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Drinks importers that buy products from supplier outside of Scotland have the same requirement as drinks producers to register with the Scottish Deposit Return Scheme to meet their legal obligations. Circularity Scotland as the scheme administrator is rightfully leading on engagement with businesses, including drinks importers, to help them register with the scheme.

The Aarhus Convention Compliance Committee (“ACCC”) has previously welcomed significant progress made by Scotland in addressing the concerns identified by the ACCC. In response to decision VII/8s, issued by the ACCC in October 2021, the UK submitted an action plan to the ACCC on 1 July 2022. Work is in progress in relation to the areas of concern raised by the ACCC in order to strengthen Scotland’s compliance. The Scottish Government has now introduced an exemption from court fees for Aarhus Convention cases in the Court of Session. The Scottish Civil Justice Council is undertaking a review of court rules relating to Protective Expenses Orders, and this is currently underway. Policy development is ongoing in relation to a new Human Rights Bill, which is to include a human right to a healthy environment. The Scottish Government is committed to introducing legislation to reform legal aid in the course of the current Parliament. This work is informed by ongoing engagement with stakeholders. The deadline for addressing areas of concern set out in the Action Plan is October 2024. The Scottish Government is committed to strengthening compliance with the requirements of the Aarhus Convention.

ILF Scotland’s projected available reserves at the end of March 2023 are £2.7 million, however there is a £0.9 million commitment included in this figure. Final figures for 2022/23 will be published in ILF Scotland’s Annual Report, later in the calendar year.

The Joint Working Group membership includes the Scottish Government and Scottish Green Party, and COSLA.

The core membership of the group is:

• Minister for Public Finance, Planning and Community Wealth
• Minister for Zero Carbon Buildings, Active Travel and Tenants’ Rights
• Minister for Social Security and Local Government
• COSLA President – Cllr Shona Morrison
• COSLA Vice-President – Cllr Steven Heddle
• COSLA Resources Spokesperson – Cllr Katie Hagmann
• Representative from Local Authority Directors of Finance
• Representative from Institute of Revenue Rating and Valuation Representative

The Scottish Government is clear that the continued under-representation of minority ethnic teachers, at all levels, is unacceptable and requires continued action. Through our Diversity in the Teaching Profession and Education Workforce (DITPEW) working group we are taking a range of specific steps - all of which are predicated on engagement with minority ethnic people with anti racist and educational expertise - to meet the 4% target. These include:

• Appointing 2 minority ethnic, senior education professionals to co-chair the DITPEW working group and drive forward Professor Arshad's recommendations. DITPEW working group members also have lived experience of racism, professional experience in education and in developing anti-racist practice.
• Working with the General Teaching Council for Scotland to develop the new National Race Diversity Lead post which is supported by SG funding in 2022-24. It sees the postholder working across local authorities, regional improvement collaboratives and schools, to facilitate increased racial diversity within the teaching profession.
• Working with Dr Khadija Mohammed, Associate Dean of Equality, Diversity and Inclusion at University of the West of Scotland in the development of an anti-racist framework for Initial Teacher Education (ITE) providers. The framework's aim is to ensure that minority ethnic ITE students have an anti-racist experience from initial application stage through to becoming a newly qualified teacher.
• Working with minority ethnic teachers to deliver sessions through the Developing the Young Workforce Live platform, aimed at encouraging minority ethnic children and young people to consider teaching as a career.

Key to informing the development and delivery of these ambitions is the annual Scottish Government Diversity in the Teaching Profession Data report, which will be published at the end of March.

The Scottish Government is committed to providing opportunities to participate in shaping inclusive policies that promote mitigation of climate change in line with our Public Engagement Strategy for Climate Change. We are aiming to engage with stakeholders and members of the public during 2023 to inform the development of the next Climate Change Plan. This is in advance of a public consultation which will commence when the draft Climate Change Plan is laid in Parliament later in 2023 for a period of at least 120 days of scrutiny.

We are engaging on the next Climate Change Plan with stakeholders through a variety of means including the Climate Change Plan Advisory Group (CCPAG) and the Climate Policy Engagement Network. The CCPAG includes representatives of academia, NGOs, business and industry and trade unions, and meetings are planned to take place up to October 2023. The Climate Policy Engagement Network will consist of representatives of key sectors of interest, organisations and relevant experts to enable meaningful participation in delivery of climate change policy. Additionally as the draft Climate Change Plan continues to be developed, we will continue engagement at a sectoral level with stakeholder representatives and we are exploring other opportunities to engage with other relevant interests.

The Scottish Government is a Living Wage accredited employer. As of 30 September 2022 9150 staff were directly employed by the Scottish Government and all are paid a salary at least equivalent to £11.48 per hour.

Circularity Scotland is delivering major inward investment to Scotland and protecting and creating jobs in recycling and logistics. Circularity Scotland has recently announced 140 new jobs for the scheme at a recycling plant in Motherwell, 70 jobs have already been announced for Aberdeen and further announcements will follow for sites in other locations including Skye, Inverness, Thurso, Dundee, Grangemouth and Oban, bringing a total of 500 new jobs to Scotland.

Scottish Government has funded Modernising Patient Pathways Programme (MPPP) which has a specific workstream continuing to promote improvements in Inflammatory Bowel Disease (IBD) care for patients across Scotland in partnership with third-sector and people with lived experience. Scotland’s national IBD Steering Group has identified priority areas for work over the next two years. This includes consideration of referral pathways and models of IBD care to drive a more standardised and equitable service across Scotland.

The information requested is not held centrally and is a matter for Public Health Scotland.