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The Scottish Environment Protection Agency (SEPA) is a separately constituted statutory body, independent from the Scottish Ministers, that has primary regulatory responsibility for protecting and improving the environment. Scottish Ministers are not responsible for SEPA’s operational matters, including the exercise of its enforcement functions. It is up to SEPA to consider its enforcement position in relation to this matter.

As a non-Police specialist reporting agency, SEPA has the option to submit reports to the Crown Office Procurator Fiscal Service (COPFS). Both SEPA and COPFS are clear that such enforcement action is a last resort, used for the most significant offending. SEPA is an independent regulatory agency and is not required to consult with COPFS or others when taking regulatory positions. This includes the published position concerning online takeback for the Deposit Return Scheme (DRS) which provides reassurance to retailers that no enforcement action will be taken by SEPA with respect to DRS takeback obligations whilst this aspect of the Deposit and Return Scheme for Scotland Regulations 2020 is under review.

The Scottish Environment Protection Agency’s (SEPA) Deposit Return Scheme (DRS) producer registration service will only grant registrations that meet the requirements of The Deposit and Return Scheme for Scotland Regulations. All producer registrations granted to date have been registered in accordance with the Regulations. A registration is complete once it has been accepted by SEPA and the producer has been formally notified.

I refer the member to the answer to question S6W-15873 on 24 March 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 .

There is not a fixed completion date for the Borders Forest Trust pilot project. The project will continue for as long as financing is available from the investment partners and land managers choose to receive it.

The £2 billion figure reflects the current appetite from the investment partners to finance projects in Scotland. It is not a fixed figure and additional capital may be available if a sufficient pipeline of investment projects can be created and a successful investment model proven.

Policing is and will continue to be a priority for the Scottish Government. Scotland has a higher number of officers than at any time during the last administration – and more per head of population than England and Wales (30 officers per 10,000 population in Scotland, compared to 24 officers per 10,000 population in England and Wales).

The recruitment and deployment of officers and staff is a matter for the Chief Constable. However, I note the new operating model based on 16,600 officers, which has been set out by the Chief Constable. It is important the Chief Constable has the flexibility to develop his workforce in a way that responds to the challenges he faces by ensuring the right workforce mix.

The following table shows permitted incineration capacity figures held by SEPA to 2023.

The first report of the independent review of the role of incineration in Scotland’s waste hierarchy, made assumptions about capacity beyond 2023, although in doing so, noted that it is unlikely that all facilities in the pipeline (i.e. those not build and at various stages of planning and permitting) will be built. The first report from the independent review is available here: Stop, Sort, Burn, Bury (www.gov.scot)

I refer the member to the answer to question S6W-15869 on 24 March 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 .

I refer the member to the answer to question S6W-16433 on 17 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 .

The Scottish Government are in the process of competitively tendering for parts of the Bute House repair schedule and therefore the full cost of the planned repairs has yet to be determined.