Chamber and committees

The Scottish Government will continue to provide vital assistance to enable older people to heat their homes, to help disabled people live independent lives and will keep thousands of children out of poverty. The Scottish Fiscal Commission’s December 2024 forecasts show that our investment in Social Security over and above the money we get from the UK Government is projected to be less than 3.5% of the total Scottish Government Resource Budget by 2029-30.

Under the Verity House Agreement, local government funding in Scotland is not ring-fenced or directed, unless there is a clear joint understanding to do so.

Scottish Ministers have statutory processes they must adhere to in developing and implementing fisheries management measures. As outlined previously in PQ S6W-29794, developing evidence-based and effective fisheries management measures for more than 160 sites and areas within the inshore region is a complicated and challenging process.

Extended producer responsibility for packaging (pEPR) has exemptions to avoid unnecessarily burden on small producers. Producers with an annual turnover less than £2m and 50 tonnes of packaging supplied are exempt from pEPR payments, but are required to report packaging data. This exempts approximately 70% of the UK's smaller producers from paying scheme fees. The four UK nations will keep these thresholds under review.

Scottish Government is clear that children and young people should not be using vapes as these are an age-restricted product. Our ‘Take Hold’ marketing campaign educated parents, carers and children about the dangers of vaping and increased the awareness of the harms and risks of nicotine addiction.

The Scottish Government does not hold statistics on vaping in schools. As the responsible body, education authorities are best placed to provide this level of information.

The Scottish Government has considered the impact on businesses through the publication of a Full Business and Regulatory Impact Assessment (BRIA).

We will be evaluating the impacts of extended producer responsibility for packaging in future years through a four nation evaluation of the policy. The evaluation is being led by Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs and will run from
2024-2029.

The Scottish Government has regular discussions with NHS and public bodies on these matters as they are key stakeholders and governance members of the Single Scottish Estate (SSE), which supports a more efficient approach to public sector property management. This includes through co-location and sharing of on-site services.

Our ongoing and extensive engagement with these bodies, includes current SSE Location Based Reviews in Edinburgh, Glasgow, Perth, Aberdeen and Inverness. There have been discussions at the SSE governance meetings and Public Sector Property Forum, which all of these bodies are invited to attend.

NHS national bodies and other public bodies in Scotland are covered by the Scottish Public Finance Manual (SPFM) so are required to engage with, and submit business cases to, Scottish Government Property Controls for Ministerial decisions on their estate. There is usually early discussion with the Scottish Government on each proposal.

The Scottish Government attends the Scottish Property Advisory Group, which is led by the NHS, to consider their property matters. Recent NHS engagement has included with NHS National Services for Scotland and NHS Education on their Edinburgh office requirements. The Scottish Government also attends a number of public body groups as appropriate, such as recent attendance at the Delivery Bodies Group to discuss the SSE work.

PackUK is the scheme administrator for extended producer responsibility for packaging (pEPR), operating on behalf of the four nations. PackUK is responsible for calculating and distributing local authority payments.

The requirements that PackUK must consider when assessing funding to local authorities are set out in the Producer Responsibility Obligations (Packaging and Packaging Waste) Regulations 2024.

In November 2024 indicative payments were shared with local authorities, along with guidance to help local authorities understand how payments have been calculated and allocated. PackUK has also engaged with local authorities through online forums and gathering stakeholder feedback to ensure accuracy of payments. Scottish Local Authorities have been indicatively allocated a total of £160m in 2025-26, out of a total of £1.4bn in pEPR funding across the UK.

Scottish Government officials have continued to work closely with COSLA throughout the development and implementation of pEPR.

I refer the member to the answer to question S6W-36508 on 23 April 2025. 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.

Extended Producer Responsibility for Packaging is a four nations policy. The Scottish Government has worked closely with the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs and the other UK nations to jointly develop and implement the extended producer responsibility for packaging scheme.

Once established Scottish Ministers and Government senior officials will hold seats on governance boards which will make up the governance for PackUK (the scheme administrator). This includes a Four Nation Ministerial Steering Board and an Executive Committee.