Chamber and committees

I refer the member to the answer to question S6W-06524 on 25 February 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
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I am not aware of any reports that glass captured through our Deposit Return Scheme (DRS) could be processed outside Scotland.

As set out in the answer to question S6W-07104 on 18 March 2022, DRS will significantly increase the quantity and quality of glass recyclate. Local authorities will continue to collect glass not captured by DRS in line with the duty in the Waste (Scotland) Regulations 2012.

I am therefore confident that DRS will have a significant positive impact on the quality and quantity of recycled glass that is available to manufacturers in Scotland.

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 .

Protecting Scotland’s marine environment is of paramount importance to the Scottish Government. I am aware of the recent trials conducted by the Danish Navy into the deflagration method of Unexploded Ordnance (UXO) disposal, and look forward to the data analysis.

The Scottish Government has recently signed a joint interim position statement together with other regulators and statutory nature conservation bodies. This statement sets out the Scottish Government's support for the use of lower noise alternatives to UXO disposal, and the expectation that licensees applying for a marine licence and European Protected Species Licence should prioritise low noise alternatives.

The collection of high quality data, including that from the trials conducted by the Danish Navy, will enable the Scottish Government, with support from NatureScot, to make evidence based decisions and recommendations around the use of alternative technologies.

Applications for development and capital funding are open. More information can be found on the Local Energy Scotland website here www.localenergyscot.org . Loan and grant capital funding is currently available to communities developing renewable energy, heat decarbonisation, and local energy system projects through the Scottish Government’s Community and Renewable Energy Scheme (CARES).

Funding is dependent on project needs and type. The CARES team work with projects from inception to completion and continue to offer a flexible package of support to a wide range of renewable energy projects and will also soon offer support through a framework of specialised technical consultants to make it quicker and easier for communities to explore options. More information on this will be published shortly on the Local Energy Scotland website.

From April 2022 CARES will also give greater focus to the decarbonisation of heat in buildings in line with the ambitions set out in our Heat in Buildings Strategy.

As we recover from the pandemic ScotRail Trains Limited will adapt its rail services to meet passenger demand and travel patterns, the latter of which is likely to be markedly different to that experienced previously.

Though there has not been a specific date nor target level set for the increased revenue Transport Scotland will continue to monitor the revenue situation as it is reported on a period by period basis so as to enable Ministers to make informed decisions at all times.

Encouragingly, patronage levels on our railway are improving. In the middle of last year (week ended Saturday 3July), reported demand stood at about 831,000 journeys. By the week ended Saturday 5 March 2022, reported demand had increased to 1,183,000 journeys.

The Zero Waste Plan sets out the 70% of all waste recycled target in the main section of the document. The suggestion of a 70% household specific waste recycling target in Annex A, section 5.5, is incorrect.

Scotland’s target to recycle 70% of all waste by 2025 is a key commitment, underlined in our ‘ Making Things Last ’ Circular Economy Strategy and Climate Change Plan update .

The applicant prospectus states that Green Freeport operators must adhere to the OECD Code of Conduct for Clean Free Trade Zones – and the specific anti-illicit trade and security measures therein. In addition they must meet the current obligations set out in the UK’s Money Laundering, Terrorist Financing and Transfer of Funds (Information on the Payer) Regulations 2017. Furthermore, operators of Green Freeports will be responsible for the security of the customs site. As part of this, they will be required to be authorised as a customs site operator and meet requirements set out by HMRC.

The Green Freeport governance body will be required to actively manage security risks across physical, personnel, and cyber domains, and to work with the Scottish Government, HMRC, Border Force, the National Crime Agency, Home Office and other relevant agencies and government departments to conduct an annual audit of the security measures in place and any breaches.

As part of the application process, applicants will be asked to set out what steps they will take to ensure that the customs sites and tax sites in their proposed Green Freeport will be secure against illicit activity, including organised criminal activity, money laundering, smuggling and people trafficking. Applicants that do not show adequate consideration of steps to prevent illicit activity will not be considered for Green Freeport status.

A final decision on the number of hubs has not yet been taken. A paper to the Restorative Justice Stakeholder Group, published on the Scottish Government website in 2021, set out a proposal to develop up to 6 administrative restorative justice hubs based on sheriffdom areas, and discussion is underway with our stakeholders and partners on this. The precise number of regional hubs in place by 2023 will be subject to these discussions and a range of factors such as level of demand, and cannot be confirmed at this stage.

The Improvement Service (IS), which manages the application process, has confirmed that at close of business on 15 March 2022 there had been a total of 226,484 online applications submitted.

Because the offline application process is undertaken by local authorities using multiple routes, including schools, libraries and council offices, there are practical challenges currently to providing an accurate national picture of offline applications. However, it is possible to provide details of how many applications in both settings have been processed.

By close of business on Tuesday 15 March 2022, IS confirmed that a total of 187,345 National Entitlement Cards with free bus travel had been produced and dispatched. This total includes cards generated from both online and offline applications.

In addition, by the end of 14 March 2022, 4,696 travel products have been added to existing National Entitlement Cards through the Transport Scot Collect App which was launched on 28 February 2022.

Hybrid working is one of the ongoing behaviours that will help to manage COVID-19 effectively for the long term and may have benefits that go beyond the need to control the virus. We will work with employer and business organisations and trade unions to understand the economic impacts, exploring the opportunities and challenges of hybrid working as evidence and practice develops.

As set out in the recently published Strategic Framework, the Scottish Government encourages employers to engage with employees to consider hybrid working models where feasible and appropriate. However we recognise that employers are best placed to understand how their operations work most effectively and their employees’ and requests for flexible working, based on consultation with staff and unions. We trust organisations to make balanced and risk-assessed decisions in line with their business practices.

We recognise the many challenges faced by businesses throughout the pandemic and have provided businesses with £4.5bn of support since the start of the pandemic. In December we announced a £375m support package for firms impacted by the necessary measures introduced to control the spread of Omicron. We have also confirmed an £80m Covid Economic Recovery Fund for local authorities to support local economies and cities recover from the pandemic.

City centres have been heavily impacted and that is why the Scottish Government has convened a City Centre Recovery Task Force, run in partnership with our seven cities, through the Scottish Cities Alliance. It is working to identify innovative actions aimed at assisting city centres through their economic recovery, and will deliver its report this spring. We have allocated £6 million to the City Centre Recovery Fund this year to deliver the priorities of the Task Force and encourage people to return and enjoy all that our city centres offer. We are also working collaboratively with COSLA and partners on ways to support our town centres and prepare a response to the 2021 independent review of the Town Centre Action Plan and its recommendations with a shared action plan by spring 2022.