- Asked by: Maurice Golden, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Friday, 24 June 2022
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Current Status:
Answered by Lorna Slater on 21 July 2022
To ask the Scottish Government how many specialist food and drink retailers producing hampers, parcels and gift sets it has engaged with on its deposit return scheme, broken down by how many have responded to its contacts.
Answer
The Scottish Government has engaged with a wide range of drinks businesses throughout the policy development and implementation stages for our Deposit Return Scheme (DRS), including through two stages of consultation (running from 25 June 2018 – 25 September 2018 and 10 September 2019 – 10 December 2019) which any business could participate in. We have not carried out any engagement relating to DRS specifically directed at retailers selling hampers, parcels, or gift sets, but many such retailers would have been captured by this wider engagement.
- Asked by: Maurice Golden, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Thursday, 23 June 2022
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Current Status:
Answered by Lorna Slater on 21 July 2022
To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S6W-08785 by Lorna Slater on 10 June 2022, whether it will provide a breakdown of all of the individual meetings that it has had with small brewers to discuss its Deposit Return Scheme since 21 July 2021.
Answer
Since July 2021 we have met representatives of small brewers on the following occasions: 5 August 2021, 7 September 2021, and 28 October 2021. This is in addition to small brewers’ representatives participating in wider Scottish Government engagement such as the DRS System-Wide Assurance Group.
- Asked by: Finlay Carson, MSP for Galloway and West Dumfries, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Friday, 24 June 2022
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Current Status:
Answered by Lorna Slater on 21 July 2022
To ask the Scottish Government when it will publish the (a) full details of the evaluation process for deciding on new national parks and (b) timelines for the process.
Answer
Part of the current national conversation about our National Parks is aimed at developing an Evaluation Framework to identify the next areas to be progressed to National Park status. The Scottish Government and NatureScot will shortly be announcing the second phase of this consultation, at which time further details of the process will be published.
- Asked by: Liam McArthur, MSP for Orkney Islands, Scottish Liberal Democrats
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Date lodged: Friday, 24 June 2022
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Current Status:
Answered by Lorna Slater on 21 July 2022
To ask the Scottish Government, when the 2025 landfill ban comes into force in
Scotland, whether residual waste will be exported to England to meet the
capacity gap identified in the independent review of the role of incineration
in the waste hierarchy and, if this is the case, whether it has identified
which facilities in England this waste will go to, and, if it has, whether it
will provide details of (a) the facilities involved and (b) how they will
manage the exported waste.
Answer
The recent independent review of the role of incineration found that while there may be temporary under-capacity of residual waste treatment in Scotland in 2025, when the ban on landfilling biodegradable municipal waste comes into force, there is a risk of long-term overcapacity beginning from 2026 or 2027, if all or most of the incineration capacity in the pipeline is built.
The review noted that export is one of the short-term options for the treatment of residual waste in order to bridge the expected capacity gap. However, we will continue to work closely with local authorities and commercial operators to support those that do not currently have solutions to treat their residual waste ahead of the forthcoming ban on landfilling biodegradable municipal waste in 2025, taking account of the recommendations of the independent review and ongoing assessment of residual waste requirements and available capacity.
- Asked by: Dean Lockhart, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Friday, 24 June 2022
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Current Status:
Answered by Lorna Slater on 21 July 2022
To ask the Scottish Government, in light of the report Stop, Sort, Burn, Bury? Independent Review of the Role of Incineration in the Waste Hierarchy in Scotland, whether it will be reporting emissions from incineration separately from other energy-related emissions.
Answer
Official statistics on Scottish greenhouse gas emissions are published annually and used to monitor progress towards Scotland’s statutory emissions reduction targets. These statistics are based on a disaggregation of the UK Greenhouse Gas (GHG) Inventory, which is overseen by the UK Government Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS) and compiled in line with international scientific guidance.
Currently, the UK Inventory does not allow for the isolation of data for emissions from waste incineration plants as opposed to other energy sector emissions. Decisions around the UK Inventory are a matter for BEIS and are informed by the UK National Inventory Steering Committee, which includes representation from Scottish Government officials.
