Chamber and committees

In our circular economy strategy 'Making Things Last', the Scottish Government sets out our priorities for keeping products and materials out of landfill and in high-value use for longer.

While this work does not specifically explore a Scottish eco-design label it includes work to influence EU decisions on a life-cycle approach to the design of products and packaging.

This derogation from the Landfill Directive, which - where alternative treatment options are limited - can allow air pollution control (APC) residues that exceed waste acceptance criteria (WAC) to go to landfill, is still in place. However, although provided for via the "Criteria and Procedures for the Acceptance of Waste at Landfills (Scotland) Direction 2005", no Scottish landfill has applied to use the exemption to increase the WAC limits and no Scottish permits include higher limits.

The promotion of the voluntary scheme, Operation Clean Sweep, will be discussed at the next meeting of the Marine Litter Strategy Steering Group meeting on 7 September 2017, and opportunities for the Scottish Government to aid in its promotion will be identified and acted upon.

The auditing of industry efforts to reduce plastic pellet loss will be discussed at the next meeting of the Marine Litter Strategy Steering Group, on 7 September 2017. The Scottish Government is committed to the actions it laid out in the Marine Litter Strategy, including an industry code of conduct regarding plastic pellets, and will investigate ways to support this.

No discussions have been held with carers and carers' organisations as part of the preparations for the consultation, which is due to be published later this year. The consultation's focus will be on securing the long term sustainability of the scheme and it is not planned to cover the introduction of travel concessions for carers.

There are currently over 1.3m cardholders under the National Concessionary Travel Scheme for Older and Disabled Persons. The Scottish Government’s publication Scotland’s Carers estimates that in Scotland there are 759,000 adult carers aged 16 and over and 29,000 carers under the age of 16. In total 788,000 carers.

A substantial number of carers will already be eligible for concessionary travel by virtue of age or as a companion for a cardholder. On the basis of age we can assume that around 20% of Scotland’s 759,000 carers aged 16 and over already hold a card. This suggests that over 600,000 new people would be entitled to concessionary travel if the scheme were extended to carers. This, in turn, would suggest a requirement for budget increases of upwards of 50% of the existing scheme.

While the Scheme does not contain specific eligibility criteria for carers, people who are in receipt of the higher or middle rate of the care component of DLA, the Daily Living component of PIP or Attendance Allowance, or who are certified blind can apply for a companion concessionary travel card. This allows the card holder, and a companion (who may be a carer) to travel together free of charge for the same bus journey.

The Scottish Government has no current plans to extend concessionary travel to carers although many can already benefit from concessionary travel under existing criteria. A substantial number of carers are aged 60 or over and are therefore already eligible for free bus travel. Younger carers aged between 16 and 18 and those who are full time volunteers aged up to 25 can benefit from the National Concessionary Travel Scheme for Young People, which provides discounts on bus and rail travel.

There are currently over 1.3m cardholders under the National Concessionary Travel Scheme for Older and Disabled Persons. The Scottish Government’s publication Scotland’s Carers estimates that in Scotland there are 759,000 adult carers aged 16 and over and 29,000 carers under the age of 16. In total 788,000 carers.

A substantial number of carers will already be eligible for concessionary travel by virtue of age or as a companion for a cardholder. On the basis of age we can assume that around 20% of Scotland’s 759,000 carers aged 16 and over already hold a card. This suggests that over 600,000 new people would be entitled to concessionary travel if the scheme were extended to carers. This, in turn, would suggest a requirement for budget increases of upwards of 50% of the existing scheme.

While the Scheme does not contain specific eligibility criteria for carers, people who are in receipt of the higher or middle rate of the care component of DLA, the Daily Living component of PIP or Attendance Allowance, or who are certified blind can apply for a companion concessionary travel card. This allows the card holder, and a companion (who may be a carer) to travel together free of charge for the same bus journey.

Decisions on the allocation of SFRS resources, including crewing models, are a matter for the Scottish Fire and Rescue Service and its Board.

Decisions on the allocation of SFRS resources, including aerial ladder platforms, are a matter for the Scottish Fire and Rescue Service and its Board.

This information is not held centrally. Decisions on the allocation of SFRS resources, including specialist equipment, are a matter for the Scottish Fire and Rescue Service and its Board. No representations have been made by Ministers to allocate specialist equipment to particular operational areas.

Decisions on the allocation of SFRS resources, including vehicles, are a matter for the Scottish Fire and Rescue Service and its Board.