Chamber and committees

The benefits of a Deposit Return Scheme to businesses are not only a function of container numbers. As well as reimbursement to retailers through the handling fee, the benefit to businesses includes: savings from waste uplift costs for hospitality return points, reduced operational costs for private waste management companies (relating to uplifts from hospitality customers, albeit offset by reduced income from these activities), avoided compliance costs for producers, and income to the reverse vending machine service industry, as well as potential advertising revenue.

The economic model underpinning the figures in the amended final Business and Regulatory Impact Assessment takes account of a number of factors, and costs and benefits do not necessarily increase in proportion to the change in input. In this case, the addition of 0.5bn containers increases costs through greater potential for fraudulently redeemed containers, but also increases the benefits both from more income from sale of materials and from unredeemed deposits.

I am committed to engagement of the type I think Ms Hamilton is suggesting. I, and my officials, frequently meet with land management stakeholders, including organisations representing gamekeepers, and I am due to meet again with the Scottish Gamekeepers Association shortly. We expect to continue to engage with those stakeholders on issues affecting the sector, including specific issues relating to gamekeeping now and as we move forwards with tackling the biodiversity and climate emergencies.

All food businesses are required to comply with the relevant requirements of food law. This includes the requirement to register as a food business with their Local Authority Environmental Health team, to comply with food safety and compositional requirements as well as food labelling requirements where applicable. This applies to food businesses that are operated out of commercial premises as well as those operated from domestic premises. A range of enforcement options are available to officers to ensure compliance.

In response to the pandemic and the resulting impact on the inspection regime, FSS & LA’s have worked in partnership to create a Recovery Plan. This adopts a risk based approach to inspections and prioritises the inspection of high risk businesses and unrated new businesses.

FSS has published a new online resource to support new and prospective businesses. The tool is designed to aid food businesses owners understand their responsibilities, including to first and foremost register with their authority.

Anyone with concerns that a business is operating in breach of the requirements is encouraged to report the matter to their Local Authority Environmental Health team.

The Marine Fund Scotland was launched in March 2021, with £14m awarded over the financial year 2021-22. The fund will shortly reopen for funding bids over the 2022-23 financial year.

The Scottish Sarcoma Network is tasked with ensuring equity of care for all patients in Scotland with sarcoma, and for conducting audits of the quality of care provided to improve quality of life for all patients.

Sarcoma clinical management guidelines (CMGs) include the investigations and staging performed by radiology, and the guidelines outline the recommended treatment pathway for patients, promoting the equitable provision of high quality care. Guidelines are not designed to substitute the role of the clinician, but to support the most appropriate treatment decisions taken within the multi-disciplinary team.

These CMGs are based on UK, European and global guidelines and are being reviewed by the network, with bone, soft tissue, gastrointestinal stromal tumour (GIST) and cutaneous (skin) CMGs currently in review, and breast and head and neck CMGs in development.

Lastly, the Picture Archiving and Communication System (PACS) enables all radiologists to work together, and scans indicating a suspicion of sarcoma can be discussed with a sarcoma specialist radiologist.

The Scottish Government does not hold data on the level of foreign direct investment from Scotland into China, or any other market.

The Scottish Government is hugely grateful for what NHS Scotland staff have done and continue to do in caring for patients and coping with the pandemic. As we have done in previous years, we will look to negotiate a settlement for Agenda for Change staff which is fair, affordable and sustainable. It would not be appropriate to say any more at this time but the final settlement will be backdated to at least 1 April 2022.

I refer the member to the answer to question S6W-07634 on 21 April 2022. 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

The earlier cancer is diagnosed the easier it is to treat. This is why the Scottish Government continues to invest in our £44m Detect Cancer Early (DCE) Programme, which adopts a whole systems approach to diagnosing and treating cancer as early as possible. An additional £20m has been committed to the programme over this parliamentary term.

The Scottish Referral Guidelines for Suspected Cancer were published in 2019 and support primary care professionals in identifying patients with potential symptoms of cancer who require urgent assessment by a specialist. These include guidelines for suspected sarcoma.

In addition, Scotland’s first three Early Cancer Diagnostic Centres are now live in NHS Ayrshire and Arran, NHS Dumfries and Galloway and NHS Fife. These Centres provide primary care with a new referral route for patients with non-specific symptoms suspicious of cancer (i.e. weight loss, fatigue, nausea), which do not meet site specific Scottish Referral Guidelines for Suspected Cancer.