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The Scottish Government and delivery partners such as Circularity Scotland, SEPA, and Zero Waste Scotland have regularly engaged with businesses on the Deposit Return Scheme. There are a number issues which businesses are working with partners on to ensure all involved are ready for launch on 1 March.

We have taken action to address a number of matters which are within our control and which businesses had raised concerns about. These include, but are not limited to:

• needing more preparation time to ready their business for the launch - we have given businesses an additional six and a half months to prepare for the scheme launch.

• impact on the hospitality industry - we exempted all premises that sell 90% or over of their drinks products for consumption on the premises from acting as a return point.
• impact on small producers – we completely excluded from the scheme products that sells fewer than 5,000 items a year.
• miniatures and other smaller containers may cause problems at return points – we completely excluded from the scheme all drinks containers under 100ml.
• administrative burden for retailers applying for exemptions – we have simplified the online process for retailers to apply for an exemption from operating a return point.

As we continue to prepare for a successful launch of the scheme we continue to wait on the UK Government to take any action to agree an exclusion from the Internal Market Act.

The Scottish Government welcomes Sumitomo’s proposed investment in Scotland and is working closely with our enterprise agencies and other partners to support the investment and ensure it delivers maximum benefit for Scotland. Sumitomo has confirmed more than £200m in investment and the creation of 150 highly skilled green jobs. The specific location and opening dates have yet to be confirmed. Highlands and Islands Enterprise (HIE) has agreed to the principle of financial support should it be required to help realise Sumitomo’s ambitions, but no funding commitment has been made.

Development Trusts and others taking forward community led housing already have access to the demand-led £30 million Rural and Islands Housing Fund. This fund already supports community organisations to bring forward new housing projects, or to renovate empty homes or to convert commercial or non-domestic premises into residential accommodation to meet local housing needs including through the attraction or retention of economically active households.

The Rural and Islands Housing Fund has £11.8 million remaining available to allocate during this parliamentary term to fully developed, consented main fund project applications in rural and island communities.

Up to £30 million is being made available to the Rural and Islands Housing Fund during this parliamentary term.

A total of 56 homes have been completed through the Rural and Islands Housing Fund since November 2021. The following table provides a breakdown by local authority area.

I refer the member to the answer to question S6W-17667 on 17 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

We remain committed to the expansion of free school meals in primary and special schools as described in our programme for government. All food and drink, including free school meals, served in local authority and grant aided schools must meet the standards set out in the Nutritional Standards for Food and Drink in Schools (Scotland) Regulations 2020. What produce is used and where it is sourced from is a matter for individual local authorities taking into account local needs, priorities and circumstances as well as their duty to consider sustainable development as they procure food and drink for school menus.

However, the member raises an important matter. I have asked to meet with the Cabinet Secretary for Rural Affairs to discuss the points raised by this question in more detail.

All food and drink served in local authority and grant aided schools must meet the standards set out within The Nutritional Requirements for Food and Drink in Schools (Scotland) Regulations 2020. These Regulations are supported by statutory guidance on ‘Healthy Eating in Schools’, which is available on the Scottish Government’s website through the following link: Healthy eating in schools: guidance 2020 - gov.scot (www.gov.scot) .

Whilst local authorities and schools are required to meet the standards set out within the school food and drink Regulations, any decisions about the type produce used, and where it is sourced from, are for individual local authorities, who should take into account local needs, priorities and circumstances as well as their duty to consider sustainable development as they procure food and drink for their school menus.

Since these Regulations were first introduced, we have expanded the availability of universal free school lunches during school term-time to include all children in primaries 1 to 5 at publicly-funded schools. We remain committed to the expansion of free school meals in primary and special schools as described in our programme for government.

A consultation on the final Scottish Biodiversity Strategy and its first Delivery Plan will take place over Summer 2023. Publication of the final versions of both the Scottish Biodiversity Strategy and the first Delivery Plan will follow in Autumn 2023.