Chamber and committees

Public Health Scotland records inpatient admissions to hospital as a result of a dog attack.

I refer the member to the answer to question S6W-21589 on 5 October 2023, which contains data from Public Health Scotland on the number of inpatient and day case admissions to hospital where a diagnosis of dog attack (bite or strike) was recorded, from 2010 to 2022, in Scotland.

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

Historic Environment Scotland is making good progress on its inspection programme which is due to conclude at the end of March next year. The Scottish Government supports Historic Environment Scotland’s approach that continues to put the health and safety of individuals first, reopening sites only when safe to do so.

The information the Scottish Government holds is that of the 70 sites that had access restricted due to High Level Masonry issues, there is now full or partial access at 53 of those sites.

As this is not the full information requested, I have also asked Historic Environment Scotland to respond directly to the member with a full reply to his question in writing . Details of the inspection programme and site re-openings are published on the Historic Environment Scotland website.

Questions regarding day-to-day operational matters of Historic Environment Scotland, including information relating to Freedom of Information requests made to Historic Environment Scotland are best answered directly by Historic Environment Scotland.

I have asked Historic Environment Scotland to respond directly to the member with a full reply to his question in writing.

Questions regarding day-to-day operational matters of Historic Environment Scotland, including information relating to Historic Scotland membership numbers, are best answered by Historic Environment Scotland.

I have asked Historic Environment Scotland to respond directly to the member with a full reply to his question in writing.

Questions regarding day-to-day operational matters of Historic Environment Scotland, including information relating to Direct Debit membership prices, are best answered by Historic Environment Scotland.

I have asked Historic Environment Scotland to respond directly to the member with a full reply to his question in writing.

This information is not held centrally.

In early 2024, the Scottish Government intends to publish its Review of the 2019 Food Waste Reduction Action Plan. Alongside this, Zero Waste Scotland will publish the 2021 nationwide statistics for food waste.

Local Authorities are accountable to their local communities and have the financial freedom to operate independently, taking account of local needs.

As independent corporate bodies, it is the responsibility of individual local authorities to manage their own budgets and to allocate the total financial resources available to them on the basis of local needs and priorities, having first fulfilled their statutory obligations and the jointly agreed set of national and local priorities.

Ultimately, it is for locally elected representatives to make local decisions on how best to deliver services to their local communities.

The Scottish Government has discussed food waste with a range of representative and third sector organisations. For example, an eNGO roundtable event took place with Stop Climate Chaos Scotland and Scottish Environment Link members, with representatives from: WWF; Friends of the Earth Scotland; Circular Communities Scotland; and Stop Climate Chaos Scotland. Another example is ongoing support and engagement with WRAP UK - a climate action NGO – which has expertise in food waste reduction. We have also engaged with FareShare on food redistribution. This engagement is complemented by programme partners at Zero Waste Scotland who work with community food groups and wider third sector organisations on food waste reduction.

The Scottish Government will publish a Review of the 2019 Food Waste Reduction Action Plan early in 2024 which will outline progress towards the 2025 target. We will also publish the second consultation for the Circular Economy and Waste Route Map, detailing the Scottish Government proposals to deliver our system-wide, comprehensive vision for Scotland’s circular economy to 2030.

The Scottish Government is aware of recent announcements from the banking industry to further close bank branches and withdraw mobile branch services. This is an unfortunate continuation of a trend witnessed across the sector to reduce in-person services in Scotland.

The regulation of financial services is ultimately a reserved matter for the UK Government. Recently they have legislated in this space, through the Financial Services and Markets Act, to grant the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) greater powers to protect access to cash in the UK. The FCA launched a public consultation on these new powers on 7th December and my officials are working to arrange a meeting with their Chief Executive, Nikhil Rathi, in early 2024. I look forward to discussing this increased regulatory remit with Mr Rathi and exploring what more can be done to ensure the unique cash and banking requirements of Scotland’s rural and island communities are being addressed.

The Scottish Government absolutely recognises the important role in-person services still play to our communities – particularly in rural and island regions. Therefore, myself, ministerial colleagues and officials have met with senior representatives from the banking sector in recent months. In these meetings we have expressed concerns about how branch closures not only impact the most vulnerable customers but also the dynamics of town centres, particularly when the last bank in town closes. I have also reminded banks of the social responsibility they have to the communities they are choosing to leave. The Scottish Government are committed to working constructively with banks, not only to ensure that individuals and businesses can access the services they require, but also to encourage banks to engage with the communities they serve and understand the concerns of customers who live there.