Chamber and committees

I am pleased to announce the publication of the Scottish Government’s fifth Thematic Progress Report on implementation progress following Dame Elish Angiolini’s Final Report.

It shows that 58 of the non-legislative recommendations are now complete leaving only 10 still in progress. A further 2 recommendations will be kept under review and 2 are being progressed in other areas of Scottish Government. This marks the transition of focus from the non-legislative work to those recommendations that require legislation to implement.

These improvements are laying foundations to deliver further transformative change ensuring there are robust, clear and transparent mechanisms in place for investigating complaints or other issues of concern in relation to policing in Scotland.

I commend Police Scotland, the Scottish Police Authority, the Police Investigations and Review Commissioner, the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service and His Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary in Scotland for their dedication to this important work.

The report can be accessed here: http://www.gov.scot/ISBN/9781805257912

We are committed to transparency and openness in our administration of the Deposit Return Scheme. The Scottish Government is carefully considering the recommendations from the latest review, and has committed to sharing the recommendations and its response with the Net Zero, Energy and Transport Committee in due course.

Hundreds of millions of pounds of investment to prepare for the launch of the Deposit Return Scheme across a range of businesses and the value of this is now at risk unless an Internal Market Act exclusion is put in place urgently to enable the final preparations for a launch on 1 March 2024.

The exact figures on investment are held by industry themselves but various published estimates suggest that retailers will invest up to £200m, and producers have invested around £100m for the scheme. Alongside this contractors to Circularity Scotland, such as Biffa, will have invested significant funds with some estimating this at around £80m.

The Nature Restoration Fund (NRF) comprises £65 million for the current Parliamentary term. In 2022-23, the Nature Restoration Fund made its annual allocation of £13.5 million available through two main strands, each of which is further sub-divided, as follows:

• The competitive strand, which is subdivided into;

- ‘ Helping Nature ’ projects less than £250,000 lasting 1-2 years

- ‘ Transforming Nature ’ projects greater than £250,000 lasting 2-4 years

• The Edinburgh Process strand, which is subdivided into;

- Direct allocations to Local Authorities and the National Parks

- A competitive top-up fund open to Local Authorities only

In 2022-23, the competitive strand comprised approximately £7 million (details of which can be found on NatureScot’s website at https://www.nature.scot/funding-and-projects/scottish-government-nature-restoration-fund-nrf ); and a further £6.5 million was distributed through the ‘Edinburgh Process’ strand. I also refer to my answers in response to S6W-17674, S6W-17675, S6W-17677, S6W-17678 and S6W-17679 on 18 May 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 and delivery partners such as Circularity Scotland, SEPA, and Zero Waste Scotland have regularly engaged with businesses on the Deposit Return Scheme. There are a number issues which businesses are working with partners on to ensure all involved are ready for launch on 1 March.

We have taken action to address a number of matters which are within our control and which businesses had raised concerns about. These include, but are not limited to:

• needing more preparation time to ready their business for the launch - we have given businesses an additional six and a half months to prepare for the scheme launch.

• impact on the hospitality industry - we exempted all premises that sell 90% or over of their drinks products for consumption on the premises from acting as a return point.
• impact on small producers – we completely excluded from the scheme products that sells fewer than 5,000 items a year.
• miniatures and other smaller containers may cause problems at return points – we completely excluded from the scheme all drinks containers under 100ml.
• administrative burden for retailers applying for exemptions – we have simplified the online process for retailers to apply for an exemption from operating a return point.

As we continue to prepare for a successful launch of the scheme we continue to wait on the UK Government to take any action to agree an exclusion from the Internal Market Act.

I refer the member to Scottish Government’s publication on 28 February 2023 of the timeline and process for securing an Internal Market Act exclusion for the Deposit Return Scheme: https://www.gov.scot/binaries/content/documents/govscot/publications/correspondence/2023/02/internal-market-act-correspondence/documents/timeline-and-process-for-securing-an-internal-market-act-exclusion-for-drs/timeline-and-process-for-securing-an-internal-market-act-exclusion-for-drs/govscot%3Adocument/DRS%2BTimeline%2Band%2BProcess.pdf

Currently, there are charges in place for the use of toilet facilities at Inverness, Fort William, Aberdeen, and Glasgow Queen Street stations.

ScotRail advises that the revenue from each requested station toilet facilities since 2019 is as follows:

The ScotRail Trains Ltd (SRT) project team comprising of SRT employees and advisors was established in 2022 and has been developing the necessary preparatory work to enable a procurement competition to take place.

The Scottish Government is currently working in partnership with Macmillan to improve the services offered to cancer patients, including those diagnosed with ovarian cancer, through the Transforming Cancer Care Programme (TCC).

This joint partnership with Macmillan is worth £18 million, and is the first of its kind in the UK. The programme looks to ensure that every cancer patient in Scotland has access to specialist key support workers, who can provide emotional, financial and practical support to those who need it most.

Further to this, the Single Point of Contact (SPoC) approach was introduced in the 2020 National Cancer Plan.

The SPoC ensures cancer patients have dedicated person-centred support that can discuss their specific circumstances. This will help ease any anxieties related to their care and treatment plans, and relay the support available to them and their families.

I refer the member to the Public Health Scotland cancer incidence data set, which covers all cancer types including ovarian cancer, and is updated annually. The data can be accessed at the following address: Cancer incidence in Scotland - to December 2021 - Cancer incidence in Scotland - Publications - Public Health Scotland.