Chamber and committees

I refer the member to the answer to question S6W-18527 on 15 June 2023. 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

Charge points on the ChargePlace Scotland network are owned by a range of local authorities, businesses and third sector organisations. These organisations are responsible for procurement, maintenance and commercial decisions relating to their own charge point assets The ChargePlace Scotland contract provides ‘back office’ functions for these chargers, and has the option to run until at least 2025.

Scotland’s public EV charging network will evolve over the coming years to be less focussed on ChargePlace Scotland, while retaining the ability for drivers to seamlessly travel across a more diverse charging network with greater charging opportunities and offering an exemplar driver experience.

Transport Scotland’s joint report with Scottish Futures Trust published in July 2021 highlighted the opportunities to leverage the investment, skills and resources of the private sector to grow Scotland’s public electric vehicle charging network at the scale and pace required. This report also recognised the opportunities for partnership working between Scotland’s local authorities and private charge point operators, as well as the potential for existing ChargePlace Scotland assets to form part of future partnering arrangements.

Through the Electric Vehicle Infrastructure Fund, Transport Scotland is supporting local authorities to develop public electric vehicle charge point strategies and infrastructure expansion plans, to identify and take forward the opportunities to work with the private sector to grow Scotland’s public charging network.

As set out in the Scottish Government publication of 28 February 2023 on “Timeline and process for securing an Internal Market Act exclusion for DRS”, in July 2021 the Scottish Government proposed a broad exclusion from the Internal Market Act under the Resources and Waste Common Framework which would have covered future policy such as DRS. The UK Government’s decision to agree only a narrow exclusion for single-use plastics resulted in the need for Scottish Government to again follow the agreed and published process in preparing a separate proposal for an exclusion for DRS. UK Government advised that cross-administration discussion should follow official level agreement on the interim Resources and Waste Common Framework – which was agreed in September 2022 - and clarity on UK Government Ministers following the 2022 Conservative Party leadership contest. Cross-administration discussions under the Common Framework began as soon as practicable thereafter.

HSE, as the UK regulator for pesticides, is responsible for assessing emergency authorisation applications on behalf of governments across the UK, including for the Scottish Government. Recognising the importance of a timely response, the Scottish Government considered and promptly responded to HSE's recommendation on the application for the use of Asulox during the 2023 season. HSE will issue their decision to the applicant once all other UK governments have responded.

The Scottish Government recognises the role that Asulox has played in recent years in the control of bracken in Scotland. We will continue to work closely with stakeholders and NatureScot to consider options for sustainable bracken management.

The contract for operating services to the Northern Isles lies with Serco NorthLink Ferries (SNF). The responsibility and expertise for operational decisions rightly sits with them. As has been the case in previous years, SNF, is currently forecasting requirements in advance of this year’s livestock sales season. Working with key stakeholders, including those in the farming and aquaculture sectors, the operator expects to manage capacity by introducing the peak freight timetable earlier than usual and by fully utilising available capacity on the freight and passenger vessels to manage traffic during this busy period.

The Scottish Government has undertaken extensive analysis of the impact of Scotland’s Deposit Return Scheme on recycling rates of both glass and plastic.

Scotland’s DRS will target a recycling rate of 90% of scheme articles by the third year of DRS being operational for both plastic and glass. Current recycling rates are around 50% for PET plastic and 63% for glass.

We expect to collect an extra 14,500 tonnes per year of plastic resulting in a CO2eq saving of 31,000 tonnes of carbon when the scheme launches. The UK Government’s intervention through the Internal Market Act Exclusion will delay these benefits by at least 19 months.

NTCs require an appropriate mix of new and experienced staff to operate safely and efficiently. Management information provided by NHS Education for Scotland (NES) shows that at 31 March 2023, 502 people were employed in an NTC. This figure excludes those staff delivering pre-existing NHS services which have been relocated to NTC sites. 130 (26%) are new entrants meaning they are undertaking their first role in NHS Scotland. Whilst these figures from NES are classed as management information at this stage, NES will continue to work with data providers to develop these as Official Statistics. The next step in this process will be to release these statistics within the NHS Scotland workforce publication as Experimental Statistics in December 2023. NTC workforce data will be reported every six months thereafter.

From the cohort of ScotGEM students who graduated in academic year 2021-22, 10 accepted a Foundation Priority Place post within NHS Dumfries and Galloway. Of those expected to graduate later this summer one ScotGEM student, subject to qualification, has so far accepted a Foundation Priority Place post in NHS Dumfries and Galloway.

I refer the member to the answer to question S6W-18596 on 15 June 2023. 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 .

The Scottish Government is committed to supporting the mental health and wellbeing of all students in Scotland. We will shortly be publishing Scotland’s new Mental Health and Wellbeing Strategy and, thereafter, actions to support students.