Chamber and committees

Lithium-ion batteries should not be disposed of in the residual waste stream and must clearly display markings relating to their disposal (the crossed out wheelie bin symbol). They are hazardous waste, pose safety risks due to fire, and result in valuable material being lost from Scotland’s economy.

Products containing lithium-ion batteries are regulated under both the Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment (WEEE) Regulations and the Waste Batteries and Accumulators Regulations. Producers of these products must fund collection and recycling infrastructure, and the Scottish Government is working on a four-nation basis to reform waste batteries legislation to strengthen product standards and set statutory recovery and recycling targets for lithium batteries.

UK retailers selling electrical items containing a lithium-ion battery, including vapes, must offer a free takeback service for used items and meet statutory recycling targets. In 2025, a new category of Electrical and Electronic Equipment was established for vapes to ensure producers of vape products are legally required to finance the collection, recycling, and safe disposal of used vapes. New targets for vape-specific collections will be introduced in 2026.

The Scottish Government will consider further measures to divert lithium-ion batteries from the residual waste stream in its forthcoming product stewardship plan. This includes working with the UK Government and other nations on proposals set out in the WEEE consultation and call for evidence, held in 2024.

It would be a matter for the sponsoring MSP to determine who she would wish to consult with on her Bill.

Professor Alexis Jay has been appointed independent Chair of the National Child Sexual Abuse and Exploitation (CSAE) Strategic Group and will provide expert advice to Scottish Ministers on CSAE, and on the findings of the National Review of local responses to group-based CSAE announced by the Cabinet Secretary for Education and Skills in December 2025. Professor Jay chaired her first meeting of the Group on 28 January 2026.

A key focus of the Group’s current activity is to recommend improvements to workforce education and training to ensure professionals are better equipped to identify and respond when children are at risk of experiencing abuse.

This includes consideration and collaboration with other key workstreams and initiatives, including our Strategic Approach to challenge demand for prostitution.

Scottish Government issued National Directions in 2023 for Learning Disability Annual Health Checks which detail the legal duties of Health Boards with regard to annual health checks as well as practical guidance on delivery. Annual health checks for people with learning disabilities (Scotland) directions 2023.

In Scotland, annual health checks are not required to be delivered via primary care. £2 million funding is provided per annum to Health Boards to offer LD health checks with flexibility in their chosen delivery mechanisms. The majority of LD annual health checks are being delivered via a nurse led model and the remainder via a hybrid model, which in some cases includes a Local Enhanced Service agreement with GP practices.

The Scottish Government has made clear through the National Specification for the Care and Treatment of Eating Disorders in Scotland that NHS Boards should be supported to accept self-referrals.

We continue to support Boards in implementing the Specification, and the recently completed self-assessment tools have highlighted positive work that several Boards are taking forward with regard to self-referral pathways.

Where responses have identified areas requiring further Scottish Government support, we are engaging with those boards through officials and professional advisors.

A pre-questionnaire filled in by the person with a learning disability and/or their family or supportive carer provides the opportunity to request any reasonable adjustments required, including any preference for the location of their health check.

If the preference is for a home visit, delivery teams should contact individuals to make arrangements or suggest an alternative location that better suits the person’s needs.

As NHS Boards continue to develop work in this area, we will request further information on CAMHS self-referrals for eating disorders in future self-reporting documents.

Through the Eating Disorders National Network, we continue to work with Boards to understand how best to support them, and plan to host webinars on self-referral pathways.

The Scottish Government has received no requests to alter the terms and conditions of the furlough support scheme awarded to Alexander Dennis on 15 September 2025, and has no plans to withdraw the scheme.

Self-referral pathways will feature in the National Eating Disorders Network’s webinar Early Intervention for Eating Disorders in Scotland: Real-World Examples of Service-Based Changes in Scottish Health Boards. This will take place on 12 March 2026.

Further webinar dates are still to be confirmed.

The Scottish Government has not received claims for the furlough support scheme awarded to Alexander Dennis on 15 September 2025. Compliance with the terms and conditions of the grant offer letter will be assessed once claims are made.

The non-domestic rates liability that applies to a property depends on its rateable value, the rate that applies and any reliefs that it is in receipt of. Shops are expected to see an increase in rateable value of 6% at the 2026 revaluation in Scotland while in England the expected increase for shops is 10%.

The draft Scottish Budget 2026-27, announced on 13 January, ensures the estimated revenues raised from non-domestic rates in 2026-27 will be 6% lower in real terms measured by the Consumer Price Index than pre-COVID despite the number of properties on the valuation roll increasing in that time. It continues to support businesses and communities, with a strong non-domestic rates package, which decreases the Basic, Intermediate and Higher Property Rates in 2026-27, delivering the lowest Basic Property Rate since 2018.

The Budget offers more than £320 million of support through transitional relief schemes and retail hospitality and leisure relief over the next three years.

Businesses and communities will be supported with a generous non-domestic rates relief package worth an estimated £864 million in 2026-27, including the Small Business Bonus Scheme which remains the most generous scheme of its kind in the UK and is confirmed for the next three years, as well as transitional relief schemes.

Recognising the challenges faced by the retail, hospitality and leisure sectors, for the next three years we will offer 15% relief for eligible properties in these sectors liable for the Basic or Intermediate Property Rates, capped at £110,000 per business per year; and extend and expand 100% relief for the next three years to retail, hospitality and leisure premises located on islands as defined by the Islands (Scotland) Act 2018, and in prescribed remote areas (Cape Wrath, Knoydart and Scoraig) capped at £110,000 per business per year.

We estimate that 96% of retail, hospitality and leisure properties could benefit from some form of relief in 2026-27.

Taken together around 89,000 properties (or 96%) across the three sectors could benefit from zero or reduced rates and the budget guarantees that support for the full three years of the revaluation.