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The Scottish Government remains committed to the 2021 manifesto commitment to deliver a new community hearing service. We recognise the difficulties facing the audiology sector, as highlighted by the 2023 report on the Independent Review of Audiology. Given 80% of audiology care is serviced through the NHS, it is right that we consider Review recommendations in any future work and this, together with the wider financial context, has necessitated the rephasing of our manifesto commitment.

Alongside evidence from existing models across the UK, our decision making will be informed by working with the NHS, third sector, private providers and those with lived experience.

As noted in my answer to S6W-37468 the Scottish Government are taking forward work as part of our Tobacco and Vapes Framework to review the impact and potential implementation of further place based restrictions alongside a review of the implementation of restrictions on hospital grounds.

ASH Scotland are carrying out that review, with engagement having been undertaken with a broad range of stakeholders across Scotland including academics, trading standards, environmental health and NHS facilities managers.

The report will be published later this year and I look forward to receiving it. I will consider the recommendations on next steps, alongside other evidence as part of identifying options for consultation.

Scottish Government officials engage regularly with waste industry stakeholders to ensure clarity and avoid misunderstanding of Scottish waste legislation and to assist with any changes in regulatory approach.

In terms of strategy, the Scottish Government published Scotland’s Circular Economy and Waste Route Map to 2030 in December 2024, following extensive collaboration and consultation with a wide range of stakeholders. The Route Map sets out how we will deliver priority actions to accelerate more sustainable use of our resources across the waste hierarchy. It takes a whole system approach to deliver coordinated, properly sequenced actions, designed to deliver cumulative impact and wider benefits to Scotland.

The Route Map can be viewed at the following link - Scotland's circular economy and waste route map to 2030 - gov.scot

Following the fire at the WEEE Solutions site in Linwood in June 2024, I asked my officials to consider the safety of these sites and battery energy storage (BESS) sites. In particular, this was to examine whether existing safety provisions and regulations are sufficiently robust, whilst also considering compliance and enforcement aspects.

This concluded that the current legislative and regulatory framework is sufficiently robust, recognising however that it is complex and requires inter-agency cooperation to be effective. Moreover, responsibility also lies with the operators of waste, recycling and BESS sites to ensure that they have effective and robust arrangements in place to minimise the fire risk involved with the disposal and storage of batteries.

Also, on 4 April Siobhian Brown MSP, Minister for Victims and Community Safety, wrote to all MSPs and MPs to highlight the recent work that the Scottish Fire and Rescue Service (SFRS) has undertaken recently concerning public safety awareness on the use of lithium-ion batteries.

Moving forward, Scottish Government officials are working with sector partners to host a workshop in the near future in order to further explore these issues and to identify if any potential changes can be made to reduce the risk of fire at recycling centres.

Given the nature of operating a refinery, significant regular operational expenditure would be required, alongside frequent capital expenditure, to enable the asset to continue operating - and we continue to urge the UK Government to leave no stone unturned when it comes to securing the future and the workforce of the site.

The public and business community should be confident that the Scottish Government is committed to attracting and securing investment in Grangemouth’s future, underpinned by our £25 million Grangemouth Just Transition Fund which will be utilised to support near term low carbon opportunities identified by the Grangemouth Investment Taskforce and Project Willow.

From May 2021 to date, £9,419,808 has been spent on the provision, maintenance and servicing of free bikes. This figure includes the cost of accessories such as locks, lights and helmets, and includes the total cost of the project associated with free bike provision. This includes bikes distributed under the Free Bikes for School Children pilot programme between August 2021 and March 2023, the Free Bikes Partnership in financial year 2023-24, and under the Regional Transport Partnership-led People and Place programme in financial year 2024-25.

Due to reporting schedules, the final evaluation of the People and Place programme for financial year 2024-25 has not been completed at the time of writing. The free bikes data for 2024-25 may therefore be subject to change.

The Scottish Government remains committed to supporting our livestock farmers in playing a full part in Scotland’s journey to net zero, including by reducing methane emissions in ways that strengthen farm productivity and resilience. The Scottish Government has no policy to reduce the national herd, our approach focuses on reducing emissions intensity rather than livestock numbers, through improvements in genetics, low-methane breeding, and we continue to explore opportunities around appropriate uptake of methane-suppressing feed products.

We also recognise the importance of evidence and practical tools for supporting change on-farm. That’s why we’ve introduced new calving interval conditionality to the Scottish Suckler Beef Support Scheme, helping farmers increase efficiency while lowering emissions. We are also supporting farmers through data-driven tools like MyHerdStats, which provides herd performance metrics to help identify opportunities for improvement.

We will continue working with the sector to ensure it thrives as part of a climate-smart food system, while recognising the importance of Scotland’s livestock products to UK and international markets.

The Scottish Government spend with Total Politics Group in each of the last 5 financial years is detailed in the following tables. For FY2024-25 the spend has been broken down by Directorate.

On Monday 2 June the alcohol ban on ScotRail trains was lifted and replaced with new rules, allowing alcohol consumption at certain times.

The ban was upheld by Railway Byelaw 4 (2) which states that a passenger with intoxicating liquor can be prevented from entering, or be asked to leave the railway. This Byelaw will also support the new timed restrictions and intelligence-led alcohol bans.

Enforcement of the alcohol ban has always been the responsibility of the British Transport Police (BTP).Having timed alcohol restrictions and intelligence-led bans will allow BTP to target its resource to specific services and permit a more focussed enforcement.

The Scottish Government recognise that antisocial behaviour is complex and no single factor can explain why some people or groups are at higher risk of committing acts of antisocial behaviour. Our Vision for Justice in Scotland commits to tackling underlying causes through a public health approach, supported by the ecological framework. This considers how individual, relationship, community, and societal factors interact to influence behaviour. Evidence also shows that reducing crime, including antisocial behaviour, requires a combination of strategies: addressing root causes, deterring offending by increasing perceived risks of offending, and reducing opportunities to offend.