Two incineration facilities, both of which already held planning permission at the time of the incineration review, have become operational since June 2022.

These facilities have permitted capacities of 270,000 and 150,000 tonnes per annum but their operational capacity is likely to be less. For example, data available through SEPA’s ‘waste sites and capacity tool’ shows facilities typically operate at less than their permitted capacity.

Supporting communities to build resilience to emergency events is an established and integral part of the Scottish Government's approach to resilience and will remain so going forward. Scottish Government promotes community-led action, based on local priorities, and provides a combination of investment and other forms of support in ways that build on the strengths and resources of individual communities. Scottish Government works to embed community resilience through a number of connected policy areas which enables collaboration between community resilience groups, voluntary sector organisations, Government and statutory responders, through established networks and relevant meetings at the national and more local levels. As part of Scotland’s National Adaptation Plan and wider Just Transition commitments, the Scottish Government is developing a Flood Resilience Strategy, due to be published by the end of this year, which will set out what needs to be done to make Scotland’s communities more flood resilient over the coming decades. We continue to fund the Scottish Flood Forum’s vital work to support flood risk communities. Scottish Government has also committed up to £5.5 million, in 2024-25, to fund a network of Climate Action Hubs so that, by Autumn 2024, every area of Scotland will have access to a Hub, alongside a support package for delivery. The Hubs will empower communities to take further collective action, shaped locally, to transition to low carbon, reduce emissions, and improve resilience in the face of ongoing climate change and extreme weather events. The Ready Scotland website and associated digital campaigns also provide a range of advice and support to individuals and communities to help them to prepare for and respond to weather-related disruption.

We need to fundamentally transform the way social care is delivered in Scotland, and we have listened to thousands of people, including the social care workforce, who have told us this.

People who receive support through social care, their families and communities, and the workforce must be involved in planning and delivery at local level. But the system needs to work and people have told us, clearly, that it does not provide the high standard of care that people should rightfully expect. We are committed to establishing a National Care Service that delivers clear, consistent national care standards by the end of this Parliamentary term.

The Scottish Government will continue to engage with GMB and other Trade Unions as we co-design the National Care Service.

Routinely collected data on the waiting time for a diagnosis of endometriosis are not available.

Through the actions set out in our Women’s Health Plan we have taken steps to support both women and health professionals to learn more about endometriosis, the symptoms and treatment options. Our Women’s Health Plan Final Report on Progress will provide more detail.

The responsibility for development and delivery of flood protection schemes rests with individual local authorities, who are best placed to respond to local resilience needs.

Proposals to improve flood resilience in potentially vulnerable areas, including flood protection schemes, are set out in Flood Risk Management Plans published on SEPA’s website, and Local Flood Risk Management Plans, published by local authorities.

These plans are renewed every 6 years. The current plans are valid until 2028.

The Scottish Government has provided £3.7 million for the development of the Offshore Energy Skills Passport, which is an initiative led and driven by industry.

While this is an operational matter for ScotRail as the service provider, the Member might wish to note that Office of Rail and Road (ORR) publishes information on passenger numbers on its website: Passenger rail usage | ORR Data Portal

The Member may wish to contact ScotRail who might be able to provide a more detailed information, if required.

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.

I refer the member to the answer to question S6W-29845 on 24 September 2024. 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.

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.