Chamber and committees

Any decision by the Republic of Ireland to exclude glass from their deposit return scheme (DRS) is a matter for them.

The Full Business Case Stage 1 for Scotland’s Deposit Return Scheme (DRS), published on 8 May 2019 (pp36-37), considered the costs and benefits of including glass within the scheme and concluded that glass should be included due to the substantial environmental and economic benefits. The Scottish Government remains fully committed to this position, which is also that taken by the Welsh Government.

Our Deposit Return Scheme (DRS) is an important part of our response to the global climate emergency and the member is right that our scheme will be ambitious by international standards. The implementation date of 16 August 2023 was determined after extensive industry engagement and based on feedback from an independent Gateway Review and we consider it to strike the right balance between being stretching and also being deliverable .

I refer the member to the answer to questions S6W-05524 on  24 January 2022 and S6W-07942 on 29 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

On 17 March Department of Work and Pensions (DWP) announced their plan to close a number of back-office sites across the UK and collocate others. The Scottish Government was not consulted prior to the announcement, however, have subsequently contacted DWP to gain an understanding of the impact of this change. DWP outlined they do not intend to reduce staff headcount through this change process. Should the situation change, the Scottish Government stands ready to provide the support necessary including through Partnership Action for Continuing Employment, (PACE), which provides individual skills development and employability support.

I refer the member to the answer to question S5W-07984 on 29 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

I refer the member to the answer to question S5W-07984 on 29 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 Scottish Government continues to monitor the wider physical and mental health impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic through the following initiatives:

? Scottish Health Survey - This survey monitors physical and mental health in the Scottish population. The latest published results are based on the telephone survey conducted in 2020. The results of the 2021 survey will be published in November 2022.

? Scottish COVID-19 Mental Health Tracker Study - This study measured the mental health and wellbeing impacts of the pandemic on Scottish adults. The latest phase, covering Summer 2021, was published on 24 February 2022.

? COVID-19 wider impacts on the healthcare system - This dashboard, published by Public Health Scotland, shows activity trends across areas of the healthcare system including Cardiovascular, Cancer and Mental Health services.

? YouGov online polling - Opinion polling continues on Scottish adults around once a month. Throughout the pandemic questions have been asked regarding concerns about mental health and loneliness.

? COVID-19 burden of disease - The Scottish burden of disease study looks to estimate the overall impact, and inequalities in the impact, of COVID-19 on public health measures.

Public Health Scotland also continue to publish on their website a wide range of research and statistics which will help to monitor areas of physical and mental health as time progresses.

On 11 March we published the National Health and Social Care Workforce Strategy.

As part of the strategy, we have committed to taking forward specific actions to improve how we gather, use and assess NHS Workforce data. This includes taking steps to improve the demographic data we collect and the analysis we undertake of data obtained at different geographic levels within our health and social care system.

The strategy further commits us to taking forward complementary actions to improve workforce planning capacity and capability within our health boards and health and social care partnerships (HSCPs).

New guidance has already been communicated to health boards and HSCPs to support the production of demand-led 3-year workforce plans, supported by local systems’ workforce data. Later this year we will also publish new staffing projections for health and social care.

Complementary data systems and data improvement work is taking place, as part of the Implementation Programme being established to support delivery of the Workforce Strategy. We have undertaken to publish annual updates outlining progress with the strategy’s implementation, in support of our tri-partite ambition to achieve long-term workforce sustainability through recovery, growth and service transformation.

The Memorandum of Understanding for additional investment in the Aberdeen City Region allows for up to £10 million of funding to help extend digital infrastructure across the region. To date £5 million of this funding has been spent.

£2 million was invested in the City Network Extension project which connected 57 council sites to full fibre with build completing in 2021. This investment successfully stimulated around £40 million of commercial investment across the region by CityFibre and Vodafone who are utilising this infrastructure to help extend the reach of full fibre broadband across the region. In January 2022 CityFibre announced a further £19 million of investment in Aberdeen.

£3 million was invested in the Full Fibre Infrastructure project which will connect 192 public sector and NHS sites across Aberdeenshire. To date, 190 sites have been connected with one site expected to be completed in the coming months, and the final site – an additional site made possible by cost savings – to be connected once construction is completed in summer 2023.

We continue to work closely with the Aberdeen City Region Deal team as they develop options for the remaining funding.

The Scottish Government, in November 2021, issued a joint protocol for the examination of dogs suspected of livestock worrying and seized by Police Scotland under the 2021 Act. That offers guidance to veterinarians who may be asked to examine such dogs.

The Scottish Government considers that education is the key to ending livestock worrying incidents and the associated unnecessary suffering for all involved. While not solely focussed on livestock worrying, the Scottish Government undertook an awareness raising digital campaign, in partnership with the Scottish Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals in March 2021 to promote responsible dog ownership. The campaign was re-run in September and December 2021, to further emphasise the importance of training pet dogs correctly; and reminding dog owners of their legal responsibilities to keep dogs under proper control in order to prevent and reduce the risks of incidents occurring.

The Scottish Government supported the introduction of the Dogs (Protection of Livestock) (Amendment) (Scotland) Bill, which gained Royal Assent on 5 May 2021, and accords with advice in the Scottish Outdoor Access Code on responsible behaviour for people walking dogs. These messages are promoted widely on social media by NatureScot as part of on-going communication campaigns promoting responsible behaviour in various outdoor settings.

The Scottish Partnership Against Rural Crime (SPARC) has also been supporting the Dogs (Protection of Livestock) (Amendment) (Scotland) Act 2021. In January 2022 they launched a national Livestock Attack and Worrying campaign with the slogan ‘Your Dog – Your Responsibility’ designed to educate and raise awareness about the new legislation amongst dog owners, whether new or experienced. This attracted significant media attention from TV, radio, written and social media forms with the campaign lasting 5 months until end of May 2022.

Numerous local Partnerships Against Rural Crime have supported the national campaign and kept focus on the new legislation by holding local launches. SPARC is promoting a second national launch to highlight the issue once more in the Autumn and will further promote the legislation at the agricultural events and shows it attend this year.