- Asked by: Liam McArthur, MSP for Orkney Islands, Scottish Liberal Democrats
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Date lodged: Monday, 27 February 2023
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Current Status:
Answered by Lorna Slater on 13 March 2023
To ask the Scottish Government to which countries, including other parts of the UK, Scottish plastic waste was exported in (a) 2020, (b) 2021 and (c) 2022, broken down by the percentage exported to each.
Answer
Details of transfrontier shipments of waste are not published or held by Scottish Government, but are held by SEPA.
Information on exports to other UK countries is not available for the years requested.
Due to the cyber attack suffered by SEPA in 2020, data for that year is unavailable. The 2021 data is expected to be available from 28 March 2023, following publication of official statistics on Waste from All Sources. SEPA does not yet have a complete dataset for 2022, as returns are still being processed.
SEPA’s Waste from All Sources Discover Tool is available here: Waste (from all sources) (sepa.org.uk)
- Asked by: Liam McArthur, MSP for Orkney Islands, Scottish Liberal Democrats
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Date lodged: Friday, 03 March 2023
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Current Status:
Answered by Shirley-Anne Somerville on 10 March 2023
To ask the Scottish Government what specific steps it is taking to engage with Black and Minority Ethnic (BME) people to meet the target of recruiting 4% BME teachers in schools by 2030, as recommended in the report, Teaching in a diverse Scotland: increasing and retaining minority ethnic teachers.
Answer
The Scottish Government is clear that the continued under-representation of minority ethnic teachers, at all levels, is unacceptable and requires continued action. Through our Diversity in the Teaching Profession and Education Workforce (DITPEW) working group we are taking a range of specific steps - all of which are predicated on engagement with minority ethnic people with anti racist and educational expertise - to meet the 4% target. These include:
- Appointing 2 minority ethnic, senior education professionals to co-chair the DITPEW working group and drive forward Professor Arshad's recommendations. DITPEW working group members also have lived experience of racism, professional experience in education and in developing anti-racist practice.
- Working with the General Teaching Council for Scotland to develop the new National Race Diversity Lead post which is supported by SG funding in 2022-24. It sees the postholder working across local authorities, regional improvement collaboratives and schools, to facilitate increased racial diversity within the teaching profession.
- Working with Dr Khadija Mohammed, Associate Dean of Equality, Diversity and Inclusion at University of the West of Scotland in the development of an anti-racist framework for Initial Teacher Education (ITE) providers. The framework's aim is to ensure that minority ethnic ITE students have an anti-racist experience from initial application stage through to becoming a newly qualified teacher.
- Working with minority ethnic teachers to deliver sessions through the Developing the Young Workforce Live platform, aimed at encouraging minority ethnic children and young people to consider teaching as a career.
Key to informing the development and delivery of these ambitions is the annual Scottish Government Diversity in the Teaching Profession Data report, which will be published at the end of March.
- Asked by: Liam McArthur, MSP for Orkney Islands, Scottish Liberal Democrats
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 21 February 2023
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Current Status:
Answered by Mairi McAllan on 7 March 2023
To ask the Scottish Government what percentage of Scotland’s waterways are currently classed as being in good ecological condition.
Answer
The Scottish Environment Protection Agency (SEPA) classifies the overall condition of Scotland’s surface water environment (rivers, lochs, transitional waters, and coastal areas) at 64% in good or better condition. This is compared to England where its Environment Agency classifies only 16% of its surface water environment in good condition. For river and lochs, only, SEPA classifies that 84% are in good or better condition for water quality, 89% for flows and levels (hydrology), 89% for physical condition (morphology) and 88% for access for fish migration.
- Asked by: Liam McArthur, MSP for Orkney Islands, Scottish Liberal Democrats
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Date lodged: Monday, 27 February 2023
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Current Status:
Answered by Lorna Slater on 7 March 2023
To ask the Scottish Government what information it holds on whether any local authorities are currently considering exporting waste as a measure in response to capacity gaps arising as a result of the 2025 landfill ban on biodegradable municipal waste.
Answer
The Scottish Government does not hold information on the range of options considered by local authorities for the treatment of residual waste ahead of the forthcoming ban on landfilling biodegradable municipal waste.
Local authorities are responsible for the provision of local waste services and are, therefore, best placed to comment on contractual arrangements for waste services.
- Asked by: Liam McArthur, MSP for Orkney Islands, Scottish Liberal Democrats
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Date lodged: Monday, 27 February 2023
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Current Status:
Answered by Lorna Slater on 7 March 2023
To ask the Scottish Government, further to Recommendation 7 in the first report of the independent review of the role of incineration in the waste hierarchy, what consideration is being given in discussions with local authorities regarding the development of solutions to manage residual waste ahead of the landfill ban in 2025.
