Seòmar agus comataidhean

The Scottish Government recognise the valuable role that sport and physical activity can play to the overall health of the nation.

Encouraging people to take part in sport at all levels, including in newer sports such as pickleball, is key to getting more people more active more often, and can create wider benefits in areas such as health, education, communities and the economy.

In the last 20 years, sportscotland has invested over £235 million of Scottish Government and National Lottery funding in clubs, communities, and leisure trusts across Scotland to improve the places where people take part in sport and physical activity. As a sport that’s primarily played on a badminton court, we already have fantastic facilities across the country where pickleball can be played.

Through sportscotland’s Community Sport Hubs’ programmes, local community organisations are beginning to explore opportunities to develop links with pickleball clubs and to promote the sport. There are now five pickleball clubs across three local authorities that are part of the Community Sport Hub programme and these numbers are expected to grow as the sport continues to develop.

I recognise the unavailability of the Corran Ferry is causing major disruption for communities, businesses and visitors to the area.

While the operation of transport links across the Corran Narrows is the responsibility of the Highland Council and any decisions on maintenance, upgrades, or options to replace ferries is for them, I recently met with the Highland Council to hear more about their plans for the route. I would be happy to visit Lochaber to learn further about The Highland Council’s plans and to meet the local community.

Scottish Ministers have consistently encouraged public bodies to share good practice on debt assistance and collection and to show empathy and dignity when working with people struggling with debt.

Specifically in relation to Council tax, whilst this is a local tax and each council is financially and administratively accountable to their electorate, we recognise the desirability of the best practice in council tax collection being adopted by all local authorities. Ministers raised the issue of Council Tax Debt and Recovery, including highlighting the recommendations of the Improvement Service and Stepchange Scotland’s May 2022 report on Collaborative Council Tax Collection, with the COSLA President, Vice President and Resources Spokesperson at a recent meeting of the ‘Joint Working Group on Sourcing of Local Government Funding and Council Tax Reform’.

Public bodies are autonomous bodies and each one has a clear framework which balances operational autonomy and accountability to the public. Any processes in relation to disputes with service users, including in relation to debt to that body, are between the service user and the body, with established dispute resolution processes in place. There are established rights of review and appeal in relation to Social Security Scotland and Council Tax liabilities.

Local Authorities have a duty to investigate light pollution complaints under the provisions of the Environmental Protection Act 1990 (EPA). The Scottish Government engages with local authorities through the Environmental Health Officers network and relevant working groups, where any emerging issues on light pollution could be raised.

Last year the Scottish Government consulted on proposals for a National Litter and Flytipping Strategy. The consultation included proposals to encourage behaviour change, improve infrastructure and services and strengthen enforcement, including a review of the current enforcement model. A final strategy will be published this year.

In addition, we are supporting local authorities to prepare for the introduction of the Deposit Return Scheme next year, which will help to reduce the amount of waste, including litter, that local authorities have to handle, reducing the £36 million of public money spent annually on associated litter clean-up costs.

We will also be taking forward action to strengthen enforcement through the planned Circular Economy Bill this year.

I refer the member to the answer to S6W-16506 on 5 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

The First Report of the independent review of incineration was delivered in April 2022. Having accepted all of its recommendations, we have already taken actions to deliver the commitments we set out in our response. This includes introducing new restrictions on the development of energy from waste proposals in National Planning Framework 4, and working with UK Government to develop a methodology to report emissions from energy from waste separately.

Following careful consideration of the key findings and recommendations of Dr Church’s Second Report, we have published our response to the Report today. The Scottish Government’s response is available at: Scottish Government Response to: Stop, Sort, Burn, Bury? The Independent Review of the Role of Incineration in the Waste Hierarchy in Scotland. Second Report: Decarbonisation of Residual Waste Infrastructure in Scotland. Our response accepts, in full or in principle, all of the report’s recommendations and sets out the actions we are taking to decarbonise the waste sector, in particular by ending the unnecessary incineration of plastics.

Our 2022 Waste & Circular Economy Route Map consultation set out a range of proposed measures that will support the ambition to end the unnecessary incineration of plastics. These include continuing to deliver the £70 million Recycling Improvement Fund, implementation of extended producer responsibility (EPR) schemes, and greater transparency in the end destination of recycling collected. In addition, we will continue to work with other governments of the UK to consider the expansion of the UK Emissions Trading Scheme, which the Report notes could be an important decarbonisation tool.

We are also continuing to incentivise and support the deployment of combined heat and power, including for incineration facilities through our £300 million Heat Networks Fund. This is available across this Parliamentary session to support the rollout of new zero emission heat networks and communal heating systems, as well as the expansion and decarbonisation of existing heat networks across Scotland. Further details on implementing these recommendations will be incorporated into the final waste Route Map.

I would like to thank Dr Church for his hard work in delivering this important report for Scotland.

The Scottish Government is committed to the sustainable management of fish stocks in our waters. The majority of commercial stocks are managed by the use of Total Allowable Catch (TAC) limits which are agreed with other Coastal States in a variety of negotiations forums. TAC levels are informed by the best available independent scientific advice, and are used with an aim to ensure sustainable fishing levels in the long term. This is a long standing commitment of the Scottish Government and the Fisheries Management Strategy sets out our ambition to fish within limits based on the best available scientific advice, using the precautionary principle, and aligned with the delivery of fishing at Maximum Sustainable Yield (MSY).

This aligns with our commitments from the Fisheries Act 2020 and Joint Fisheries Statement which outline that sustainable fishing means environmental, economic, and social considerations are appropriately balanced when managing our fisheries to benefit present and future generations.

There are a range of domestic fisheries management measures including technical measures which have now been retained into UK law through the Fisheries Act 2020. These technical measures range from basic Minimum Conservation References Sizes (MCRS) of specific species of fish, to mesh sizes and structure of fishing nets. It is worth noting that while the majority of commercial stocks have TACs set, scallop, crab and lobster are Non-Quota Stocks without a TAC and are managed by domestic management through a range of input controls and technical measures, such as through a national licence, days at sea limits, minimum and maximum landing sizes, and gear restrictions.

The Scottish Government are fully committed to transparency and probity in the management of, and accountability for, the public finances.

For central government and non-departmental bodies, our capital borrowing powers are restricted and the UK capital grant allocation is limited, so where it is deemed value for money, private finance is considered alongside a range of financing approaches including capital grant, capital borrowing, financial transactions and other forms of finance. Should additional capital borrowing powers become available, we will examine all options to ensure the lowest cost financing route is utilised.

Local authorities determine their own programmes for capital investment and make their own decisions as to the financing of capital investment programmes. In determining their capital investment programme, local authorities are required by legislation to comply with The Prudential Code for Capital Finance in Local Authorities, to ensure that all capital investment decisions are prudent, affordable, and sustainable.

The use of private finance to fund capital expenditure, as with all financing arrangements, should be transparently reported in accordance with the Scottish Public Finance Manual. The Scottish Public Finance Manual is issued by the Scottish Ministers to provide guidance on the proper handling and reporting of private and public-private finance.