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The Scottish Government has funded two successful international projects to help tackle global challenges around period dignity. Funding of £100,000 was provided to Water Aid Foundation to support women in Rwanda, and just under £13,000 was provided to a project through the Freedom From Fistula Foundation in Malawi.

These projects helped communities make and sell reusable period products and generate an income for community members. Funding was also used to donate free products to school pupils in these countries. Both projects were funded in collaboration with international development programmes and through the social justice budget.

A suite of impact assessments has been updated to reflect the Deposit and Return Scheme for Scotland Amendment Regulations 2023, which changed the implementation date of the scheme to 1 March 2024, alongside a number of simplification measures.

Updated versions of the Islands Communities Impact Assessment, Fairer Scotland Impact Assessment and Equalities Impact Assessments will be published shortly, alongside a supplementary analysis to the Business and Regulatory Impact Assessment in light of the amendments laid in May

These changes pre-date my statement to Parliament on 7 June 2023 on the reset of date to 2025 as a result of conditions set by the UK Government very late in the process and I will be setting out detailed proposals for Parliament as appropriate.

In line with the DRS governance structure, officials meet regularly with a range of stakeholders from multiple sectors to discuss operational issues including barcodes for DRS articles.

There are no barcode requirements with Scotland’s DRS Regulations. Producers must provide SEPA with relevant information that supports the identification of scheme articles, which may include barcodes.

Decisions over barcodes rest with drinks producers and the scheme administrator, and will depend on a range of factors.

The Scottish Government has received legal advice on matters relating to DRS on an ongoing basis as appropriate. The content of any legal advice is confidential. By long-standing convention, successive Scottish and Westminster Governments have not disclosed the source or content of legal advice other than in the most exceptional circumstances.

The First Minister and myself met on 7 June 2023 to discuss the Deposit Return Scheme.

The Scottish Government is working closely with the Office of the Public Guardian (Scotland) (OPG) who have responsibility for registering powers of attorney in Scotland to highlight the concerns about recognition of these with UK financial institutions.

OPG have engaged directly with UK financial organisations when they have been made aware of common or recurring issues that require attention and on a case by case basis when needed.

OPG are planning a series of information based events later in 2023, aimed specifically at staff in UK financial organisations, with the aim of raising awareness of OPG’s role and of the financial provisions of the Adults with Incapacity legislation. The feedback will be raised at a meeting OPG is attending with Scottish banking representatives in August 2023.

OPG is also currently working in collaboration with colleagues from OPG England and similar departments in Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland, with the intention of delivering or preparing cross border training to highlight key differences in process and terminology across the jurisdictions as well as raising awareness of recognition issues. The aim of these efforts is to lead to a more cohesive and collaborative approach with the banks.

The Scottish Government has made a 14.5% pay offer to Junior Doctors covering the period of 2022-24. This represents a £61.3 million investment in junior doctor pay - the largest in the last 20 years and the best offer in the UK. This will be funded from within the Health and Social Care budget.

The following table illustrates the number of boarding's in Scottish waters by Marine Scotland Vessels each year since 2009.

We are unable to provide the information requested as we do not have access to data on doctors entering training in parts of the UK other than Scotland, or who have left to pursue other careers or overseas opportunities.

From 2010 to 2019 the UK Foundation programme carried out a career destination survey of all F2 doctors. The UK F2 Career Destinations Reports used data collated from an annual UK-wide survey of outgoing F2 doctors. These reports helped to understand career aspirations and career destinations if known. This report was discontinued in 2020 due to Covid-19.

Scottish Government has not had any recent direct engagement with the UK Government regarding cross-border recognition of powers of attorney granted in Scotland.

However, in previous meetings both parties have agreed the existing legislation allows for automatic recognition of powers of attorney in both jurisdictions. Difficulty in recognition is an issue of the training and knowledge of those being presented with a power of attorney from a different jurisdiction.