As we outlined in our response to the independent review, we accept this recommendation and so we will work with BEIS and the UK National Inventory Steering Committee to explore the potential to break down our GHG inventory reporting to provide a separate Energy from Waste source within our future publications.
- Asked by: Maurice Golden, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 29 June 2022
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Current Status:
Answered by Lorna Slater on 21 July 2022
To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide a breakdown of the root causes behind the reported lack of significant progress in increasing Scotland’s household recycling rate relative to 2011, and, if no such breakdown exists, whether it will provide details of the steps that it is taking to conduct such an assessment.
Answer
On 30 May 2022 we published our consultation on Delivering Scotland’s circular economy – a Route Map to 2025 and beyond. The Route Map sets out system-wide interventions to help deliver Scotland’s transition to a zero waste and circular economy, significantly increase reuse and recycling rates, and modernise and improve waste and recycling services. The consultation is available here: Delivering Scotland’s circular economy: A Route Map to 2025 and beyond - Scottish Government - Citizen Space .
The accompanying technical annex summarises available evidence on factors driving the current national recycling performance, and the rationale for proposed Route Map actions. Key factors include infrastructure modernisation, specific geographical challenges contributing to local performance rate variation, technical or economic options for reuse or recycling of products, and the incentives and guidance in place to support recycling participation across our economy and society.
- Asked by: Finlay Carson, MSP for Galloway and West Dumfries, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Friday, 24 June 2022
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Current Status:
Answered by Lorna Slater on 21 July 2022
To ask the Scottish Government whether any changes in primary legislation in relation to the National Parks (Scotland) Act 2000 are being considered.
Answer
As part of the national conversation about our National Parks, we are considering the roles and functions National Park Authorities should have to help them continue delivering the aims set out in the 2000 Act, but also to play a key role in addressing the twin crises of biodiversity loss and climate change. We will consider consultation responses carefully, including any which propose changes to primary legislation.
- Asked by: Liam McArthur, MSP for Orkney Islands, Scottish Liberal Democrats
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Date lodged: Friday, 24 June 2022
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Current Status:
Answered by Lorna Slater on 21 July 2022
To ask the Scottish Government how much residual waste it anticipates exporting to
England in each year from 2025 onwards.
Answer
The recent independent review of the role of incineration found that while there may be a temporary under-capacity of residual waste treatment in Scotland in 2025, when the ban on landfilling biodegradable municipal waste comes into force, there is a risk of long-term overcapacity beginning from 2026 or 2027, if all or most of the incineration capacity in the pipeline is built.
The review noted that export is a feasible short-term option for the treatment of residual waste in order to bridge the expected capacity gap. Scottish Government will continue to work with local authorities and commercial operators to ensure they have solutions in place to manage their residual waste in 2025 and beyond, taking account of the recommendations of the independent review and ongoing assessment of residual waste requirements and available capacity.
- Asked by: Miles Briggs, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 06 July 2022
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Current Status:
Answered by Tom Arthur on 21 July 2022
To ask the Scottish Government how much funding has been provided under the Bellwin Scheme to each local authority area, in each year since 1999.
Answer
The additional revenue funding provided to local authorities under the Bellwin Scheme in each year since 1998-99 is set out in a document that has been placed in the Scottish Parliament Information Centre, Bib number 63530.
- Asked by: Miles Briggs, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 06 July 2022
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Current Status:
Answered by Keith Brown on 21 July 2022
To ask the Scottish Government how many local police stations have closed in each local authority area in each year since 1999.
Answer
Responsibility for the management of the police estate sits with the Scottish Police Authority and the Chief Constable.and as such are the holders of this information. The SPA’s Chief Executive, Lynn Brown, can be contacted at The Scottish Police Authority, 1 Pacific Quay, Glasgow, G51 1DZ.
The Police Scotland Estate Strategy, approved by the SPA in May 2019, provides a framework for planning the future of the police estate to support the long term vision of policing which includes enhanced partnership working, and seeks to respond to the changing needs of communities while maintaining public visibility and confidence.
