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The Scottish Government’s public consultation on potential restrictions to alcohol advertising and promotion in Scotland was approved by the Minister for Public Health.

A commitment to consult on such restrictions was agreed by Cabinet in August 2021 as part of the Programme for Government 2021-22. The Cabinet Sub-Committee on Legislation approved the publication of this consultation paper in November 2022.

Our recent consultation on restricting alcohol advertising and promotion directly references and endorses this threefold rationale as set out below:

The purpose of taking action to restrict alcohol marketing is threefold and summarised by the WHO as:

• to prevent young people from being exposed to alcohol marketing (which is known to influence the decision to start consuming alcohol and to increase alcohol use)
• to reduce the presence of alcohol cues that can induce reactivity and craving in alcohol-dependent persons
• to prevent influence on social norms relating to consumption in general, given the negative public health, economic and social consequences of alcohol use.

International evidence shows that seeing alcohol marketing is associated with an increased likelihood that children and young people will start to drink alcohol or, if they already drink alcohol, drink more. This is harmful to them in both the short and long term.

This is set out, and forms the primary rationale, for our recent consultation on potential restrictions to alcohol advertising and promotion.

The Scottish Government takes a whole population approach to tackling alcohol-related harms, in line with the World Health Organization’s focus on affordability, availability and attractiveness of alcohol.

We published our first consultation on restricting alcohol advertising and promotion in November 2023. The consultation has now closed and will be independently analysed before any potential proposals are put forward for consultation.

Minimum unit price (MUP) is a policy which aims to tackle the consumption of alcohol at a population level by setting a floor price at which alcohol can be sold, this is currently 50 pence per unit of alcohol. A recent report from Public Health Scotland (PHS) found that MUP had been successful in creating a 3% net reduction in total alcohol sales in the first three years of implementation. PHS will be producing a final report on the evaluation of MUP in summer this year and we should wait until this has been published before drawing any overall conclusions.

The Scottish Government provide annual funding to Energy Saving Trust to administer the Low Carbon Transport Loan on behalf of Scottish Ministers. Details of the number of individuals and businesses in the Highlands and Islands region (Including Argyll and Bute, Highland, Na h-Eileanan Siar, Orkney and Shetland Islands) paid the loan can be found in the following table.

Our Alcohol Framework (published 20 November 2018) sets out our priorities for preventing alcohol-related harm. There is a strong focus on reducing health inequalities and protecting children and young people from alcohol-related harm.

A key action in the framework is to consult on potential restrictions on alcohol advertising and promotion in Scotland this year to protect children and young people. Our consultation, which has now closed, was informed directly by young people’s voices, gathered through projects by the Children’s Parliament and Young Scot Health Panel.

The consultation will be independently analysed before any potential proposals are put forward for consultation.

The independent review of the role of incineration in Scotland’s waste hierarchy made it clear that Scotland does not need additional municipal waste incineration facilities to treat our unavoidable and unrecyclable municipal residual waste, beyond those for which planning permission has already been granted, with very limited exceptions.

That is why we introduced restrictions on energy from waste developments in National Planning Framework 4 (NPF4), which came into effect on 13 February 2023. This sets out that development proposals for energy from waste facilities will not be supported except in limited circumstances where a national or local need has been sufficiently demonstrated (e.g. in terms of capacity need or carbon benefits) as part of a strategic approach to residual waste management.

SEPA cannot issue a Pollution Prevention and Control (PPC) permit in respect of a waste incineration facility in the absence of planning permission. Introduction of restrictions on developments in NPF4, therefore, also prevent PPC permits being issued for new facilities in line with recommendation 4 of the incineration review, which noted that the Scottish Government should ensure that no further planning permission (i.e. beyond that already in place) is granted to incineration infrastructure within the scope of the Review unless balanced by an equal or greater closure of capacity, with very limited exceptions.

Our ambitious deposit return scheme will start on 16 August and I repeat my commitment to look at proposals from small producers including a grace period.

It is crucial that the voices of children and young people are at the heart of developing our next steps on alcohol policy.

Our recent consultation on restricting alcohol advertising and promotion directly references the recommendations of the Young Scot Health Panel. It contains questions on potential restrictions on alcohol sponsorship of events as well as potential restrictions on alcohol-branded merchandise.

The consultation closed on 9 March. An independent contractor will comprehensively analyse the responses and publish a report. We will then further consider possible restrictions.

We are working closely with the dental sector to ensure it has the support necessary to offer continuity of NHS care to patients. This includes Scottish Government providing Scottish Dental Access Initiative Grants and Recruitment and Retention Allowances to dentists and dental practices.

Scottish Dental Access Initiative Grants support pays out a potential £100,000 for the first surgery, and £25,000 per additional surgery to practices setting up a new NHS practice, or extending an existing NHS practice. The Recruitment and Retention Allowance provides up to £37,500 across three years to eligible NHS dentists in qualifying areas.