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The Regulation of Legal Services (Scotland) Bill was introduced to the Scottish Parliament on the 20 April 2023. Information about the Bill can be found on the Scottish Parliament website here .

The powers of the Law Society of Scotland are already well established in legislation, within the Solicitors (Scotland) Act 1980 and the provisions of the Bill are intended to improve and modernise their regulatory function.

The Bill will provide for a modern regulatory framework designed to promote competition and innovation while also improving the transparency and accountability of legal services regulation and the legal complaints system in Scotland.

The Bill introduces a modern set of regulatory objectives and professional principles, while incorporating key aspects of the Better Regulation, the Consumer Principles and the Human Rights (PANEL) Principles, that legal services regulators will require to adhere to. The Bill contains provisions setting out how the independent regulatory committee of the Law Society of Scotland should operate, intended to increase transparency and accountability of legal services regulation. The Bill also introduces provisions about how certain businesses that provide legal services should be regulated, introducing entity regulation and with it stronger protections for consumers, intended to complement existing regulation rather than introduce duplication.

The Bill is designed to take a proportionate approach that seeks to balance and deliver the key priorities of all stakeholders. The Scottish Government has committed to continue to work collaboratively with stakeholders in respect of this reform, and throughout the parliamentary passage of the Bill.

I refer the member to the answer to question S6W-16697 on 25 April 2023. All answers to written Parliamentary Questions are available on the Parliament's website, the search facility for which can be found at https://www.parliament.scot/chamber-and-committees/written-questions-and-answers .

Following the announcement of the new launch date, the First Minister and the Minister for Green Skills, Circular Economy, and Biodiversity met with senior industry representatives, including the main supermarkets, to discuss the scheme. While Tesco was invited they were unable to send a representative, however the First Minister was able to meet with the Tesco’s CEO and their Head of Communications & Devolved Government Relations in London of 25 April. The Scottish Government is continuing to work with industry, both producers and retailers, to ensure that when Scotland’s Deposit Return Scheme launches on 1 March 2024 it works for all.

The following table shows the main differences between Scotland’s Deposit Return Scheme (DRS) and the schemes operating in Finland, Canada, Germany, Sweden, Denmark, and Australia.

The Third NASCO Performance Review was carried out to evaluate the functioning and effectiveness of NASCO and to identify areas where improvements are needed to strengthen the Organisation, and to enhance the implementation of the NASCO Convention, and it’s Resolutions, Agreements, and Guidelines. The report of the independent review panel will be considered by the Contracting Parties to NASCO at its 40 th Annual Meeting in June 2023.

The Scottish Government budget for 2023-24 is £189.2 million as we progress towards our commitment to invest at least £320 million or 10% of the transport budget by 2024-25. This year’s budget includes the Cycling Walking Safer Routes (CWSR) grant of £35 million that goes directly to local authorities on a pro rata basis for the delivery of active travel projects.

There are a number of local authorities which have significant rural or island communities. In 2023-24, CWSR funding allocations to more rural and island areas include: £147,000 to Shetland Islands Council, £144,000 to Orkney Islands Council; £1.52 million to the Highland Council; £551,000 to Argyll and Bute Council; £950,000 to Dumfries and Galloway Council, and £741,000 to Scottish Borders Council.

HITRANS, the Regional Transport Partnership which covers the Highland, Orkney, Moray and Western Isles local authority areas, and much of Argyll and Bute, was awarded £1,111,500 to deliver active travel measures in 2022-23. HITRANS have been awarded £955,000 for 2023-24.

Sustrans Scotland received over £52 million of funding in 2022-23 for the Places for Everyone active travel infrastructure programme, where several projects are being delivered in the islands ranging from the £21 million Skye network, to smaller schemes across the Western Isles, Orkney, Jura and Islay.

The Scottish Government has also grant funded Cycling UK to run the Rural Connections programme which supports people in Shetland, Orkney, and other island communities to cycle, walk and wheel for everyday journeys, leisure and adventure. The programme offers a wide range of cycling and walking activities for all abilities, and is being funded as part of our UCI Cycling World Championships response.

Circularity Scotland is developing and constructing the logistical network that will support the effective operation of the scheme when it launches on 1 March 2024, and it has signed contracts with Biffa for operations, logistics, and plastics reprocessing. It has secured a number of sites across Scotland to deliver the scheme, including sites in Aberdeen and Motherwell, creating up to 200 jobs.

The Scottish Government are committed to working with COSLA, ADES and our partners on the Additional Support for Learning Project Board to deliver improvements in additional support for learning implementation and to ensure meaningful change for children and young people through our Additional Support for Learning Action Plan.

The Project Board considered progress on the National Measurement Framework at its meeting on 30 th January 2023. The Project Board agreed that further work was needed to ensure that the correct outcome measures are gathered and measured so that the Framework can be properly utilised and deliver clear evidence of change or improvement in the implementation of additional support for learning. Once this work has been completed it will be further tested with stakeholders prior to being adopted into practice. It is anticipated that this work will be completed during the course of the coming year.

The Scottish Government will continue to report on the progress of implementation of the ASL Action Plan, including development of the National Measurement Framework, through formal progress reports. The next progress report is due to be published in May 2024.

The Scottish Government does not plan to reopen or develop new Help to Buy schemes for first-time buyers.

Key findings from the evaluation of the Scottish Government’s shared equity schemes showed that 80% of Help to Buy buyers would have been able to purchase a property which met their needs without financial assistance.

We continue to support home ownership through various interventions to help first time buyers. This includes our Low Cost Initiative for First-Time Buyers (LIFT) scheme which helps people on low to moderate incomes to buy their first home either through the open market (Open Market Shared Equity) or new build (New Supply Shared Equity). Support is also available through the Self Build Loan Fund.

We are supporting local authorities to prepare for the introduction of the scheme. Our scheme will mean that local authorities will have less waste to handle, as well as reduce litter and associated clean-up costs, which is good for residents and council budgets. The Scottish Government is supporting Scottish councils to modernise recycling services, and align with our forthcoming deposit return scheme.

The Scottish Government has met regularly with representatives of local authority waste management via the DRS System-Wide Assurance Group that met 13 times since February 2022. Local authorities remain a key partner and will continue to be part of the programme management structures.