Answer
The independent review of the role of incineration in the waste hierarchy recommended that in view of the upcoming ban on landfilling biodegradable municipal waste, Scottish Government should work with local authorities to ensure they have a solution to manage their residual waste in 2025. The ban is in line with Committee on Climate Change recommendations and will come into force on 31 December 2025.
Through work overseen by a dedicated Programme Board (which includes representation from Cosla, SOLACE, SEPA and Zero Waste Scotland), we are continuing to support local authorities to collaboratively secure landfill ban compliant residual waste treatment options. We are doing this by facilitating collaborative procurement and funding provision of additional technical, procurement and legal support.
We will continue to work closely with local authorities and commercial operators to support those that do not currently have solutions to treat their residual waste ahead of the forthcoming ban.
- Asked by: Liam McArthur, MSP for Orkney Islands, Scottish Liberal Democrats
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 21 February 2023
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Current Status:
Answered by Mairi McAllan on 6 March 2023
To ask the Scottish Government whether it expects to meet its target of 81% of Scotland’s water environment being in a good condition by 2027, in light of reports that the target date for cleaning up waterways in England has been moved back to 2063.
Answer
As I announced in my statement to the Scottish Parliament in December 2021, the publication of Scotland’s third River Basin Management Plan sets out our ambitious objectives aiming to improve the overall condition of Scotland’s water environment from 66% currently classified at good condition to 81% by 2027. Our position has not changed and the Scottish Government remains committed to meeting this target. In comparison, England’s water environment is currently classified at 16% in good ecological status only.
- Asked by: Liam McArthur, MSP for Orkney Islands, Scottish Liberal Democrats
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Date lodged: Monday, 06 February 2023
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Current Status:
Answered by Shirley-Anne Somerville on 28 February 2023
To ask the Scottish Government whether it plans to reopen the School Library Improvement Fund.
Answer
Applications for the 2022-23 School Libraries Improvement Fund were accepted from 29 August 2022 to 29 September 2022.
We are engaging with the Scottish Library and Information Council and will set out future plans in due course.
- Asked by: Liam McArthur, MSP for Orkney Islands, Scottish Liberal Democrats
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Date lodged: Monday, 06 February 2023
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Current Status:
Answered by Shirley-Anne Somerville on 28 February 2023
To ask the Scottish Government what financial support is available to schools and community libraries to improve the availability of books that promote racial equality.
Answer
The School Libraries Improvement Fund (SLIF) is distributed via the Scottish Library and Information Council (as is the Public Libraries Improvement Fund). £200,000 has been allocated in 2022/23 to SLIF which has supported a total of 18 initiatives across Scotland. In this year’s funding round, priority was given to applications which focused on supporting anti-racism and racial equality, supporting the aims of the Scottish Government’s Anti-Racism in Education Programme.
In 2022-23 the Scottish Government has also provided funding of £450,000 to the Scottish Library and Information Council (SLIC) for the Public Library Improvement Fund (PLIF), which enables libraries to undertake a wide range of pioneering projects within communities. Eight initiatives were selected to receive grants from the 2022-23 PLIF, supporting sustainable development and innovation within Scotland’s public libraries.
- Asked by: Liam McArthur, MSP for Orkney Islands, Scottish Liberal Democrats
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Date lodged: Friday, 27 January 2023
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Current Status:
Answered by Jenny Gilruth on 6 February 2023
To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S6W-09982 by Jenny Gilruth on 16 August 2022, how much funding is currently available in the current financial year to help purchase (a) new and (b) used electric vehicles through interest-free loans.
Answer
The Scottish Government's Used Electric Vehicle Loan provides interest free loans to help individuals and businesses make the transition to electric vehicles. Energy Saving Trust deliver this scheme on behalf of Scottish Minister, and publish loan statistics on their website, details of which can be found here: Grants and loans to help you travel greener - Energy Saving Trust .
As of 12 January, Energy Savings Trust have issued 624 loans to a value of £15,763,144 and have also offered an additional 398 loans worth £10,623,147. This represents a total commitment of £26,376,291 from a £30m budget for the 2022-23 financial year.
In line with our commitment to widening access to electric vehicles, the loan supports the purchase of used electric vehicles. Sectors such as Taxis and Private Hire may access the loan to purchase new vehicles, but no specific loan funding is set aside for new vehicles.
- Asked by: Liam McArthur, MSP for Orkney Islands, Scottish Liberal Democrats
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 24 January 2023
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Current Status:
Answered by Patrick Harvie on 2 February 2023
To ask the Scottish Government when it will publish its consultation on proposals to improve energy efficiency in non-domestic buildings.
Answer
In its 2022-2023 Programme for Government, the Scottish Government committed to publishing a consultation on a Heat in Buildings Bill during 2023. This consultation will seek views on proposals for a regulatory framework for reducing emissions across Scotland’s existing non-domestic building stock.