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The Scottish Government understands that a Dundee consortium, led by Abertay University, have been successful in their bid to house one of three regional CoSTAR labs, which attracts a portion of the £12.5m funding from the Arts and Humanities Research Council for these regional labs.

We welcome engagement with all relevant parties to help ensure the success of this project, and all work that contributes to a sustainable future for Scotland’s creative industries and related technology sectors.

The Scottish Government has not assessed the impacts of source reduction and separation on the availability of residual waste, specifically for the production of SAF, and other fuels, oil and chemicals. However, it is considering potential actions it could take on Sustainable Aviation Fuel (SAF) as it develops its aviation strategy.

The independent review of incineration assessed what residual waste capacity Scotland needs to manage Scotland’s unavoidable, unrecyclable residual waste. It modelled several scenarios, including the impact of meeting Scotland’s waste reduction and recycling targets, and concluded that, if all energy from waste facilities in the development pipeline are built to schedule, there is a risk of long-term overcapacity beginning from 2026 or 2027.

Since May 2021, the Scottish Government has not held any Ministerial meetings with All Perspectives Ltd, which owns GB News.

Within this period, Scottish Government culture officials have also not met with All Perspectives Ltd on either a formal or informal basis.

Since May 2021, the Scottish Government has had 5 Ministerial meetings with STV.  

As outcomes, there was a shared commitment to ensuring the sustainability of public service broadcasting, STV licence renewal, and support for the wider screen sector and creative industries.

Since May 2021, the Scottish Government has had 2 Ministerial meetings with Channel 4.

As outcomes the Scottish Government reiterated its opposition to the proposals from the UK Government to privatise Channel 4. We welcome that these proposals have now been dropped.

Also discussed were Channel 4’s wider plans and opportunities for Scotland Channel 4.

Since May 2021, the Scottish Government has not held any Ministerial meetings with Sky UK Limited.

Within this period, Scottish Government culture officials have also not met with Sky UK Limited on either a formal or informal basis.

Since May 2021, the Scottish Government has had 5 Ministerial meetings with the BBC.

As outcomes there is a shared their commitment to working positively and constructively to help deliver programming and skills training that benefits Scotland culturally and economically.

The judicial review was brought against Circularity Scotland, which is a private, non-profit entity, created by industry to act as the scheme administrator for DRS. The Scottish Government was not involved in the proceedings.

The court has found that CSL wrongly applied one aspect of the Deposit and Return Scheme for Scotland Regulations 2020 in setting the reasonable handling fee for retailers operating return points. The court did not find that the DRS Regulations are unlawful, nor did it find that the Scottish Government acted unlawfully in setting up DRS or in making the DRS Regulations. The Scottish Government will consider the decision in this case as well as any implications for the Deposit Return Scheme as we work towards launch of the scheme in October 2025 at the earliest.

We constantly review the operations of our international offices to ensure their work to promote Scotland remains measurable, transparent and provides value for money.

To help with this review process, each Scottish Government international office submits a monitoring and evaluation report every financial year which measures performance; monitors effectiveness and ensures they are achieving their strategic objectives.

Additionally, from December 2023 onwards, we will publish an Annual Report explaining how our international offices work to promote our values, objectives and priorities across the globe.

Whilst we intend to open a new office in Warsaw during this Parliamentary Term, there are currently no plans to open any further Scottish Government international offices during this time.

The Scottish Government expects all NHS Boards in Scotland to consider the recommendations in the Scottish Health Technologies Group report, published on 23 March 2023, and take steps to ensure that women who require access to placental growth factor (PlGF) based tests as part of their maternity care can do so.

The Scottish Government has recently written to all NHS Boards for an update on progress towards implementation of PlGF testing. We will be able to give an update on this in due course.