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Circularity Scotland has not provided the Scottish Government with specific data on reasons why businesses have not joined the Deposit Return Scheme.

The Scottish Government and delivery partners such as Circularity Scotland, SEPA and Zero Waste Scotland continue to regularly engage directly with businesses on matters which are within our control to ensure all involved are ready for successful launch on 1st of March 2024.

Organisations from across the UK frustrated by the UK Government’s position have written an open letter urging the Prime Minister to grant an exemption to the Internal Markets Act. Many more have privately expressed their concern that the lack of an Internal Market Act exemption is creating uncertainty and confusion for all the businesses that have worked so hard to prepare for the scheme.

The use of hydrogen for the provision of domestic heat using the gas network will be demonstrated over the next few years in Scotland as part of the SGN H100 Fife ‘neighbourhood trial’ and in the UK as part of the larger village and town trials. The H100 Fife project is currently under construction, with aims to fit 100% hydrogen boilers into 300 homes in Leven. The project is scheduled to go live in 2024, and operate until March 2027. The Scottish Government has provided £6.9m grant funding to the project.

SEPA determine how resources are allocated to meeting their statutory obligations through an Annual Operating Plan published each year in agreement with the Scottish Government.

Over the last 12 months SEPA have continued to implement Scotland’s national water scarcity plan which sets out how water resources will be managed prior to and during periods of prolonged dry weather. SEPA also produced regular water scarcity reports during the summer months.

SEPA and the Scottish Government are working closely with stakeholders to assist businesses in their planning for managing future seasonal water shortages. This includes launching a communications campaign on 2 May to raise awareness and work over the past 12 months alongside the Farm Advisory Service to ensure businesses have the information they need to prepare for water scarcity.

Information on the (a) longest, (b) average and (c) median waiting time for answered webchats in 2023 to date is provided in the following table.

Closures of the A9 between Inverness and Scrabster due to an accident between 2018 and 2023 (to date), month by month are detailed in the following table:

I refer the member to the answer to question S6W-17864 on 23 May 2023. 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

I refer the member to the answer to question S6W-17864 on 23 May 2023. 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

There are a range of training providers across Scotland delivering training for apprenticeships including Independent Training Providers, Colleges, Universities and Third Sector Organisations.

The number of Modern Apprenticeship contracts by year are as follows:

• 2018-19 – 268
• 2019-20 – 256
• 2020-21 – 255
• 2021-22 – 243
• 2022-23 – 228

The number of Foundation Apprenticeship providers were as follows:

• 2018 – 17
• 2019 – 39
• 2020 – 39
•  2021 – 40
• 2022 – 39

The number of Graduate Apprenticeship providers were as follows:

• 2018-19 – 13
• 2019-20 – 15
• 2020-21 – 14
• 2021-22 – 12
• 2022-23 – 12

As this is an operational matter for Scottish Water, and the Scottish Government does not hold this information, I have asked them to respond. Their reply is as follows:

Work within Inverclyde Council’s Pottery Street depot has been progressing well, although there has been some delay to starting work on the A8 itself due to other urgent utility work. For the section of work on the A8, Scottish Water’s forecast start date is at the end of June, with an anticipated completion by mid- to end-December. Information on the project is published online at https://www.scottishwater.co.uk/In-Your-Area/Investments-in-Your-Area/A8-Greenock

The Office of National Statistics (ONS) Low Carbon and Renewable Energy Economy (LCREE) Survey provides estimates of employment in offshore wind across the countries of the UK.

The 2021 LCREE estimates show that 3,100 Full Time Equivalent Staff (FTE) were directly employed in offshore wind in Scotland. There is no regional breakdown of the data available.

The results in LCREE are survey-based, the data is gathered from a sample rather than the whole population. The estimates are therefore subject to uncertainty, which is expressed through the publication of confidence intervals alongside the data.

The latest version of the LCREE publication can be found here: Low carbon and renewable energy economy, UK - Office for National Statistics (ons.gov.uk)