Chamber and committees

The Scottish Government has committed to extend the Connecting Scotland programme over the course of this Parliament to reach a total of 300,000 people. Work is underway to scope the future service, including how best to reach priority groups who we know are most likely to be digitally excluded, including refugees and asylum seekers.

Connecting Scotland was planned to run till the end of 2021. However, the depth of the challenges of digital exclusion that the pandemic has revealed mean we are extending the programme till the end of this Parliament in 2026, as set out in the Programme for Government.

The current phase is open for applications from organisations working to remove barriers related to digital exclusion for unemployed young people and adults until‎ 27 September 2021. From 28 September the programme will be accepting fast track applications from organisations that can identify users who are digitally excluded, on a low income, and at risk of social isolation and loneliness (particularly older people, people with disabilities, and single parents).

A full update on progress towards our target of a 33% reduction in food waste by 2025 will be provided in the upcoming review of Scotland’s Food Waste Reduction Action Plan. A detailed analysis on the composition of residual waste is currently being undertaken and will form part of this review, due in Spring 2022.

In addition, we are developing a Routemap to deliver our ambitious 2025 waste and recycling targets which will inform the development of the new Circular Economy Bill. There will also be further engagement and consultation to shape the Bill’s contents.

In our draft Heat in Buildings Strategy we committed to developing and implementing a bespoke public engagement strategy for heat in buildings. This will have a focus on raising the profile of energy efficiency and zero emissions heating options so that people are aware of their benefits, as well as enabling people to actively participate in shaping the development of policy, incentives, and local level heat and energy efficiency planning; and promoting the support that is on offer to maximise take up.

Jackie Ballie MSP (Scottish Labour- Dumbarton): To ask the Scottish Government how much has been spent on fuel for ministerial cars in each of the last five years.

The following table provides a breakdown of fuel expenditure for the Government Car Service since 2016.

Participation rate information for businesses in Scotland is not available centrally and local councils should be approached in seeking this information.

All the UK governments receive their expert clinical advice from the JCVI and the Committee has been closely monitoring the situation, in regard to this cohort of people.

The Scottish Government are waiting for formal advice on this issue from the JCVI and any recommendation made by the Committee will be promptly implemented in Scotland.

The Committee are fully aware of the potential sub-optimal response to two doses of the vaccine by some immunosuppressed individuals and that’s why they recommended that these groups of people should be given highest priority for a booster programme in the autumn.

I refer the member to the answer to question S6W-01418 on‎ 9 August 2021. 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

This information is publically available through the SEPA Recyclate Quality Reporting Tool, which can be accessed here: https://informatics.sepa.org.uk/RecyclateQuality/

The tool presents data from samples taken from material streams entering and exiting material recovery facilities (MFRs). The tool reports the percentage of materials collected that are considered to be ‘target’ materials for recycling.

The Scottish Government funds the Energy Saving Trust to deliver a sustainable energy supply chain programme to help develop capacity amongst installers. This initiative provides support and training in low and zero emissions heating technology installations, webinars and events as well as support for training costs which we deliver in partnership with the Energy Skills Partnership.

Information about procurement opportunities related to our fuel poverty programmes is published on the Public Contracts Scotland website. The Scottish Government and local authorities responsible for delivery of our Area Based Schemes also participate in regular “Meet the Buyer” events organised by the Supplier Development Programme (SDP).