Chamber and committees

The two Bills have different provisions for deer management. Part 2 of the Land Reform Bill contains provisions for compensation for agricultural damage caused by game, including deer. The Natural Environment Bill has a different purpose, it aims to improve the management of deer.

Table of provisions in the Land reform Bill and the Natural Environment Bill

A range of new vessel options for the Gourock to Dunoon and Kilcreggan ferry services are being considered within the wider Outline Business Case for investment in the routes, which also includes port infrastructure upgrades. When complete, the Outline Business Case will be reviewed by Transport Scotland Investment Decision Making Board in the first instance, currently expected to be around the end of 2025, and then presented to Ministers for decisions.

The Scottish Government has made available record funding of £15.1 billion for Local Government in 2025-26. The vast majority of funding allocated to councils is provided by means of a block grant. It is then the responsibility of individual local authorities to manage their own budgets and to allocate the total financial resources available to them, including meeting the requirements set out in the Code of Practice on Litter and Refuse (CoPLAR). No additional direct funding has been provided to local councils for the implementation of the National Litter and Flytipping Strategy. However, we have funded Keep Scotland Beautiful to deliver targeted interventions with councils and communities, and SEPA is working in partnership with councils on flytipping prevention and enforcement.

This approach aims to trial scalable solutions and share good practice across local authorities as the Strategy progresses.

The National Litter and Flytipping Strategy, published in 2023, recognises the importance of supporting behaviour change so that individuals, communities, and organisations are more aware of the problems caused by litter, understand their responsibilities and are motivated to act responsibly.

Behaviour change is being promoted through a range of ongoing actions, including the Community Litter Hub, community-led interventions, and localised communication activities delivered by Keep Scotland Beautiful, SEPA and Zero Waste Scotland.

The Scottish Government recognises the particular impact of flytipping on rural and remote areas and is taking steps to address this through National Litter and Flytipping Strategy. The Scottish Partnership Against Rural Crime (SPARC) is represented on the Strategy’s Delivery Group to ensure rural issues are considered and reflected in implementation plans.

Relevant actions include the Private Landowners Grant Fund, administered by Zero Waste Scotland, which ran for two years and supported a number of applicants with measures such as fencing, surveillance cameras and signage to help prevent repeat flytipping incidents. Support is also provided to rural local authorities and communities through enforcement collaboration, data-sharing and best practice exchange coordinated by the Strategy delivery partners.

Keep Scotland Beautiful has been provided with grants of £620,000 from Zero Waste Scotland and Scottish Government in 2023-24, 2024-25 and 2025-26 to deliver aspects of the National Litter and Flytipping Strategy focused on litter prevention, data improvement and supporting community engagement, In relation to community engagement, this supports the Community Litter Hub, provides training and engagement opportunities, and delivers community-led interventions to tackle litter arising from food and drink ‘on-the-go' and roadside litter.

In addition, the Private Landowners Grant Fund, administered by Zero Waste Scotland, provided targeted support to prevent flytipping on private land in 2023–24 and 2024-25. In 2023-24 has supported some community-based interventions. For example, Govanhill Housing Association received £19,960 to undertake improvements to 5 local flytipping hotspots by repurposing the areas affected and promoting this to residents, installing motion sensitive lighting and signage as well as working with residents to encourage appropriate behaviour.

Local authorities are responsible for the provision and accessibility of household waste and recycling services, including civic amenity sites. However, the Scottish Government recognises the particular challenges faced by rural communities and continues to work with COSLA, SEPA and other partners to support fair and practical solutions.

We are making one of the biggest investments in a generation to modernise recycling in Scotland through the £70m Recycling Improvement Fund for local authorities. Over £8.8 million has been allocated to rural communities across all local authorities, including funding for civic amenity sites.

As part of our wider national strategy to tackle flytipping, we are also exploring ways to improve access to legitimate disposal routes and considering how best to support consistency and share good practice.

As set out in the Circular Economy & Waste Route Map and as enabled by the Circular Economy (Scotland) Act 2024, we are reviewing the Household Recycling Charter's supporting Code of Practice. The Code of Practice will be put on a statutory basis to deliver better and more consistent recycling services across all areas of Scotland, including rural areas. This new statutory Code will provide clear guidance for both householders and waste practitioners, ensuring the right choices are the easiest options.

Working closely with local authorities is integral to this review, as their input ensures the practicality and effectiveness of the new Code across diverse communities. Co-design will help address the diversity of needs and local circumstances across Scotland.

The Scottish Government is committed to strengthening consistent enforcement of flytipping across Scotland. We continue to engage with local authorities and the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service to understand barriers and share good practice. In 2023, we published an independent review of enforcement powers for litter and flytipping, which made a series of recommendations to improve coordination and effectiveness.

SEPA is piloting partnership models with councils and Police Scotland to address serious incidents. Since 2016, SEPA has issued 132 monetary penalties, totalling over £109,900, including recent Variable Monetary Penalties of more than £2,600 for repeat offenders.

The Scottish Government has assessed the wider costs of fly-tipping in Scotland through the Litter and Flytipping: Scale and Cost report, published in 2023. This estimated that the overall direct cost of litter and flytipping in Scotland was £81.2m. Direct costs to public and private bodies, excluding local councils, was estimated to be £20.5m. The research also contains the cost broken down by a number of sectors, including nature-based attractions (including farmland), food and retail/commercial. Insufficient information was received to assess the costs of flytipping for these sectors.

We recognise the financial pressure on private landowners. In 2023-24, the Private Landowners Grant Fund provided targeted support to prevent fly-tipping, including measures such as fencing, signage and surveillance. This extended into 2024-25 to also cover clean-up activities. We continue to explore other ways to support landowners, including involvement in multi-agency enforcement partnerships and clarification of responsibilities under Section 59 of the Environmental Protection Act 1990, as amended by the Circular Economy (Scotland) Act 2024.

The Scottish Government recognises the need to continue to address flytipping from commercial sources and has been consistently working with delivery partners under the National Litter and Flytipping Strategy to do so. For example, through SEPA's partnership enforcement activity and digital disruption online actions. Ongoing measures by SEPA to further strengthen how they regulate waste activities will also have an impact.

These activities, alongside cross-agency engagement including through the Serious Organised Crime Taskforce (SOCT) Environmental Waste Crime Working Group and Scottish Partnership Against Rural Crime (SPARC), are helping to build collective understanding and partnership working across the sector.