Chamber and committees

Neither the Scottish Government nor its agencies have had meetings with the French government or other relevant stakeholders in France regarding banning the disposal of unsold goods. Officials have, however, met a representative of the Ellen McArthur Foundation to provide insight into the operation of the ban in France.

We intend to engage with a wide range of stakeholders in developing any regulations.

One of the key priorities identified in Our Past, Our Future, Scotland’s revised historic environment strategy which was commissioned by Scottish Ministers, is “Delivering the transition to net zero.” Actions identified to deliver this priority include improving the delivery of heritage skills training by revising and expanding the Skills Investment Plan for Scotland’s historic environment to identify the opportunities and actions needed to create a sustainable skills ecosystem. And also improving and enhancing the research and development infrastructure for heritage in Scotland by creating new national centres for skills and innovation.

The Scottish Government delivers support for the historic environment through its sponsorship of Historic Environment Scotland. Historic Environment Scotland, along with key partners, have consulted with 340 individuals and 160 organisations as part of the refresh of the Skills Investment Plan which is due to be published in April this year. As part of this refresh, a net zero roundtable was held on the 26 October 2023 to specifically look at the priority actions needed to support a skilled workforce to deliver the transition to net zero.

On behalf of the Scottish Government, Skills Development Scotland published a new report which has assessed the known investment, the skills demand now and in the future, and current training and learning support for green skills in Scotland. This report is available at https://www.skillsdevelopmentscotland.co.uk/news-events/2023/november/90-billion-of-investment-in-green-industries-signals-need-for-net-zero-skills .

We are also continuing to effectively integrate sustainability and green skills into apprenticeships in Scotland to ensure the system remains flexible and relevant as we transition to net zero.

This information is published annually in the Scottish Government’s Climate Change Reports (available at: https://sustainablescotlandnetwork.org/reports/the-scottish-government and are provided below:

• 2016 - 2017: 127 tonnes;
• 2017 - 2018: 352 tonnes;
• 2018 - 2019: 366 tonnes;
• 2019 - 2020: 217 tonnes;
• 2020 - 2021: 70 tonnes;
• 2021 - 2022: 70 tonnes; and
• 2022 - 2023: 131 tonnes.

As noted in the recently published Draft Circular Economy and Waste Route Map , Scotland is highly unlikely to meet its target to reduce food waste by 33% by 2025. To accelerate our rate of progress, the Scottish Government has committed to reset its approach to tackle food waste, and is engaging with key partners across the food and drink sector to identify effective food waste reduction actions.

Due to the complexity of measuring food waste, annual estimates are not produced. Significant progress has been made to improve food waste data, including: the development of digital waste tracking, due to go live in 2025; and the publication of Zero Waste Scotland’s Household Waste Composition Analysis in October 2023.

Independent analysis procured by the Scottish Government for the draft Energy Strategy and Just Transition Plan estimated that in 2021 there were 5,338 jobs (direct and indirect) and £918m GVA (direct and indirect) in the nuclear power electricity generation and decommission sectors. While Hunterston B power station has been retired (as of 7 January 2022), decommissioning jobs are assumed to remain at the level of power generation jobs within the initial six years of the decommissioning phase of de-fuelling.

In my letter of 18 January 2024 to the Convener of the Net Zero, Energy and Transport committee (see at this link Minister for Green Skills, Circular Economy and Biodiversity (parliament.scot) ), I confirmed that Scottish Government officials regularly meet with the Office for the Internal Market (OIM) to discuss a range of issues related to its functions, including horizon scanning of potential legislation across the UK. These discussions are open dialogues where either party can raise any issue for discussion. They can involve high level intelligence sharing, as well as more detailed discussions of specific policy areas.

To date, there has not been a specific discussion on the proposed provisions of the Scottish Circular Economy Bill as part of this engagement. Wider circular economy issues such as deposit return schemes and single-use plastics policies across UK nations have been discussed.

In the updated Climate Change Plan, we undertook to embed circular economy principles into our wider green recovery, prioritising areas with the biggest opportunities: construction; agriculture/food and drink; energy and renewables; procurement; skills and education; and plastics.

Last year we consulted on our draft Energy Strategy and Just Transition Plan, which sets out the Scottish Government’s vision for Scotland's energy system to 2045 and a route map of ambitions and actions that, coupled with detailed sectoral plans and the forthcoming Climate Change Plan, will guide decision-making and policy support over the course of this decade.

We also published discussion papers on land use and agriculture Just transition in land use and agriculture: a discussion paper - gov.scot (www.gov.scot) , the Grangemouth Industrial Cluster Just Transition: Grangemouth (www.gov.scot) and the built environment and construction sector Delivering a Just Transition for the Built Environment and Construction Sector Delivering a Just Transition for the Built Environment and Construction Sector (www.gov.scot)

We are also consulting on a Circular Economy and Waste Route Map which sets out the clear actions we need to take to deliver sustainable use of our resources and progress a circular economy in Scotland by 2030 Circular economy and waste route map to 2030: consultation - gov.scot (www.gov.scot). This includes a package of measures to embed circular practices in the construction sector.

To date, 37 projects from 25 local authorities have been approved for funding through the Recycling Improvement Fund (RIF) and the Fund’s Small Grant Scheme.

A list of local authorities and projects approved through the RIF is available on the Zero Waste Scotland website: www.zerowastescotland.org.uk/resources/recycling-improvement-fund .

A list of local authorities and projects who have been approved for funding through the RIF Small Grant Scheme is available on the Zero Waste Scotland website: www.zerowastescotland.org.uk/resources/recycling-improvement-fund-small-grant-scheme .

Zero Waste Scotland is in regular contact with local authorities to support new applications.

The Scottish Government funds Zero Waste Scotland (ZWS) to deliver action on waste, including food waste. I refer the member to ZWS who may be able to provide this information. ZWS can be contacted via email at: PolicySupport@[email protected] .