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An underlying principle of producer responsibility policies for packaging, covering the existing package recovery notes (PRN) system, reforms to Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) for packaging, and the Deposit Return Scheme (DRS) for single use drinks containers, is that a producer should not be double-obligated for the same item of packaging.

This means that drinks containers in scope of DRS will not be in scope of EPR reforms. Packaging EPR reforms will replace the existing PRN system for household packaging waste. All three producer responsibility systems operate across the whole of the UK.

Impact assessments have been conducted for both DRS and packaging EPR. Consideration is given to cumulative effect of the proposed reforms and any interactions they may have with other regulations. Impact assessments are available at:

Packaging EPR: Impact Assessment (defra.gov.uk)

The Packaging Waste (Data Reporting) (Scotland) Regulations 2023 (legislation.gov.uk)

DRS: Deposit return scheme - Managing waste - gov.scot (www.gov.scot)

Social Security Scotland know some people have waited too long for a Child Disability Payment decision to be made, including some of those with cancer. Urgent improvement action has been taken by Social Security Scotland to speed up processing times. The latest published figures show around 25% more applications were processed in the last quarter than any other since the benefit launched. Social Security Scotland expect further impact of our improvement work to reflect in the coming months.

Social Security Scotland has a fast-track process for people who are terminally ill, called Special Rules for Terminal Illness (SRTI), they aim to make decisions within seven working days of receiving a completed SRTI application and Benefits Assessment for Special Rules in Scotland (BASRiS) form.

We recognise the incredible contribution that all of Scotland’s unpaid carers make to our communities as well as the pressures many carers are under. We are implementing our National Carers Strategy which sets out a cross-government approach to carers issues, including through social care, social security policies and supporting carers in employment and education.

Carers in Scotland already benefit from extra financial support through our Carer's Allowance Supplement, which by the end of this year will have provided eligible carers with £3,300 above Carer’s Allowance since its introduction.

Our Carer Support Payment will begin to replace Carer’s Allowance this month, providing unpaid carers with income in recognition of their caring role and helping them access opportunities outside of caring. Carers in Scotland getting Carer’s Allowance and Carer Support Payment will continue to benefit from Carer’s Allowance Supplement.

Adult social care workers delivering direct care in commissioned services will see their pay increase to a minimum of £12 per hour from April 2024. This increase represents an increase of over 10% from the £10.90 minimum rate that was introduced in April 2023.

I would encourage anyone who is struggling due to a caring role to contact their social work department or local carer centre, and speak to them about what help they may be able to offer.

The Scottish Government has committed to introducing a new Human Rights Bill in the current Parliamentary year. The consultation on the proposals closed on 5 October 2023 and the responses received are currently being independently analysed.

The Human Rights Bill will incorporate a wide range of internationally recognised human rights belonging to everyone in Scotland, into Scots law within the limits of devolved competence. Our proposals would mean that for the first time in our domestic legal framework, duty bearers have to comply with the rights in the International Convention on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (including the right to health) and actively consider the rights in the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities when making decisions and delivering public services.

The Scottish Government is committed to ensuring that all adults who require rehabilitation have timely access to the right information and services by the end of 2025 through our Once for Scotland Rehabilitation Approach. This is supported by NHS Boards and Health and Social Care Partnerships, encouraging cross-sector working with third and leisure sectors to support community-based services and supported self-management. We are working with key partners to deliver this.

The Scottish Government closely monitor excess deaths statistics and work closely with our analytical partners Public Health Scotland (PHS) and National Records of Scotland (NRS) to understand the causes of excess deaths.

NRS are responsible for publishing Scotland’s excess deaths statistics, which includes breakdowns by cause of death.

A British Medical Journal editorial from the four UK Chief Medical Officers acknowledged that the UK, like many other European countries is currently experiencing substantial excess mortality. This editorial highlights the reasons behind this excess mortality are likely to be multifactorial, including persisting direct and indirect effects of COVID-19, surges in flu and respiratory infections, significant pressures on NHS acute services, and reductions in secondary prevention as an inevitable part of the response to COVID-19.

The Scottish Government has a long-standing commitment to the principles of Fair-Work for the social care sector as we recognise and value the work that they do.

The £12 minimum pay-rate from April 2024 for Adult Social Care workers represents a 14.3% increase for these workers in the last two years; with pay rising from at least £10.50 per hour in April 2022.

We have continued to progress a number of key projects to take forward and improve Fair Work principles, which will not only improve the current experience of the workforce, but also help to attract and retain new staff into the workforce.

We will also continue to build a National Care Service that has Fair Work, Ethical Commissioning and Sectoral Bargaining at its heart.

In developing the actions within Scotland’s National Innovation Strategy, including our Innovation Funding Review, we engaged extensively with a diverse and extensive range of institutions, organisations and stakeholders from across the innovation ecosystem.

This included a public consultation, events, workshops and engagements with businesses from a range of different sectors and sizes across the country, industry leadership groups, all of our universities and colleges, our innovation centres, investors, entrepreneurs and the wider public sector including our enterprise and skills agencies.

As we further develop the Innovation Funding Review we will continue to utilise this evidence-led, open, inclusive and collaborative approach to ensure we meet the needs of our diverse innovation community.

The information requested is not held centrally.

NHS National Services Scotland has commissioned NHS Lothian to develop a National Learning Disability Child and Adolescent Mental Health Inpatient Unit. This Unit is currently in the planning stages. As part of the development of this service, we have established a National Learning Disability Consultation Service for mental health teams responsible for the care of young people with intellectual disability, which aims to support local CAMHS teams to manage young people’s care safely in the community.

In the small number of instances where a young person with a learning disability and mental health condition requires admission to a mental health inpatient unit, they would be admitted to an adolescent inpatient unit in England, via the cross-border transfer process.

Published figures on the most recent and historical numbers of patients that have been admitted to hospital can be found within the within the Annual Acute Activity publication, which was published on 26 September 2023 by Public Health Scotland. The publication can be found below:

Acute hospital activity and NHS beds information (annual) - Annual – year ending 31 March 2023 - Acute hospital activity and NHS beds information (annual) - Publications - Public Health Scotland

Published data is only available for a ten year period, from financial year 2013-14 to financial year 2022-23, and is only available at a Scotland level. Data on patient activity is presented in Table 2 – inpatient and day case activity, and the measure of interest can be found by selecting the NHS board of residence in the indicator drop down and either stays, episodes or patients within the measure drop down. Figures where ‘no fixed abode’ will then be listed in the table.

Menopause care and support is a top priority in the Women’s Health Plan . Progress against the menopause actions can be found in our Women’s Health Plan: Report on Progress and Interim Progress Update 2023 .

Since the publication of the Interim Progress Update, the development of a menopause public health campaign has begun and this is planned at present to be delivered within the current financial year. We are also continuing to promote menopause information on the NHS Inform Women’s Health Platform, and in October 2023 we held a ‘Talk Menopause’ panel session with The Alliance to raise women’s awareness of the menopause and menopause symptoms.

The NHSScotland Menopause and Menstrual Health Policy was launched on 31 October 2023. Whilst the policy was written specifically for NHS Scotland, the supporting resources, including line managers’ guidance and workplace adjustment guidance, are intended for use more widely and are available on the National Wellbeing Hub .