Seòmar agus comataidhean

The Scottish Government is not looking to revise the GP contract to affect the ability of GP practices to charge for voluntary completion of Debt and Mental Health Evidence Forms in Scotland. This is not work that could be considered covered by general medical services funding so if GP practices are not permitted to charge, there is a risk they will not carry out the work when requested.

The majority of civil servants are not allocated to work directly for individual Ministers as part of their roles in supporting and delivering the Scottish Government’s priorities. Work related to my responsibilities is no different.

I have one member of staff allocated to work in my private office.

The Scottish Government have no plans to remove non-native species from the Forestry Grant Scheme. We are currently consulting on the future Forestry Grant Scheme and seeking views on increasing biodiversity outcomes. Non-native fast growing species are very efficient at locking up carbon quickly, and therefore make a valuable contribution as part of a mixed portfolio, to the Scottish government commitment to reach net zero by 2045. Support is currently in place for all types of native woodland creation and opportunities to create native woodland are maximised through the Forestry Grant Scheme.

Our Sustainable Forest Management practices, ensure all woodland types need to conform to the UK Forestry Standard, and also provide a wide range of other environmental, social and economic benefits such as flood mitigation, health, recreation and biodiversity benefits. In relation to economic benefits, non-native species are the key element of Scotland’s thriving forestry sector and timber industry which contributes over £1 billion a year to the Scottish Economy and employs over 25,000 people in rural areas. Therefore it is essential that we continue to plant the right tree in the right place to deliver multiple benefits and create resilient woodlands for future generations to enjoy.

We arrived at our current target of restoring 20,000 hectares per year of peatland based on evidence from the Scottish Government’s second report on proposals and policies (RPP2) in 2013 which highlighted that it would be technically feasible for Scotland to restore 20,000 hectares of peatland a year.

Based on this the Scottish Government subsequently established firm annual peatland restoration targets in 2018 in its Climate Change Plan: third report on proposals and policies 2018-2032 (RPP3) .

We have adopted this as a target and in 2020 set out ambitious plans to invest more than £250 million over ten years to restore at least 250,000 hectares of degraded peatlands by 2030.

Previously the public were able to report flytipping via two parallel mechanisms: the Dumb Dumpers system (whereby reports could either be made online to Zero Waste Scotland, or via a telephone hotline hosted by SEPA) and to local authorities directly. From 1 April 2023, the public can continue to report incidents to the relevant local authority through local authorities’ existing mechanisms.

The change has been made in order to streamline and reduce confusion about public reporting of flytipping incidents; and to aid more accurate analysis of the scale of flytipping.

A range of evidence gathered by Zero Waste Scotland and SEPA highlighted that the previous approach was no longer fit for purpose and should be reviewed. Analysis by ZWS and SEPA has suggested that reports submitted through the Dump Dumpers system accounted for a small percentage of the total number of flytipping incidents in Scotland and the majority of incidents are reported directly to local authorities. A survey of local authorities, undertaken as part of a review of the previous litter strategy, Towards A Litter-free Scotland, highlighted a range of concerns including duplicated reports, delays and inaccurate location information.

Scottish Government’s 2022 consultation on the National Litter and Flytipping Strategy included the proposal to review the Dumb Dumpers system to ensure a fit-for-purpose mechanism for citizens to report flytipping incidents. Only 30% of respondents, and 18% of local authority respondents, supported the system’s continued use.

The recent streamlining of reporting mechanisms will not change how incidents of flytipping are investigated, which will continue to be the joint responsibility of local authorities and SEPA with local authorities handling the majority of cases.

Members of the public should report flytipping incidents directly to the relevant local authority.

Local authorities will involve other enforcement agencies such as SEPA and Police Scotland into relevant investigations as required, as they do currently, when reports are made through a local authority reporting system.

I refer the member to the answer to question S6W-16883 on 25 April 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/questions-and-answers

The Median waiting time for patients residing in NHS Highland, NHS Orkney, NHS Shetland, and NHS Western Isles that have attended a new outpatient appointment or received treatment as an inpatient or day case in other NHS Boards, in each of the last 10 years can be found in the Scottish Parliament Information under Bib. No. 64141.

Please note that PHS are unable to provide data at procedure level, and so data are provided at specialty level only. NHS Board of residence is derived from a patient’s postcode at the point when they were added to the waiting list. Please also note that PHS are unable to provide data prior to October 2012, so annual data are provided from January 2013 onwards.

For each NHS Board/specialty combination, the number of new outpatient attendances and inpatient/day case admissions has been provided along with the median and 90th percentile length of wait. The median is provided rather than the mean because an average can be skewed incorrectly by a small number of very long waits that are recorded in error in the national data. The 90th percentile statistic indicates that 9 out of 10 patients waited less than or equal to the number of days shown and provides a more accurate representation of the length of wait experienced by patients.

The £20 billion finance gap figure for nature-related outcomes in Scotland was reported in research by the Green Finance Institute in 2021. The finance gap is defined as the difference between required spending and committed/planned spending to deliver desired nature-related outcomes, for 10 years from 2022. Given the complexity in determining this figure and the volume of related evidence, £20 billion is a central estimate within a range of models. Optimistic assessments of the gap suggest the figure could be £15 billion while more pessimistic models suggest it could be £27 billion. The main component costs for the central estimate include climate mitigation through bio-carbon (£9 billion) and protecting and restoring biodiversity (£8 billion). The report makes clear the assumptions made in reaching these estimates. This work and the report were steered by an independent project board comprising public, private and third sector organisations from across the UK. Scottish public sector representation was provided by NatureScot and Scottish Forestry.

The Scottish Government and relevant agencies will continue to monitor and refine estimates as natural capital markets mature and our work in this area develops.

It is not possible to provide exact numbers on either current deer populations or future sustainable populations. For the purposes of protecting natural regeneration, tree-planting and peatland, in order restore and enhance natural systems that will deliver carbon and biodiversity benefits we need to focus on deer densities and impacts. We have already indicated in our response to the Deer Working Group report, that we support an overall density of no more than 10 deer per square kilometre. However we know that in many places we will need to achieve densities significantly lower than this in order to allow nature restoration projects to succeed.

We will aim to achieve the necessary reductions in deer populations through a combination of regulation and incentives. We are working to develop policies in this area, building on existing legislation and grant schemes.

At present our operational priority is to assess and identify priority areas where there is evidence of, or a high risk of deer damage, to ensure deer management efforts are focused and coordinated where there is the greatest need.