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The three R100 contracts have a total value of £648.7 million. By the end of March 2023, £116.4 million had been spent, which is line with our expectations at this stage of contract delivery. The remainder of the funding will be utilised in the period to March 2028 when the North contract will formally be completed.

The R100 programme also encompasses the Scottish Broadband Voucher Scheme which had issued almost £6m in voucher funding by 31 March 2023. As the R100 SBVS is demand led it is not yet known what the cost of delivery will be upon completion.

Council Tax is a local tax, and each council is financially and administratively accountable to their electorate.

However, we recognise the desirability of the best practice in council tax collection being adopted by all local authorities. I therefore raised the issue of Council Tax Debt and Recovery, including highlighting the recommendations of the Improvement Service and Stepchange Scotland’s May 2022 report on Collaborative Council Tax Collection, with the COSLA President, Vice President and Resources Spokesperson at a meeting of the ‘Joint Working Group on Sourcing of Local Government Funding and Council Tax Reform’, on 22 March 2023.

The Scottish Government are working with COSLA through the ‘Joint Working Group on Sources of Local Government Funding and Council Tax Reform’ to encourage the adoption of best practice on debt collection and advice.

Additionally, the Scottish Government promotes the take-up of the Council Tax Reduction (CTR) scheme, as part of Citizens Advice Scotland's Money Talk Team service, which offers free, confidential and holistic advice – from debt advice, benefit take up and council tax reduction, to switching utility providers and reducing household energy costs.

Evidence on behavioural responses is an essential consideration for tax policy decisions.

The Scottish Government is acutely aware of the risks and benefits arising from behavioural responses to changes in devolved taxation policy, and actively works with stakeholders, such as HMRC, and subject matter experts, to monitor and continually improve the evidence base to help inform policy development. We will consider opportunities to update Parliament in the future, when appropriate.

In line with our Framework for Tax, and to further transparency and public debate, HMRC and the Scottish Government published studies on the Scottish Government’s 2018-19 Income Tax reforms which showed limited evidence of Scottish taxpayers lowering their taxable income in response to increasing tax rates.

Alongside regular monitoring of the tax base, the Scottish Government also works with tax administration authorities to proactively consider and address any possible emerging compliance issues.

The Recover, Renew, Transform (RRT) Programme launched in 2021 (although Scottish Government funding for remote jury centres – which went on to become part of the RRT programme – had begun in 2020/21). The tables below set out how RRT funding was allocated and spent in 2021-22 and 2022-23. The expenditure figures for 2022-23 are provisional, and correct as at March 2023.

It should be noted that allocations made at the beginning of each financial year are indicative, and in each year a proportion of RRT funding has been unallocated, allowing for a degree of flexibility. Organisations’ requirements are kept under review over the year, and their final spend from RRT funding will depend on factors like whether the costs they anticipated arose, and considerations across other funding streams.

This information is publicly available through the SEPA Waste Discover Data Tool: https://informatics.sepa.org.uk/WasteAllSources/ .

Please note, the impact of a cyber attack means there are data gaps covering 2019 and 2020.

Last year the Scottish Government consulted on proposals for a National Litter and Flytipping Strategy. The consultation included proposals to raise the value of fixed penalty notices, carry out a review of flytipping enforcement, support private landowners to deter and tackle flytipping, and work with a wide range of stakeholders to improve consistency of data collection.

The Scottish Government is committed to tackling flytipping and will publish a finalised National Litter and Flytipping Strategy later this year. The strategy will set how we plan to work with partners to develop more effective flytipping prevention and enforcement measures.

The Council of Europe Convention on Access to Official Documents (also known as the ‘Tromsø Convention’) relates to official documents held by public authorities. Whilst the UK is not a signatory to the Convention, the Scottish Government recognises the importance of public access to official information held by Scottish public authorities. However, Circularity Scotland is a private not for profit company, and not a Scottish public authority.

I refer the member to the answer to question S6W-16358 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

I refer the member to the answer to question S6W-15600 on 16 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/questions-and-answers