Chamber and committees

We are committed to ending the practice of sending biodegradable municipal waste to landfill. This will contribute to progress on climate change targets and increase incentives to deal with waste in a more sustainable way.

Available evidence shows that significant progress has already been made towards meeting the 2021 target, with the majority of local authorities having long term or interim solutions in place.

We are aware of the challenges associated with implementing the ban. The ban was set in legislation in 2012 so local authorities and others have had a significant time to prepare. It is therefore disappointing that there is uncertainty around the readiness of some councils.

Our focus is on working with authorities and commercial operators who do not yet have a solution in place to identify ways in which they can comply as soon as possible.

A State of Contaminated Land in Scotland Report was last carried out in 2009 with all 32 local authorities responding with the information required.

In the last 5 years, local authorities have advised SEPA of 18 formal identifications of contaminated land.

Local authorities are responsible for maintaining and reviewing their own inspection strategies. Legislation requires inspection strategies to be periodically reviewed, and these are publicly available at allocated offices in each local authority area.

The Scottish Government does not provide support to the Anaphylaxis Campaign’s Making Schools Safer Project.

The Scottish Government is committed to ensuring that education authorities, health boards and schools have the guidance they need to effectively deliver on their responsibilities to support pupils’ healthcare needs. Comprehensive guidance on Supporting Children and Young People with Healthcare Needs in Schools was published in December 2017.

Information on anaphylaxis and allergies is covered in Annex B of the guidance.

The third party sale of puppies is already regulated in Scotland under The Licensing of Animal Dealers (Young Cats and Dogs) (Scotland) Regulations 2009. Under these Regulations persons who acquire young cats or dogs less than 84 days old with a view to selling them require an animal dealing licence from the local authority.

More widely, The Scottish Government is progressing work to update and strengthen existing licensing legislation covering dog, cat and rabbit breeders, pet sellers and animal sanctuaries and rehoming activities.

Part IIA of the Environmental Protection Act 1990 requires all Local Authorities, as the primary regulators, to produce inspection strategies for their area which are publically available and are subject to periodic review.

When Local Authorities formally identify a site as contaminated land they are required to notify SEPA and to place the site on a public register.

In addition, the Scottish Government has specific powers under Part IIA to request SEPA to produce a ‘State of Contaminated Land in Scotland’ report. Local Authorities are required to provide information on the condition of contaminated land sites to SEPA for inclusion in the report.

This information is not held centrally but may be available through contacting Zero Waste Scotland directly.

The Scottish Government will shortly bring forward secondary legislation to establish a deposit return scheme. That legislation will, amongst other things, outline the conditions to be met by any person acting as a scheme administrator.

In announcing the design of the scheme, Scottish Ministers made it clear that the proposed model for the scheme administrator would be industry led. As such the details of the corporate structure are for industry stakeholders to decide and agree. The Scottish Government is offering co-ordination and support through the Industry Advisory Group.