Chamber and committees

The Scottish Government has engaged with a wide range of drinks businesses throughout the policy development and implementation stages for our Deposit Return Scheme (DRS), including through two stages of consultation (running from 25 June 2018 – 25 September 2018 and 10 September 2019 – 10 December 2019) which any business could participate in. We have not carried out any engagement relating to DRS specifically directed at retailers selling hampers, parcels, or gift sets, but many such retailers would have been captured by this wider engagement.

The additional revenue funding provided to local authorities under the Bellwin Scheme in each year since 1998-99 is set out in a document that has been placed in the Scottish Parliament Information Centre, Bib number 63530.

The Scottish Government expects the Bank to publish its Gender Equality Strategy later this summer. As part of a wider Equality Strategy, we expect this to set out the Bank’s approach to advancing equality in Scotland across its activities and in line with legislative requirements, including those of the Scottish National Investment Bank Act.

As part of the national conversation about our National Parks, we are considering the roles and functions National Park Authorities should have to help them continue delivering the aims set out in the 2000 Act, but also to play a key role in addressing the twin crises of biodiversity loss and climate change. We will consider consultation responses carefully, including any which propose changes to primary legislation.

Zero Waste Scotland (ZWS), as well as other partners, is supporting the Scottish Government to realise ambitions for a Circular Economy in Scotland which is critical to tackling the climate and nature crises. In this regard, ZWS is an important delivery partner for the Scottish Government, providing expertise on Circular Economy policy, programmes and research which help to fulfil commitments set out in the Bute House Agreement and the Programme for Government 21-22. The Scottish Government will continue to fund ZWS and other partners that are able to provide the required specialist expertise to progress the Circular Economy agenda.

On 30 May 2022 we published our consultation on Delivering Scotland’s circular economy – a Route Map to 2025 and beyond. The Route Map sets out system-wide interventions to help deliver Scotland’s transition to a zero waste and circular economy, significantly increase reuse and recycling rates, and modernise and improve waste and recycling services. The consultation is available here: Delivering Scotland’s circular economy: A Route Map to 2025 and beyond - Scottish Government - Citizen Space .

The accompanying technical annex summarises available evidence on factors driving the current national recycling performance, and the rationale for proposed Route Map actions. Key factors include infrastructure modernisation, specific geographical challenges contributing to local performance rate variation, technical or economic options for reuse or recycling of products, and the incentives and guidance in place to support recycling participation across our economy and society.

Information on operational and planned incineration facilities, including their status, is set out in Tables 1 and 2 in Stop, Sort, Burn Bury? Independent Review of the Role of Incineration in the Waste Hierarchy in Scotland , which was published on 10 May 2022. This can be found here: Stop, Sort, Burn, Bury - incineration in the waste hierarchy: independent review - gov.scot (www.gov.scot) 

Currently, all operational facilities in Scotland export electricity only, with the exception of the Lerwick facility, which exports heat only. All plants currently exporting electricity only are combined heat and power (CHP) ready and all new plants must be built heat and power ready.

Our £300 million Heat Network Fund, launched in February 2022, is one of a number of ways of helping local authorities and private companies make use of existing waste heat through heat networks wherever possible. We currently support heat network projects in Aberdeen and Midlothian that will use heat from Energy from Waste.

The Scottish Government is not aware of any concerns being raised with it on how levels of recorded domestic and sexual abuse against men compare to the rest of UK. The operational recording of information on such incidents is a matter for Police Scotland, and as with any report of criminal behaviour, will be underpinned by the Scottish Crime Recording Standard (SCRS). The Standard sets out to ensure a more victim-oriented approach is taken to recording crime, and ultimate responsibility for compliance lies with the Chief Constable.

In general, it should be noted that there are significant differences between Scotland and the rest of the UK in the definitions used to collect data on domestic abuse and violence. The definition of domestic abuse used by Police Scotland focuses on partners (married, cohabiting, civil partnership or otherwise) or ex-partners, and has no age restrictions for those involved. The definition used in the rest of the UK extends beyond partners to other family members, and is limited to those aged 16 and over.

In addition, when considering crime data across the UK, recorded crime statistics are not directly comparable. The main principles for when a crime should be recorded are similar in all four nations. However, there are various differences between the respective Counting Rules, which specify each nation’s approach for counting the number of crimes that should be recorded as part of any single incident. Furthermore, differences in legislation and common law also have an impact on the comparability of recorded crime statistics between Scotland and the other UK nations.

The Scottish Government is already taking measures to reduce the quantity of plastic in the residual waste stream. In terms of reducing the proportion of recyclable materials (which include plastics) in residual waste streams, we have implemented bans on problematic single use plastic items and confirmed over £20 million-worth of investments in local recycling infrastructure from our £70 million Recycling Improvement Fund, funding a range of improvements including boosting Scotland’s capacity to recycle problematic materials like plastic films. Additionally, we are implementing Scotland’s Deposit Return Scheme and reforming extended producer responsibility for packaging.

To build on this progress, our recently published Waste Route Map consultation contains a number of proposals to reduce the proportion of recyclable materials in the waste stream, including reducing consumption of single use items, mainstreaming reuse and improving recycling from households and businesses, for example, by facilitating the co-design of high quality, high performing household recycling and reuse services. The consultation on the Route Map also sets out a proposal for the Scottish Government to facilitate the development of a sector-led plan by 2024 to restrict the carbon impacts of incineration and proposes to work with the waste and resources sector to accelerate the reduction of the carbon impacts of existing incineration plants. We will begin by focusing on measures to divert the highest carbon-emitting materials from incineration, such as plastics.

Island Communities Impact Assessments (ICIAs) and all other relevant impact assessments will be undertaken, as appropriate, as and when individual policies and programmes set out in the Shared Policy programme come forward for implementation.