Seòmar agus comataidhean

The weather conditions and condition of the vegetation on the hills and moors of Scotland at this time of year lend themselves to fires starting easily and spreading quickly. This is something the Scottish Fire and Rescue Service (SFRS) is very aware of, and has been working closely with a number of key partners on this for some time to establish a common understanding on the risk, prevention measures, and response procedures. Through the auspices of the Scottish Wildfire Forum (SWF), which SFRS chairs, a wildfire danger assessment is carried out every 5-7 days by a third party expert, and when the risk of wildfire reaches very high or extreme then the assessment is circulated across a wide network of key contacts, including public sector and private to ensure as wide a coverage as possible. This information is also used to produce a public facing message that is issued by SFRS across various media channels.

As stated in the response to the member to parliamentary question S6W-15750, climate change is identified as a strategic priority in the Scottish Government’s Fire and Rescue Framework for Scotland 2022. The Framework asks SFRS to continue to invest in the provision of specialist resources, technological advancements and forward thinking operational practices to enhance its response to wildfire incidents. It states that SFRS should continue to make use of local assets available to bolster its response during prolonged or widespread incidents such as wildfire.

We are already seeing warming here in Scotland, with more extreme weather events and rising sea levels. As a nation we must continue to adapt to these changes and prepare for the impacts of global climate change which are already locked in. The Scottish Government is responding to the full range of climate risks identified for Scotland through its 2019 Adaptation Programme, which sets out more than 170 policies and proposals to build resilience to the impacts of global climate change as part of our Just Transition to net zero emissions by 2045. We are also preparing our next Programme, in response to the most recent UK Climate Change Risk Assessment, for publication in 2024.

The National Planning Improvement Champion will support improvement within the Scottish planning system. Recruitment for this new post, which will be based within the Improvement Service, is underway. Applications were invited by 31 March 2023 and are currently being assessed. We hope to have a successful candidate in post very soon.

Gateway Review teams normally speak with 12-15 interviewees including relevant commercial and external stakeholders (e.g. prime contractors and consultants). For the latest review, reviewers spoke to 45 people which included CSL, a range of producers, retailers, wholesaler, hospitality representatives, SEPA, Zero Waste Scotland and Scottish Government.

For this review, the interview team selected their chosen interviewees based on the information gathered from the previous gateway reviews as well as their understanding of Scotland’s Deposit Return Scheme (DRS).

The Scottish Government continues to engage with the Scottish Hospitality Group, and they attended a round table meeting with the First Minister and myself to discuss DRS on 20 April 2023.

The Scottish Government’s heat and energy efficiency schemes are not designed to act as an emergency response for households who have experienced a sudden failure in their heating system.

Support is available through Scottish Government schemes for households who want to make the move to zero direct emission heating systems, including through the Home Energy Scotland (HES) Grant and Loan Scheme and the Warmer Homes Scotland (WHS) Scheme.

The HES Grant and Loan Scheme offers homeowners grant funding of up to £7,500, with an additional £7,500 of funding available as an interest free loan to support the installation of zero direct emissions heating. The scheme is delivered through a consumer-led model where funding is applied for by the household directly, who in turn is responsible for sourcing an approved installer and paying funding to them once works are complete.

The WHS Scheme is the Scottish Government’s national fuel poverty scheme, designed to make homes warmer for those living in, or at risk of, fuel poverty through the installation of insulation and heating measures into individual properties. The scheme does not provide funding directly to applicants, but is claimed directly by the managing agent after the installation of measures. Measures are entirely grant funded in the majority of cases.

Zero Waste Scotland seeks to raise awareness of the benefits of responsible consumption by promoting the benefits of reuse. This is regularly done through communications campaigns promoting the Revolve programme, actions such as Pass It On Week and European Week for Waste Reduction, and encouraging individuals to reuse items and choose second-hand. Its recent carbon metric publication highlighted the impact of textiles waste.

Zero Waste Scotland is working to support businesses in understanding the benefits of circular business models which support the waste hierarchy, including hosting an upcoming textiles specific webinar.

All Scottish Government buildings offer gender-specific toilet facilities as well as accessible facilities which are gender-neutral. Five buildings also offer gender-neutral facilities in addition to gender-specific facilities.

More than 670 producers responsible for more than 2 billion drinks containers have signed up with Circularity Scotland – this represents the full range of drink producers from global brands to small craft breweries and distilleries.

This means 95% of the annual total volume of products are included in scheme.

Producers must be registered by 12 January 2024 to guarantee that they will be able to sell scheme products when the scheme launches on 1 March. Those who register after this time will be able to sell scheme products when their registration is approved.

As set out in the DRS Regulations, SEPA will publish a register of all producers who are registered ahead of the scheme launching.

Medicines used in prisons related to drug misuse and dependence will be made available in line with the UK-wide Guidelines on Clinical Management and should be approved for use by the Scottish Medicines Consortium. Records of medicines used in prisons are maintained by NHS National Services Scotland. From its records the list of medicines can be found below:

Methadone - Methadone is prescribed to prevent the illicit use of opiate and opioid drugs.

Buprenorphine –Buprenorphine is also prescribed to prevent the use of illicit opiate and opioid drugs.

Naltrexone –Naltrexone would be prescribed to prevent relapse use of opiate and opioids (not widely prescribed treatment).

Dihydrocodeine (DHC) – DHC is used as part of the safe management of withdrawal protocols. The objective of the DHC safe withdrawal symptom is to manage withdrawal symptoms and prevent patients from seeking opiates or opioids.

Diazepam – Diazepam is used as part of a safe management of withdrawal protocol for those who come into custody and have a positive urine test for a benzodiazepine. Diazepam is prescribed in a reducing dose protocol to safely manage withdrawals.

Acamprosate – is used to maintain abstinence in alcohol use in those who were previously heavy drinkers.

Disufiram – is an alcohol deterrent drug . Both acamprosate and disulfiram must be accompanied by appropriate supportive treatment.

The Deposit Return Scheme consumer campaign, which will be led by Circularity Scotland Ltd, has yet to begin. It will commence in the run up to the scheme’s launch next year to ensure consumers are aware of the launch date and how the scheme will work.

Monitoring and analysis work will commence shortly after the launch of Scotland’s Deposit Return Scheme (DRS). This work was originally scheduled to begin in early 2024.

Following the decision to move the scheme’s launch to 1 March 2024, this work will be rescheduled accordingly.