Chamber and committees

The Scottish Government last met with the Faculty of Dental Surgery on 6 May 2022 to discuss the Licence in Dental Surgery.

Projects receiving funding through the Affordable Housing Supply Programme will be considered for additional grant in relation to unforeseeable and unavoidable cost over-runs which may be identified following tender approval as outlined in our Affordable Housing Supply Programme Process and Procedures guidance – Annex E: Cost over-runs. More Homes Division within the Scottish Government is responsible for assessing and processing such claims and the grant applicant should contact their local area team to discuss projects they wish to be considered.

While the Scottish Government has not met with GS1 to discuss the Deposit Return Scheme (DRS), the scheme administrator Circularity Scotland has set out the requirement to use a GS1 compliant barcode and will therefore be adhering to its standards.

Under the DRS governance framework, stakeholder groups have been established to enable officials and ministers to effectively engage with industry.

The draft route map to achieving a 20% reduction in car km driven in Scotland by 2030 published in January 2022 outlines our approach to achieving this. A period of engagement and consultation followed publication, and the analysis and consideration of the consultation responses have shaped the final route map which will pe published in the coming months. The route map was co-produced with CoSLA, in recognition of the importance of local-level interventions, and we will continue to work closely with local and regional partners to achieve this commitment.

The route map contains over 30 national-level interventions, and recognises the need to shift towards sustainable alternatives to car use. We know that to reduce car use, public transport has to be available, affordable and accessible so, as part of the Fair Fares Review, a pilot to remove ScotRail peak fares on all routes will start in October. In addition, £421.8 million has been allocated in funding for bus services and concessionary fares in 2023-24, providing up to 2.3 million people in Scotland with access to free bus travel. This is part of a total of over £2 billion spent on supporting public transport by the Scottish Government annually.

We have committed to the development of a new National Pharmaceutical Agency (NPhA), to improve links between the life sciences industry and the NHS, and ultimately improve patient care. An intended launch date for the NPhA has not yet been set.

The Scottish Government is committed to the benefits of our Deposit Return Scheme (DRS). However, following the UK Government's decision not to provide a full exclusion to the Internal Market Act I have announced in Parliament that we will be pushing the launch of the DRs back to October 2023.

A set of impact assessments including an Equalities Impact Assessment, Business and Regulatory Impact Assessment, Fairer Scotland Duty Assessment and Island Communities Impact Assessment were published alongside the original DRS Regulations in 2020. This included the impact on local authority budgets. Any significant changes to the scheme will most likely require further engagement with stakeholders, impact assessments and regulatory change.

Scottish Government has regular engagements with local government and other key stakeholders. Local government is represented on our Ministerial Strategic Advisory Group, and our Hospitality Sector Group, as well as on the Waste and Resources Sector Forum and joint Scottish Government/Local Government Strategic Steering group on Circular Economy and Waste with respect to wider waste and circular economy policy. They will have a role to play in the governance of the DR which will look at strategic and operational issues.

Ministers and officials regularly meet with environmental stakeholders including Friends of the Earth.

The last time Ms Slater met with Friends of the Earth was on 17 May

Friends of the Earth were invited but unable to attend a meeting with Ms Slater and eNGO’s on 2 June 2023, to discuss the impact of the UK Government’s decision not to grant a full IMA exclusion for the Scottish Deposit Return Scheme and to consider the implications of this decision on the environment in Scotland.

The answer to question S6W-18396 on 12 June 2023 to the member outlines some of the practical measures being undertaken in order to achieve this commitment, and deliver a fairer, greener transport system for everyone in Scotland. However, given the Scottish Government recognises the need to go further in order to meet our statutory climate goals, and we are committed to finding ways to make alternative travel modes more attractive, and supporting people to take fewer journeys by car. The evidence is clear travel behaviours can only be changed on the required scale through a broad combination of interventions, including infrastructure, incentives and regulation.

As outlined in the draft 20% car KM reduction route map, we have commissioned research exploring equitable options for demand management to discourage car use. This will form the basis of a Demand Management Framework by 2025. The most direct levers on the cost of buying or running a petrol or diesel car – fuel duty and vehicle excise duty – are currently reserved, and the recent rises in the cost of motoring underline the unfairness of the current, regressive motoring tax regime. We will continue to press the UK Government for a fair and progressive future transport tax system that better incentivises the transition to zero-emission vehicles, reduces unnecessary journeys and raises revenues to fund policies to support a shift to more sustainable travel.

The Scottish Government plans to continue with the approach outlined, and the updated 20% route map which will be published in the coming months will provide further detail on how we will deliver this commitment.

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

Over 670 producers responsible for more than 2 billion drinks containers, representing 95% of products sold in Scotland have registered with Circularity Scotland. This covers producers from global brands to small craft breweries and distilleries.

As the cost of living crisis continues, the emergency Act aims to give important support to tenants, and to provide them with much-needed stability in their housing costs and additional eviction protections. It has gone further than anywhere else in the UK in helping protect tenants across the rental sector.

Since devolution, there has been significant overall growth in the privately-rented sector, through a period of increasing regulation and market intervention, and we consider that healthy markets, responsible landlords and public sector intervention can co-exist.

As last year’s Cross Party Group on Housing report on Rent Control acknowledged, regulated markets can be attractive to institutional investors. We also note that in the publication by the British Property Federation, assessing the impact of the emergency Cost of Living (Tenant Protection) (Scotland) Act 2022, it is recognised that rent control is not seen as a reason not to invest if part of a stable policy environment.

We take a close interest in the way policy in Scotland interacts with the rest of the UK, noting the Royal Institution Of Chartered Surveyors comments of 8 June 2023 that “interest rate rises are also impacting the rental sector and combined with looming reforms proposed in the [UK] government’s Renters (Reform) Bill, landlords are increasingly deciding to leave the sector and sell up property, causing further constraints to lettings supply.” We also note the intention of the Welsh Government to consider forms of rent regulation.

By its nature, the emergency Cost of Living Act is time-limited and the rent cap and eviction protections cannot be extended beyond March 2024. The temporary rent cap provisions apply only to in-tenancy rent increases, with rent setting for new housing supply continuing to be set by the market.

We will continue to listen to feedback and engage with stakeholders, monitor the data and consider whether the legislation remains proportionate and necessary.