Chamber and committees

The UK Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency is responsible for setting all packaging requirements for medicines. Blister packs are not easily recycled because of strict regulatory requirements for pharmaceutical packaging. The Scottish Government encourages businesses to take steps to increase the recycling rates for this packaging where these are compatible with the waste hierarchy and ensure the high-value recycling of materials.

We are taking action to reduce packaging waste and improve recycling in Scotland, including the £70 million Recycling Improvement Fund, which will make it easier for households to recycle, and work across the devolved administrations to introduce extended producer responsibility for packaging. These actions will help local authorities increase the types of materials they can recycle.

Transport Scotland, through its Operating Companies, consider local communities and affected businesses during the works planning and consultation process. For planned closures, consultation with the community and business groups is undertaken as part of the planning process, to consider the specific concerns and needs of those parties. Where possible, works are scheduled to avoid busier periods and times. This helps to minimise impacts on road users, businesses and local communities, with operating company contracts including specific times on certain routes where planned works are to be avoided.

Scottish Ministers have a statutory duty to manage and maintain the trunk road network in line with the Roads (Scotland) Act 1984. There is no legal requirement for Scottish Ministers to pay compensation for loss of business, inconvenience or additional motoring costs as a result of road closures required for road maintenance.

My officials in Transport Scotland have advised that neither they, or the south west unit Operating Company, Amey, are aware of any reported major concerns from the community regarding the impact of planned maintenance closures on the A76 trunk road near Upper Nithsdale.

Transport Scotland, through its Operating Companies, consider local communities and affected businesses during the works planning and consultation process. For planned closures, consultation with the community and business groups is undertaken as part of the planning process, to consider the specific concerns and needs of those parties. Where possible, works are scheduled to avoid busier periods and times. This helps to minimise impacts on road users, businesses and local communities, with operating company contracts including specific times on certain routes where planned works are to be avoided .

Transport Scotland, through its Operating Companies, consider local communities and affected businesses during the works planning and consultation process. For planned closures, consultation with the community and business groups is undertaken as part of the planning process, to consider the specific concerns and needs of those parties. Where possible, works are scheduled to avoid busier periods and times. This helps to minimise impacts on road users, businesses and local communities, with operating company contracts including specific times on certain routes where planned works are to be avoided.

As part of the winter vaccination programme, as at 18 December 2022, 526 Novavax Covid-19 vaccines have been administered in Scotland. This equates to 0.03% of the total vaccines administered as part of the programme.

Public Health Scotland do not currently supply the Scottish Government with the number of each type of vaccine administered at a Health Board level.

The Scottish Government contract Corporate Travel Management (CTM) who contract and manage all of the Scottish Government’s hotel bookings. This includes invoicing. We are aware of one hotel recently that indicated a delay in payment of an invoice. CTM colleagues have worked with the hotel manager to resolve this issue.

Any hotel who has concern around a delayed invoice should liaise with CTM. Hotel managers have regular contact with CTM, and contact details are provided where they can raise any concerns. The Scottish Government also chair a weekly call - which all hotel managers are invited to - along with CTM colleagues and our Scottish Government temporary accommodation team. This call provides a further regular opportunity to raise any concerns hotel managers may have with both CTM and the Scottish Government.

The Independent Review is seeking views from across the education landscape on how a system of qualifications and assessment can uphold the rights of all learners, including those with additional support needs, to have their achievements recognised. I understand that Professor Hayward has met Angela Morgan, Chair of the Review of Additional Support for Learning Implementation, and is in the process of visiting a range of schools where this issue will also be discussed. Ensuring our system of qualifications and assessment meets the needs of all learners has also been discussed within the Independent Review Group and the various community groups the Review is supporting.

I know Professor Hayward remains open to new ideas in this and in other areas. The Review’s public consultation closes on 13 January 2023 and I look forward to receiving a final report before the end of May 2023.

The Scottish Government published our second progress report and updated Additional Support for Learning action plan on November 30 2022. The action plan and governance arrangements for this work are available from: https://www.gov.scot/publications/additional-support-learning-review-action-plan-update-november-2022/

Part of this work includes further development of the National Measurement Framework. This aims to meaningfully support improvement of outcomes and celebrate the wide ranging achievements of children with additional support needs, and support a culture of improvement in the delivery of additional support for learning. A draft framework was considered by the Additional Support for Learning Network at their first formal meeting on 30 November.

An updated draft will be considered by the Additional Support for Learning Project Board in early 2023. The project board will also agree the next steps in the development and publication of the National Measurement Framework in due course.