Chamber and committees

The results of the Health and Wellbeing Census Scotland 2021-22, and reports from schools and parents about young people vaping, are of great concern to the Scottish Government.

Vapes are an age restricted product and should not be sold to anyone under the age of 18. In October 2022 we wrote to all registered retailers of these products to remind them of their duty of sale and we regularly meet with Trading Standards on enforcement.

Our recent consultation proposed restrictions on vaping products and we are aiming to bring forward new regulations in 2023. Any action we seek to take will build on the regulations already in place to restrict the marketing, promotion and sale of vaping products to under 18s.

We will publish our refreshed Tobacco Action Plan this year, which will include actions to reduce vaping among young people.

We are reviewing vaping education for young people in schools and have also funded ASH Scotland to work with a range of youth organisations on the risks associated with vaping.

ScotRail has confirmed that 422 train carriages across the fleet have the capacity to store bicycles which equates to 1,506 spaces for bikes available on ScotRail trains.

There are 343 stations across the network that have cycle storage facilities available.

The Scottish Government have been urging the UK Government to recognise the valuable role that Scotland's culture sector plays for both the Scottish and wider UK economies. While this funding from the UK Government for two of our many major and world-class festivals is welcome given the extraordinarily challenging economic climate, this is another example of the UK Government bypassing this Parliament and intervening in devolved policy without consultation.

The Scottish Government remains committed to supporting Edinburgh and Glasgow festivals with up to £3 million of funding available in financial year 2023-24.

The Scottish Government has provided funding for Edinburgh’s Festivals through the EXPO programme of £1.8 million annually since 2007, and the PLACE programme of £1 million annually since 2018.

The funding allows them to develop international opportunities for artists, promote Scotland and its culture, and provide invaluable schools and community programmes, both during festivals and all-year round. The Scottish Government also made an additional £2.1 million available for the 75th anniversary festivals in 2022 (Edinburgh International Festival, Edinburgh Festival Fringe & Edinburgh International Film Festival) through an additional PLACE Resilience Fund.

Since 2016-2017, Creative Scotland has awarded a total of £17,135,309 to cultural organisations registered in England, £105,996 to those registered in Wales and £22,780 to those registered in Northern Ireland.

The majority of these awards have been made through Creative Scotland’s Open Funds , Screen Funding and the Four Nations International Fund for organisations and productions undertaking activity in Scotland and for organisations who receive funding from Creative Scotland but operate with a UK-wide remit.

The Lochaber businesses continue to perform well and support jobs in the region. GFG has created 40 new jobs in Lochaber since 2016 – increasing direct employment in the complex to 200 jobs and supporting a valuable supply chain with hundreds of associated jobs.

Regular engagement takes place between the Scottish Government and GFG Alliance at both official and ministerial level. Officials hold quarterly meetings to monitor performance in respect of the Scottish Government guarantee and maintain frequent engagement at local and group level on business operations. Officials are further supported in this activity by external commercial experts. The Scottish Government has a suite of securities in relation to the assets at Lochaber that are valued at more than the outstanding amount guaranteed.

Marine Scotland has not received any information or indication of an increase in sea bass landed in Cumbria by fishers from England with permits to fish on the Solway Firth.

The current commercial level of European sea bass which may be caught within British fishery limits is subject to the provisions contained within The Sea Fisheries (Amendment) Regulations 2023, which came into force on 1 April 2023.

The Lochaber businesses continue to perform well and support jobs in the region – underlining just how important our intervention was.GFG has created 40 new jobs in Lochaber since 2016 – increasing direct employment in the complex to 200 jobs and supporting a valuable supply chain with hundreds of associated jobs.

Translocation of seals is not a regularly used tool for seal population management within Scottish waters. Where sick or injured seals are taken to rehabilitation centres, they will be returned to the wild within the same seal management area that they were found. This ensures that population levels and the genetic diversity of seal management areas are maintained. Advice received from the Special Committee on Seals is that rehabilitated seals typically behave like wild seals shortly following release.

The Scottish Government is in regular contact with Scottish Water on these matters. In partnership with the Scottish Environment Protection Agency (SEPA), Scottish Water is carrying out the Chemical Investigation Programme (CIP) Scotland which involves sampling for priority substances of emerging concern. Pharmaceuticals are considered to be contaminants of emerging concern, and monitoring and assessing the risk to the water environment for many such substances is still in the development phase. Following action on source control for a range of pharmaceuticals agreed with SEPA under the second phase of the CIP, the third phase of the research sees further sampling and process optimisation trials at Wastewater Treatment Works that aims to help improve our understanding of whether better treatment can achieved at Scottish Water’s assets. In terms of drinking water, the Drinking Water Quality Regulator monitors Scottish Water’s performance. Regulation 4 of the Public Water Supplies (Scotland) Regulations 2014 as amended requires Scottish Water to ensure drinking water does not contain any substance at a concentration that could constitute a danger to human health.

Scottish Water is also a member of the One Health Breakthrough Partnership (OHBP), which is funded by the Scottish Government and brings together key stakeholders across the water, environment, and healthcare sectors who are committed to addressing pharmaceutical pollution in the environment through source control.