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After competitive tender, a contract was awarded to Anderson Anderson & Brown LLP to obtain expert independent advice on the implications of VAT on the NCS and associated Care Boards. This work is ongoing. We are also engaging with HMT. No decisions have been made at this point and a full understanding of the impact of all options will be considered after the co-design process has been completed. The co-design will involve COSLA and Local Authorities as well as people accessing care and support and care workers.

The Scottish Government published its new draft Scottish Biodiversity Strategy on 13 December, outlining 26 priority actions needed to achieve our vision of halting biodiversity loss by 2030 and reversing the trend by 2045. This 25 year strategy will be supported by rolling 5 year delivery plans, and the Natural Environment Bill which will include statutory targets for nature recovery. We are working with NatureScot to develop the delivery plan and targets.

Our continued commitments to restore peatlands, introduce at least one new National Park, ensure Nature Networks in all local authority areas, and protect 30% of our land for nature by 2030, will all contribute to our 2030 and 2045 vision for Scotland.

The new strategy can be accessed at: https://www.gov.scot/publications/scottish-biodiversity-strategy-2045-tackling-nature-emergency-scotland/ .

Questions regarding day-to-day operational matters of Historic Environment Scotland, including how much money has been spent by Historic Environment Scotland on the repair of Properties in Care, are best answered by Historic Environment Scotland.

All retailers have obligations to be a return point, unless they apply for and are granted an exemption. The choice of whether to operate a reverse vending machine, or alternatively to operate a manual takeback service, is a commercial decision for individual retailers. The Scottish Government does not hold information on how many reverse vending machines there will be across Scotland or their likely locations.

The purchase of reverse vending machines is a matter for individual retailers. There are a number of companies who will manufacture reverse vending machines to the specifications provided by Circularity Scotland Ltd.

The Scottish Government does not collect information on ill-health retirement of officers due to mental health reasons. Staffing issues are a matter for the Chief Constable under the oversight of the Scottish Police Authority.

The Scottish Government welcomes the support provided by Police Scotland to its workforce through initiatives such as the "Your Wellbeing Matters" programme which covers psychological, physical, social and financial wellbeing.

The information requested is not held centrally.

The Scottish Government has not engaged with Ocado regarding its digital deposit return trial.

We would anticipate that industry will make extensive use of digital technology in delivering our Deposit Return Scheme (DRS), for example by developing an IT system to track payments made and received, adopting state-of-the-art reverse vending technology to prevent fraud, and using digital media to communicate with the public regarding DRS.

We are aware of the so-called ‘digital DRS’ as a proposed approach to delivering deposit return whereby consumers redeem deposits on scheme articles by scanning them with a smartphone before placing them in their kerbside recycling. We considered this approach during the policy-development process for DRS and the strong feedback from both industry and environmental NGOs was that the technology is not sufficiently mature for implementation on the timetable for our DRS.

I refer the member to the answer to question S6W-13230 on 20 December 2022. 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 does not currently hold this information. The Animal and Plant Health Agency has been asked by Scottish Ministers to visit farmed salmon slaughter facilities in Scotland and to assess the need for further inspections. This will be carefully considered alongside any recommendations made by the UK Animal Welfare Committee working group, expected early next year, on the welfare of farmed fish at slaughter.