Chamber and committees

The Scottish Government has no current plans do so. Following the UK Government’s 11th hour intervention which undermined Scotland’s deposit return scheme, the establishment of any future scheme administrator will be considered in due course.

The Scottish Government does not hold this information. The respective Enterprise Agencies are best placed to answer this question. This question should be directed to them.

SEPA and Zero Waste Scotland were informed that Circularity Scotland was going in to administration on 20 June 2023.

The Mossmorran industrial complex plays an important role in the local economy for Fife, and I am keen to see that role, and the many well-paid jobs and skills preserved through a just transition to net-zero.

Given the novel nature of industrial just transition planning, it is appropriate that it is tested, evaluated and improvements considered, before applying it to other areas. We will conduct an evaluation of the Grangemouth Industrial Cluster Just Transition Plan once complete, considering what learnings could be adopted in future work.

Just Transition is a key aspect of the Scottish Government’s approach to net-zero, and accordingly, focused work on key major industrial sites will put the participation of – and meaningful engagement with – operators, workers and community at its core.

Industry has a lot to gain from the process of Just Transition, as such, we welcome innovation and commitment, by industry, in this area.

Once again, I welcome Mr Ruskell’s work and the recently commissioned report exploring Just Transition options for Mossmorran.

Circularity Scotland Limited is a private not for profit company set up by industry. As an independent private company, it is not required to report to the Scottish Government. Therefore the Scottish Government does not hold any information on day-to-day expenditure incurred by Circularity Scotland in May and April 2023.

The Scottish Government recognises that key infrastructure such as housing, transport, connectivity and employment can contribute to the survival of Scotland’s cultural heritage, particularly Gaelic speaking communities in areas of low population. The Scottish Government is also taking a number of steps to ensure the use of Gaelic increases and this includes promoting and supporting a wide range of initiatives and projects in a range of sectors in Scottish public life.

The Scottish Government is investing across a number of areas to ensure that those experiencing bereavement are able to access the support they need. We will continue to engage with our bereavement sector partners and work with them to take forward priorities.

The Scottish Government encourages all employers to be sensitive to the needs and feelings of their workers, and to be considerate of their wellbeing. We expect employers to make every effort to put in place reasonable adjustments and support workers on their return to work as they continue to deal with the impacts of bereavement. We also welcome the work being led by bereavement sector partners to help employers support their staff when experiencing a bereavement, and the Bereavement Charter for Scotland is an example of the sector’s work to support improved practices. The charter recognises that bereavement can impact all aspects of a person’s life, including work, and employers may want to consider the charter and how it can be used to support staff.

The Scottish Government, in partnership with Public Health Scotland, developed the ‘ Supporting a mentally healthy workplace’ digital platform to help employers in Scotland actively support and promote mental health at work. It signposts employers to a wide range of free mental health and wellbeing resources and information. It also includes contact details for wider support services that can help to support mental wellbeing in the workplace, including bereavement support services.

Neither Scottish Government nor Zero Waste Scotland retain the data or own the research undertaken by WRAP. Queries on the data and publication status should be directed to WRAP.

The figure from WRAP was used to engage stakeholders through the Circular Economy Route Map consultation. The data referred to was also previously cited in the UK wide consultation on extended producer responsibility for packaging, which closed on 4 June 2021.

Zero Waste Scotland subsequently published detailed research on commercial waste zoning ( https://cdn.zerowastescotland.org.uk/managed-downloads/mf-l4c68iko-1686671978d ).

Adoption of a kitemark standard for the commercial waste sector is not currently being pursued by Scottish Government.

The 2012 Waste (Scotland) regulations along with the existing Recycling Charter and its associated Code of Practice act as the Scottish standard of good service provision for household waste collections.

The Scottish Government is providing support to primary care services in their implementation of Medication Assisted Treatment (MAT) Standard 7 through three routes:

The first is through our ringfencing £30m as set out in our Cross Government Plan, over the course of 3 years, from the Scottish Government’s Enhanced Services Allocation to NHS territorial Boards, from April 2023, in order to accelerate the adoption of Enhanced Services for drug services across Scotland. Local areas will be asked to prioritise use of this funding to improve outcomes for people who use drugs.

The second is through our commissioning Public Health Scotland to consider and develop a reference suite of best practice models that should provide local areas with guidance on how they might adapt primary care delivery to integrate drugs services in a way that suits local needs. The material will be derived from a critical examination of international and domestic experience of drug service provision in primary care settings, including through direct consultation with delivery partners on the ground and with our Drugs Policy Clinical Advisory Group, providing insight into a breadth of applicable scenarios and solutions.

The third is through targeted support and intervention from Public Health Scotland’s MAT Implementation Support Team (MIST), who work closely with local areas to evaluate and progress implementation across the range of MAT Standards 1-10.