Seòmar agus comataidhean

The third Scottish Annual Pollinator Conference on 15 June 2023 is an online only event organised and staffed by our conservation agency, NatureScot. The 2023 theme is monitoring, with the intention of highlighting pollinator monitoring schemes, and, in line with our final draft Scottish Biodiversity Strategy, published in December 2022, demonstrating the necessity of monitoring for a better understanding of the status of our pollinating insects and wider biodiversity. Scottish Government policy officials will attend the conference.

Following public consultation on our proposals in 2022, the Scottish Government has been working with key partners – including Zero Waste Scotland, Scottish Environment Protection Agency and Keep Scotland Beautiful – to finalise the new National Litter and Flytipping Strategy and we aim to publish this in the coming months.

The Scottish Government has provided an additional £793 million to local government in 2023-24, which is a real terms increase of £376 million or 3 per cent, however, it is for locally elected representatives to manage the allocation of resources and the level of services that are delivered to their local communities, taking account of local needs and priorities. The Scottish Government has not made an assessment of any association between local authority budgets and levels of littering across Scotland.

£36 million of public money is spent every year removing litter from the Scottish environment. We are supporting local authorities to prepare for the introduction of the Deposit Return Scheme, which will mean that local authorities will have less waste to handle, as well as reducing litter and associated clean-up costs, which is good for residents and council budgets.

Local authorities have a statutory duty to keep land clear of litter and refuse. To fulfil this duty, local authorities should have a robust monitoring regime in place to ensure that land is maintained to an appropriate standard and if this standard is not met, that restoration will be carried out within appropriate response times. In 2018, the Scottish Government published an updated Code of Practice on Litter and Refuse to support local authorities in undertaking their duties under the Environmental Protection Act (1990).

The forthcoming National Litter and Flytipping Strategy will support ongoing work on the Litter Monitoring System, which is designed to facilitate data capture in order to assist local authorities in the planning, delivery and evaluation of litter prevention measures.

The Scottish Government and the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) have consulted each other at various stages in the development of Scotland’s Deposit Return Scheme. This has included CMA providing general guidance on competition matters relevant to DRS policy. Executive agencies of the Scottish Government have not consulted CMA on DRS. I refer the member to the answer to question S6W-15101 on 20 March 2023 that decisions regarding contracts entered into by Circularity Scotland are for them as a private non-profit organisation. 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 .

Local authorities remain responsible for and are best placed to make decisions regarding the provision of waste and recycling services and measures to address littering on the basis of local needs and priorities.

The Scottish Government has provided an additional £793 million to local government in 2023-24, which is a real terms increase of £376 million or 3 per cent, however, it is for locally elected representatives to manage the allocation of resources and the level of services that are delivered to their local communities.

£36 million of public money is spent every year removing litter from the Scottish environment. We are supporting local authorities to prepare for the introduction of the Deposit Return Scheme, which will mean that local authorities will have less waste to handle, as well as reducing litter and associated clean-up costs, which is good for residents and council budgets.

We are also making one of the biggest investments in a generation to modernise recycling in Scotland through the £70 million Recycling Improvement Fund. Over £53 million has now been awarded to 17 local authorities to increase the quantity and quality of recycling across Scotland.

We will be publishing a new National Litter & Flytipping Strategy this year. This will set how we plan to work with partners to develop more effective litter prevention and enforcement measures.

The Scottish Government consulted on proposals for a new draft National Litter and Flytipping Strategy in early 2022.

Following publication of a consultation analysis report in July 2022, the Scottish Government has been working in partnership with Zero Waste Scotland, Scottish Environment Protection Agency, Keep Scotland Beautiful and other stakeholders to finalise the strategy and initial action plan.

We will be publishing the National Litter & Flytipping Strategy in the coming months. This will set how we plan to work with partners to develop more effective litter and flytipping prevention and enforcement measures.

We are working with Disabled People’s organisations and their members to develop a new Disability Equality Strategy. Our focus is on listening to what disabled people have told us are the challenges and obstacles they face, and finding solutions that we can deliver.

The steering group has met 5 times to identify priorities for the strategy and specific actions. Work is ongoing and the strategy will be consulted on with wider stakeholders and partners when the actions are defined.

The last Disability Summit was held in December 2020 to evaluate the impact of A Fairer Scotland for Disabled People: Delivery Plan 2016-2021. Over 100 people attended online and the voices of disabled people with lived and living experience were heard.

The Scottish Government’s current priority is co-designing the Disability Equality strategy with Disabled People’s Organisations. This work has involved analysing research and reports which incorporate the lived and living experience of disabled people in Scotland and agreeing on the priorities for the strategy.

We will engage with disabled people, third sector organisations and delivery partners when the strategy is drafted to gather views and feedback. We expect this to take the form of a fully accessible consultation and engagement activities.

The Scottish Government acknowledges the impacts of the M8, including noise, and the recent motion passed by Glasgow City Council to trial lower speed limits on the city centre motorway. I have asked Transport Scotland to liaise with Glasgow City Council regarding these proposals and explore opportunities to mitigate the impact of the M8 on the surrounding area.

I am due to meet with Shetland Islands Council in May 2023.