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Control over the rates and bands of non-savings non-dividends income tax has been devolved to the Scottish Parliament since 2017-18.

His Majesty’s Revenue and Customs (HMRC) publish Outturn statistics annually, showing the revenue raised from Scottish Income Tax for the tax year prior. These statistics show revenue raised from taxpayers at their highest marginal rate, that is, the Income Tax band that a taxpayer would pay their next pound of Income Tax into.

Special Advisers are appointed in accordance with Part 1 of the Constitutional Reform and Governance Act 2010 by the First Minister as a Special Adviser for the purpose of providing assistance to the Scottish Ministers.

The total cost of Special Advisers employed during the financial year 2020-21 was £1,618,713.47. Total cost includes all salary costs, employer NI, and employer pension contributions. The level of employer NI and pension contribution is not a matter for the Scottish Government.

The cost of Special Advisers during 2020-21 was based on the following Pay Bands and Pay Ranges:

All findings from the 2016–2022 Rural Affairs Food and Environment Research Programme evaluation can be found in the published reports:

2016-2022 Rural Affairs, Food and Environment Research Programme Evaluation Main Report .

2016-2022 Rural Affairs, Food and Environment Research Programme Evaluation - Highlights Report .

The Scottish Government does not plan to amend the current legislation on matters around public libraries.

Under section 163(2) of the Local Government (Scotland) Act 1973, public library services in Scotland are devolved to local authorities who have a statutory duty to ensure that there is adequate provision of library facilities for all persons resident in their area, taking into account local needs.

Scottish Government’s policy towards local authorities’ spending is to allow local authorities the financial freedom to operate independently. As such, the vast majority of funding is provided by means of a block grant. It is then the responsibility of individual local authorities, as independent corporate bodies to manage their own budgets and to allocate the total financial resources available to them, including on libraries, on the basis of local needs and priorities, having first fulfilled their statutory obligations and the jointly agreed set of national and local priorities.

Any decision around public libraries must be considered extremely carefully and we would encourage local authorities to work in partnership with communities to explore ways of delivering services, based on need.

The Scottish Government will continue to work in partnership with local government to ensure that the people of Scotland continue to receive the high quality public services that they expect and deserve.

Special Advisers and their responsibilities can be found on the Scottish Government website .

The First Report of the independent review of incineration was delivered in April 2022. Having accepted all of its recommendations, we have already taken actions to deliver the commitments we set out in our response. This includes introducing new restrictions on the development of energy from waste proposals in National Planning Framework 4, and working with UK Government to develop a methodology to report emissions from energy from waste separately.

Following careful consideration of the key findings and recommendations of Dr Church’s Second Report, we have published our response to the Report today. The Scottish Government’s response is available at: Scottish Government Response to: Stop, Sort, Burn, Bury? The Independent Review of the Role of Incineration in the Waste Hierarchy in Scotland. Second Report: Decarbonisation of Residual Waste Infrastructure in Scotland. Our response accepts, in full or in principle, all of the report’s recommendations and sets out the actions we are taking to decarbonise the waste sector, in particular by ending the unnecessary incineration of plastics.

Our 2022 Waste & Circular Economy Route Map consultation set out a range of proposed measures that will support the ambition to end the unnecessary incineration of plastics. These include continuing to deliver the £70 million Recycling Improvement Fund, implementation of extended producer responsibility (EPR) schemes, and greater transparency in the end destination of recycling collected. In addition, we will continue to work with other governments of the UK to consider the expansion of the UK Emissions Trading Scheme, which the Report notes could be an important decarbonisation tool.

We are also continuing to incentivise and support the deployment of combined heat and power, including for incineration facilities through our £300 million Heat Networks Fund. This is available across this Parliamentary session to support the rollout of new zero emission heat networks and communal heating systems, as well as the expansion and decarbonisation of existing heat networks across Scotland. Further details on implementing these recommendations will be incorporated into the final waste Route Map.

I would like to thank Dr Church for his hard work in delivering this important report for Scotland.

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.