Chamber and committees

I have commissioned an urgent review of the environmental impacts and management of single-use vapes. Zero Waste Scotland will lead on the review, which will examine available evidence and consider potential options to tackle the issue.

The review will consider of a range of approaches, including options to enhance the safe recycling of disposed products and device components, such as lithium batteries.

We will consider the evidence and expert advice and bring forward policy options in due course.

The Scottish Government recognises and shares the music sector’s concern with the decision to reduce the breadth of cultural music programming on Radio Scotland. Certain musical forms, such as piping or jazz, are not traditionally thought of as mainstream musical offerings and it is essential that the BBC listens to the concerns of the music sector so that audiences are able to continue to enjoy pipe and jazz music on BBC Radio Scotland.

The Scottish Government maintains its strong commitment to young and establishing musicians, including through its long-standing investment of over £140m since 2007 in the Youth Music Initiative. This helps young people across Scotland to access music-making opportunities, and supports them to go on to careers in the music industry.

The Scottish Government will continue to press the BBC to deliver on its commitments to commission high-quality, distinctive Scottish output, including in relation to music.

The Scottish Government along with the Scottish Funding Council work with and engage on an ongoing basis with a range of stakeholders including Universities Scotland and individual institutions, to monitor and secure the long term sustainability of the sector as a whole and ensure that Scottish Universities continue to deliver world class education. These issues were discussed at a recent meeting between myself and Universities Scotland. As part of that discussion, it was recognised that as autonomous institutions Scottish universities are responsible for managing their long term institutional stability as operated through their own entry requirements, admissions policies and budgets. It was also agreed that it was vital to explore further the impact of the UK Government’s policy on immigration on Scottish Universities’ international student recruitment.

A Fairer Scotland Impact Assessment (FSIA) looked at the additional initial outlay on ONS Household groups. This was both as a percentage of a grocery shop as well as a percentage of mean net income. The results can be found in the Annex A of the FSIA at:

https://www.gov.scot/binaries/content/documents/govscot/publications/consultation-paper/2019/09/deposit-return-schemme-scotland-regulations-accompanying-statement-proposed-regulations/documents/fairer-scotland-impact-assessment/fairer-scotland-impact-assessment/govscot%3Adocument/fairer-scotland-impact-assessment.pdf

I refer the member to the answer to question S6W-14431 on 9 February 2023. All answers to written Parliamentary Questions are available on the Parliament's website, the search facility for which can be found at https://www.parliament.scot/chamber-and-committees/written-questions-and-answers

While the powers to take meaningful action sit with the UK Government, the Scottish Government is doing all it can to support non-domestic energy consumers with high energy bills.

Our Community and Renewable Energy Scheme (CARES) has added a Community Buildings Fund which supports communities and other eligible organisations to improve the heating systems in their buildings and reduce energy bills. This includes funding up to a maximum of £80,000 and includes energy efficiency measures, zero emissions heat and also small-scale generation where there is a clear benefit to the community organisation.

Additionally, the First Minister chaired two energy summits last year attended by energy suppliers, advice agencies and third sector representatives, and which discussed collaborative actions to support non-domestic consumers with energy costs.

We will continue to work with partners to identify what more we can do within the powers available to us to mitigate the impact of high energy costs upon non-domestic consumers including community organisations.

The information requested is not held centrally.

The information requested is not held centrally.

Most SG owned artwork is on display in Government buildings, with access limited to SG staff and contractors and accompanied visitors. I refer the member to the answer to question S6W-14450 on 9 February 2023. All answers to written Parliamentary Questions are available on the Parliament's website, the search facility for which can be found at https://www.parliament.scot/chamber-and-committees/written-questions-and-answers

There are no plans to purchase artwork in 2023.