiting than more two years for a new outpatient appointment was reduced by 60 per cent in six months;
• 18 of 30 inpatient / day-case specialities have fewer than ten patients waiting more than two years
• 61 per cent of new outpatient specialties have fewer than 10 patients waiting over 78 weeks.

We have also progressed significant immediate and long term solutions to support Boards to clear their remaining long waits. In addition to the targets introduced last year, the Centre for Sustainable Delivery is supporting Boards to maximise their capacity and increase theatre efficiencies, including through Active Clinical Referral Treatment and Patient Initiated Review.

Four National Treatment Centres will also open this year, providing significant additional capacity for orthopaedics, ophthalmic and diagnostic treatment. This includes NTC-Fife and NTC-Highland, which opened in March and April respectively, and NTC-Forth Valley and the second phase of the NHS Golden Jubilee which will open later in the year.

In September 2022, the Scottish Government published the report from our consultation on proposals to make regulations under sections 17 to 19 of the Health (Tobacco, Nicotine etc. and Care) (Scotland) Act 2016, which could introduce restrictions on the following:

• advertising
• brand-sharing in products and services
• free distribution and nominal pricing
• sponsorship of an activity, event or person

The responses, together with the analysis report will inform our next steps, which we are currently considering. Any action we seek to take will build on the regulations already in place to restrict the marketing, promotion and sale of vaping products to under 18s.

Scotland is in a global competition to attract talent. By taking us out of the EU and ending free movement, the UK Government has recklessly hindered our ability to attract people to Scotland. We want to build Scotland’s reputation as a career destination, promoting our growth sectors to students and workers across the UK and beyond.

The Scottish Government will launch a Talent Attraction and Migration Service in 2023. The service will support people who are thinking of moving to Scotland or who have just moved here. It will provide good quality information and advice to help people and their dependents settle into their communities. The service will also support employers based in Scotland to use the immigration system to help meet their skills needs. We are conducting research to understand users' needs and the barriers they face. Once we have concluded this discovery work, we will identify suppliers to deliver the service.

Furthermore, our Rural Visa Pilot proposal, published in September 2022, offers settlement support to migrants to promote integration within pilot communities.

The Scottish Government is tackling marine litter with actions detailed in our Marine Litter Strategy, which aims to address the amount of litter entering the marine environment, to achieve ecological, economic and social benefits. Our Strategy and action plan was refreshed in September 2022 and focuses on the most problematic types of marine litter including fishing and aquaculture gear, sewage-related debris, and plastic pellets. The Strategy will drive forward our work over the next five years and co-ordinate the efforts of our stakeholders and partners, working at a national and international level to help tackle this global problem.

The many actions include: improving the management of end of life fishing and aquaculture gear to reduce litter and improve recycling rates, contributing to our circular economy; working across the UK administrations to put an end to pollution caused by wet wipes containing plastic; and developing international solutions to prevent spills of plastic pellets (nurdles), which can be found on our beaches and risk the health of our marine wildlife. In addition to preventative actions, we are also supporting litter removal, whether off shore through the funding of KIMO’s Fishing for Litter scheme, or at our rivers, with Keep Scotland Beautiful’s Upstream Battle project.