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As announced at the annual Scottish Resources Conference on the 27 September 2017, 17 awards have been offered through the Circular Economy Investment Fund totalling over £4.2 million.

A total of six businesses have been identified by the Scottish Environment Protection Agency (SEPA) as being non-compliant for
6 months. These businesses have been given advice and a letter from SEPA setting out how to comply. Further inspections to confirm that they have become compliant with the Waste Regulations are scheduled in November 2017.

No businesses have been identified by SEPA as being non-compliant for 12 months or more.

In 2016, the Scottish Environment Protection Agency (SEPA) was granted powers by the Scottish Parliament to use civil penalties including a Fixed Monetary Penalty (FMP) of £300. SEPA identified the duty for businesses to separate material for recycling as a suitable area to utilise this new enforcement tool and designed an enforcement campaign targeting the most persistent offenders.

In partnership with service providers, SEPA identified around 75 businesses across Scotland which had previously been unwilling to recycle. Following further inspections, over 90% of these businesses changed behaviour.

Of the businesses identified as being long term non compliant, two FMPs have been issued for persistent failure to separate food waste and further inspections of the others are scheduled for November 2017.

Fish farmers are required to submit an escape initial notification form which includes details of any of any treatments administered for which the fish are in a withdrawal as detailed in Schedule 1C of The Aquatic Animal Health (Miscellaneous Modifications) (Scotland) Regulations 2011. This could include treatments completed greater than four weeks prior to the escape. Fish farmers are not required to notify of recent treatments for which there is no withdrawal period.

Fish are not released deliberately from fish farms, with the exception of those businesses who supply put and take fisheries for the provision of sport angling. On occasion circumstances may cause the escape of fish from fish farms. The Scottish Government is not considering making the escape of farmed fish an offence. The Aquaculture and Fisheries (Scotland) Act 2007 requires that fish farms have satisfactory measures in place to contain fish, prevent escapes and recover escaped fish. In addition the Aquatic Animal Health (Scotland) Regulations 2009 (as amended) require fish farms to immediately notify Scottish Ministers of any escape of farmed fish or of the circumstances which gave rise to a significant risk of an escape of farmed fish and failure to comply with requirements may result in service of an enforcement notice, suspension or revocation of the Authorisation to operate as an Aquaculture Production Business or proceedings for an offence.

The detailed impacts of electric vehicle (EV) uptake and integration will depend on many factors, including the increasing use of smart technologies to manage the interface between EVs and the electricity networks, as well as the ways in which future networks are operated and regulated. The Scottish Government will work closely with Ofgem, and with the network owners and operators, as these solutions and approaches are developed.

The risk to the public of consuming treated escaped farmed salmon is negligible although caution should always be applied when there is any uncertainty around the provenance.

Guidance on the handling of any farmed caught salmon by anglers is available at http://www.gov.scot/Topics/marine/Salmon-Trout-Coarse/fishreform/licence/

No fish farms have been prosecuted for releasing farmed fish. This is not a statutory offence. Equally an escape of farmed fish is not an offence although there is a requirement for notification to the Fish Health Inspectorate.

Scottish Government, through Marine Scotland Science, has developed and published a theoretical modelling framework that might be used to consider genetic impacts of farmed salmon and is currently part of a consortium developing new genetic tools for assessing the degree to which genetic material from escaped farmed salmon may have become incorporated into wild populations. SG previously funded development of genetic tools through Rivers and Fisheries Trusts and has conducted experiments to examine the dispersal of farmed fish escapees on the Scottish west coast.

Ministers and officials are in regular contact with Ofgem to discuss a wide range of energy market and policy matters. These include the issues raised by our draft energy strategy and low-carbon ambitions for network investment and infrastructure. We will continue to work closely with Ofgem as we develop our plans in more detail.