Chamber and committees

The management of asbestos in buildings is a reserved matter for the UK Government and the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) has UK wide responsibility for enforcement of the legislation and regulations.

My officials asked the HSE for information on current activities to collect data on the number of premises containing asbestos either publicly or privately-owned. There is no requirement on any authority to collect data, and in recent evidence to the UK Parliament Work and Pensions Committee, HSE confirmed that the exact number of business premises in Great Britain containing asbestos is not known. There is however a duty on owners of any premises to know whether their building contains asbestos and to manage it in accordance with the Control of Asbestos Regulations 2012.

HSE is currently carrying out a statutory, five yearly, review of the Control of Asbestos Regulations 2012. Part of the cost benefit analysis for the report which is due to be published in the summer will include estimates about the number of premises containing asbestos. HSE has also given a commitment that future research will address the number of business premises containing asbestos.

Questions included in the census are intended to provide a snapshot of the population on census day, 20 March 2022.

The online census questionnaire allows you to change your previous answers right up until you submit your questionnaire. Further changes cannot be made after a person submits a response.

Paper questionnaires can be amended by blocking out incorrect answers using black ink. A correct answer can then be written in the rest of the boxes. Once a paper questionnaire has been sent, changes cannot be made.

Since July 2021 SEPA has advised that the same vehicle that is used for delivery can be used for the backhaul of scheme packaging provided that:

• the haulier is a registered waste carrier ;
• where backhaul is carried out in a vehicle used to transport fresh food, there is sufficient separation and a barrier to prevent contamination of waste materials with organic matter.

This advice was published as part of a series of DRS Frequently Asked Questions on SEPA’s website on 8 March 2022.

The available records of published Road Orders details our understanding of when the following sections of A9 dual carriageways were opened:

(a) May 1979 to May 1997

We are analysing the text of the Act to understand how it could interact with Scotland’s Deposit Return Scheme (DRS), but in order to assess impact fully we need to understand the UK Government’s intentions for its own DRS. We have not yet seen their response to their recent consultation.

The timescale set out in December 2021 was for such contracts to be signed by the end of March 2022. I am aware that Circularity Scotland Ltd is currently in commercial negotiations and it would be inappropriate for me to comment further at this time.

The figure is based on Circularity Scotland Ltd’s assessment of its expected annual turnover as scheme administrator once it is in steady state.

We anticipate that implementation and operation of DRS will generate a range of business and employment opportunities in the extensive infrastructure and logistics required for the scheme, for example in the construction and operating of sorting and bulking centres.

Participation of small producers is vital to the success of the scheme and we believe we have taken their needs into consideration in designing DRS.

We have consulted extensively with businesses of all sizes that will be affected by the implementation of Scotland’s Deposit Return Scheme. We are not aware that any producers have decided to cease doing business in Scotland, although we are aware that some have expressed concerns about whether they will continue to sell their products in Scotland.

This is one of the reasons why we have applied a de minimis for the SEPA registration fee. This will remove a cost for businesses operating below the current VAT threshold, benefiting around 1,600 of the more than 4,000 anticipated producers selling into the Scottish market

Section 34 of the Environmental Protection Act 1990 requires those handling waste to ensure that it is handled in a fashion that promotes high-value recycling.

Return points, producers and Circularity Scotland, when handling returned scheme packaging, including glass, will therefore have an obligation to promote high-value recycling regardless of whether the glass is collected manually or by the use of reverse vending machines.

Devices are being procured by individual local authorities to ensure they can be used in line with local digital learning strategies. We do not have detailed information on how they are currently being procured and decisions on their use and distribution are taken by councils themselves.