Chamber and committees

Under Zero Waste Scotland’s Revolve certification scheme the number of stores reporting fluctuates year on year which leads to variations in data collated. Zero Waste Scotland do not receive data from all certified stores in a given year.

The data is self-reported by reuse stores, who can update monitoring processes for their unique circumstances over time.

While Zero Waste Scotland collect data on sales income, it does not hold data on the full "economic impact" of the reuse stores which would also include metrics such as other income, services provided, alongside social and employment impact.

Data collected by Zero Waste Scotland is set out in the following table.

Under Section 2(3) of the National Parks (Scotland) Act 2000, a proposal for a new National Park must identify the area to be designated and the proposed functions of the new National Park Authority. We are aware that several areas may be interested in National Park status, so a fair and transparent bidding and evaluation process will be put in place to identify the area or areas which will be put forward to obtain National Park status and allow the statutory process to begin. We will shortly provide further information on this initial bidding and evaluation process, but given the complex and important nature of the work, we do not think it will be completed by Spring 2022.

The Scottish Environment Protection Agency is developing guidance for businesses to help them meet their obligations under The Deposit and Return Scheme for Scotland Regulations 2020. This will include an online toolkit and example scenarios to support producers and retailers to develop takeback services for online sales.

I refer the member to the answer to question S6W-04001 on 8 November 2021. 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

I refer the member to the answer to question S6W-04001 on
‎ 8 November 2021 . 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
‎

Stakeholder mapping carried out in June 2021 on behalf of the Scottish Environment Protection Agency identified approximately 4,400 retailers selling drinks on the Scottish market. Of these, 2.6% were identified as selling exclusively online. Analysis was not carried out to determine what proportion of retailers operate both online and bricks-and-mortar retail.

Capital and resource funding for SEPA’s programme to plan, track, and deliver the regulator function for Scotland’s Deposit Return Scheme (DRS), including development and delivery of a digital producer registration service, is agreed between SEPA and the Scottish Government as part of the annual Budget process.

Once DRS goes live, the annual registration fee paid by producers with a turnover of greater than £85,000 per year will cover the cost of ongoing maintenance of the registration service and regulation of the scheme.

The Scottish Government is acutely aware of reports of excessively high pricing in the accommodation sector in Glasgow during the COP26 summit and there are existing policies in place designed to address this issue.

Responsibility for consumer protection policy is reserved to the UK Government. Consumer protection enforcement lies with Local Authority Trading Standards Services (LATS) unless it is a market-wide issue which would be considered by the Competition and Market Authority. If people see potential price gouging issues they should contact Advice Direct Scotland (ADS) a national service funded by Scottish Government which is available to all citizens of Scotland. They are available at https://www.consumeradvice.scot/ and also on 0808 164 6000 . ADS will in turn notify LATS and the national team, Trading Standards Scotland (TSS), for further examination.

Although we recognise that this is ultimately a situation of market supply and demand, it is important to note that actions like this are likely to influence consumer attitudes and behaviour in the future. Businesses offering good quality accommodation at a fair price will continue to uphold Scotland’s reputation as a welcoming country, encouraging visitors to return.

The M80 northbound Junction 4a Low Wood off slip spur to Cumbernauld Town Centre has been closed alongside lane restrictions passing over the motorway overbridges on the A8011 to allow structure inspections and investigation works to be carried out. This stage of the works is expected to be completed by the end of November.

Up-until 2020 100% of sheep flocks selected for inspection had to have a full head count.

For 2020 in order to minimise Covid-19 related risks for farmers/crofters and Scottish Government inspectors the requirement to undertake a full head count at every inspection was removed.

For 2021 a partial head count was reinstated but only for sheep maintained on a farmer/crofter's main holding and sheep maintained on other land within a 5 mile radius of the main holding.

For 2020 and 2021, for farmer/crofters primarily with small flocks or where significant errors are found, some of the inspection controls have the same effect as undertaking a full head count.

The percentage of full flock head counts undertaken in each of the last five years which relate to inspections carried out in Shetland are set out in the following table. Figures for the current year aren't available as inspections are ongoing.