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Used Cooking Oil (UCO) is classified as Controlled Waste under the Environmental Protection Act (1990). As a result, its storage, handling and transportation are subject to strict regulatory requirements.

A priority action in the Scottish Government’s Circular Economy and Waste Route Map to 2030 is to co-design a new statutory Code of Practice for household recycling. This will set national standards for waste collection services across Scotland, helping to increase recycling rates and cut emissions. The potential for introducing new household recycling collection services is being explored as part of the co-design.

The Route Map also sets out plans to co-design measures to improve commercial waste service provisions (commencing by 2030). We expect the scope of this work to include consideration of Controlled Waste streams such as UCO.

Zero Waste Scotland has an advice page on recycling options for cooking oils Used cooking oil | Recycling | How to Waste Less - from this, small amounts of cooking oil, can be disposed of in your food waste recycling service.

The Scottish Government’s official guidance, published on 17 July 2025, was developed in close collaboration with animal welfare organisations, industry, and enforcement partners. There are currently no plans to introduce additional measures.

The Scottish Government considers the welfare of farmed fish at the time of slaughter is protected through Article 3.1 of retained Council Regulation (EC) 1099/2009, which requires that animals are spared any avoidable pain, distress, or suffering during killing and related operations.

The Scottish Government will continue to engage constructively with the UK Government and stakeholders to find ways to further improve the welfare of farmed fish throughout the lifecycle.

The Scottish Government is clear that there is an important role for bioenergy, including biofuels, in reducing emissions and contributing to our circular economy ambitions.

We are currently engaging with potential projects, particularly via the Grangemouth Investor Taskforce, which could not only increase our domestic production of biofuels, but also secure an industrial future for Grangemouth.

On 1 June 2025, the Scottish Government introduced a ban on the sale and supply of single-use vapes in the course of business in Scotland. This fulfilled our 2023 Programme for Government commitment to take measures to tackle the environmental impact of single-use vapes. The ban was introduced alongside wider measures to require all retailers of vapes to provide a take back service for used vapes, and to strengthen recycling obligations on vape producers.

As a result of the ban, it has been illegal to sell or supply single-use vapes in the course of business in Scotland, and across the UK, for eight months. Public polling conducted by Keep Scotland Beautiful in August 2025, shortly after the introduction of the ban, showed a slight decrease in the percentage of people reporting vapes in litter than the previous year. The ban was also welcomed by a range of civic society and environmental groups. However, it remains too early to assess the impact of the ban as robust data are not yet available. We will be reviewing the longer-term policy outcomes in alignment with other nations, with the aim of publishing a full evaluation in 2028. We also continue to assess whether any further policy measures are required to address the environmental impact of vapes and support a circular economy.

The Scottish Fire and Rescue Service (SFRS) do not systematically record all of this information but reports that they are aware of the following:

Under the Environmental Protection Act 1990, local authorities in Scotland have a statutory duty to clear litter from all verges and roads, including trunk roads such as the A75. Transport Scotland, through its trunk road Operating Companies, is responsible for clearing litter from motorways and special roads.

Transport Scotland and its Operating Companies regularly meet with local authority officials to discuss trunk road related matters. The trunk road network is inspected on a weekly basis and where littering and litter collection is identified as an issue – or where complaints are received by members of the public – our Operating Companies report these to the appropriate local authority for their attention. If the issue relates to litter on a motorway or special road, the operating company actions the appropriate response.

To ensure our Operating Company contracts deliver value for money, Transport Scotland has in place the Performance Audit Group who audit, monitor and report on the financial, technical and performance aspects of the Operating Companies to ensure standards are being met.

The First Minister issued a letter of reprove to the Justice Secretary on 6 January. A copy of this letter is available here: Ministerial Code investigation: First Minister letter to Justice Secretary - gov.scot.

A note of the call was written and shared with civil servants in Private Office on 2 December. Private Office shared this with other civil servants and Special Advisers on 11 December.

As I explained at the Education, Children and Young People Committee on 17 December 2025, an official was not present on the call as I felt it was important to make a personal apology to Alexis Jay. Although I took a note of that discussion, the Independent Advisers acknowledged that that was an “error of judgement”, and Ministers have unreservedly accepted their conclusion that an official should have been present.

The Scottish Government does not collect or publish data on the total number of DFN Project Search internship places available in Scotland.

However, with the implementation of Specialist Employability Support in July 2025 as part of our devolved employability offer, the Scottish Government agreed amended reporting requirements with delivery partners. These requirements will provide information on different types of specialist support models, including DFN project search. This information will be published in our next statistics publication on 11th February.