Chamber and committees

To support future planning decisions, we accepted the review’s recommendation to develop an indicative capacity cap. It is important that any indicative cap is as robust as possible and developing such a cap is a significant piece of work.

For that reason, we are undertaking work to improve the quality of data on waste to support the development of an indicative cap. This includes, working with other governments of the UK to implement mandatory Digital Waste Tracking from April 2025, which will provide a step-change in the quality of Scottish waste data, and engaging with partners, including ZWS and SEPA, to draw together key waste composition, carbon and environmental impact data insights.

Together, these initiatives will provide invaluable data to support the accurate forecasting of Scotland’s waste infrastructure needs and the development of an indicative cap. Further information on these developments can be found here:

Digital Waste Tracking Consultation Response.

Outcome of the Household Waste Composition Analysis.

Our draft Circular Economy and Waste Route Map, published 18 January 2024, set out further detail and associated timescales on the steps we will take to minimise the environmental and climate impacts of waste, including the development of an indicative capacity cap.

The Scottish Government is aware that chronic pain can impact on an individual's ability to work. While no specific work has been done to consider the impact on employment of any delays to interventions on chronic pain, work continues to improve service delivery. We also continue to work with people with lived experience to understand the impact chronic pain has on daily life, including employment.

The Offshore Energy Skills Passport is an initiative led and driven by industry.

The most recent statement from the key industry delivery bodies, Renewable UK and Offshore Energies UK, indicates that an initial version of the Passport will be available for workers to access later this year.

The Scottish Government remains committed to supporting the Passport’s successful implementation. Ministers last met with Renewable UK and Offshore Energies UK to receive updates on progress on 10 September 2024.

Ministers last discussed the project with the relevant trade union representatives on 17 September 2024.

The Scottish Government provided funding in 2023-24 to carry out a piece of quantitative research to establish a baseline measure of public awareness and understanding of the symptoms and risk factors for cardiovascular disease (including awareness of FAST (Face, Arm, Speech, Time), to track progress over time should communications activity be undertaken in this area, and to inform and consider the case for public information campaigns in relation to cardiovascular disease.

This research did not provide any evidence to support the use or not of BE FAST. The decision not to adopt BE FAST was based on existing research and the National Clinical Guideline for Stroke for the UK and Ireland and is aligned with the stance of Chest, Heart and Stroke Scotland, Stroke Association and the rest of the United Kingdom’s health services.

The Scottish Government maintains regular and ongoing communication with the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) on shared priorities. The Scottish Government and UKHSA do this through formal meetings, working groups, and collaborative efforts on public health issues such as disease surveillance, pandemic preparedness, emerging health threats and emergency response. UKHSA also provides expert advice and support to Public Health Scotland and other relevant bodies to ensure a coordinated approach to health security across the UK.

This collaboration plays a vital role in ensuring robust public health surveillance, managing health risks effectively and protecting Scotland’s population.

Scotland’s River Basin Management Plans 2021-2027 (RBMP) set out a range of actions aiming to improve the overall condition of Scotland’s water environment by 2027.

The Scottish Government invested almost £5m last year in the Water Environment Fund, a key element of the RBMP. Work continues this year providing access to rivers for migratory fish and restoring urban rivers providing benefits for biodiversity, climate change adaptation and flood management.

The most up to date RBMP classification information is available at the water classification hub.

The Energy System and Just Transition: Independent Analysis published in support our draft Energy Strategy and Just Transition Plan highlights the need for careful management of the North Sea energy transition, including the fields linked to the Forties System.

Offshore oil and gas licensing and consenting, as well as the associated fiscal regime, are reserved to the UK Government.

Publication of the outputs from a programme of work to better understand our energy requirements as we transition to net zero - Energy system and Just Transition: independent analysis - gov.scot (www.gov.scot)

This information is not held centrally. Public Health Scotland publish information on the number of Dental Practices in Scotland and this can be found at:

Dental Practices and Patient Registrations - Datasets - Scottish Health and Social Care Open Data (nhs.scot)

The following below shows the number of practices that have received financial support through Scottish Dental Access Initiative grants in each of the last five years.

The NHS Scotland Climate Emergency and Sustainability Strategy 2022– 2026 aims to maximise plant-based options in the provision of food in Hospitals across NHS Scotland, whilst ensuring that nutritional needs are met in line with the Food in Hospitals specification.

Transport Scotland has already allocated over £145 million of our 2024-25 budget to delivery partners across both Active Travel infrastructure and behaviour change. 2024-25 is the first year for a local authority and Regional Transport Partnerships led delivery model for infrastructure and behaviour change programmes that will encourage a shift towards more walking, wheeling and cycling. This funding remains in place.

The utmost importance is placed on balancing the Scottish Government’s budget each financial year. The Scottish Government and the whole of the public sector face a financial position that is extremely challenging. As with all programmes across Scottish Government, further active travel funding will need to be considered in this context for 2024-25. As the active and sustainable travel funding referred to in the Cabinet Secretary for Finance’s Pre-Budget Fiscal Update had not been allocated, no organisations nor local authorities will see their previously confirmed 2024-25 funding reduced as a result.