Seòmar agus comataidhean

NHS bodies, Local Authorities and other public sector bodies that use Scottish Government’s national collaborative framework for the Supply of Natural Gas will see no increase in price this financial year to their wholesale cost of gas. The cost of wholesale gas was fixed in April 2021 and will remain unchanged this financial year. Information is not held centrally for those public bodies that do not use the national collaborative framework.

The Council act in an advisory capacity to inform our National Strategy for Economic Transformation, which the Scottish Government will publish in late Autumn.

The Advisory Council includes representatives from industry, trade unions and academia, and has been appointed to provide expert advice and insight to the Scottish Government, drawing on their extensive experience and networks. Alongside an extensive programme of engagement with business organisations, the third sector and wider public, this will help shape the National Strategy for Economic Transformation to deliver a stronger, greener, fairer and more inclusive wellbeing economy for Scotland.

The coronavirus guidance for pregnant employees and employers is published at www.gov.uk/government/publications/coronavirus-covid-19-advice-for-pregnant-employees , and applies in all four UK countries. The guidance supports discussions between employees, employers and occupational health teams on how best to ensure health and safety for pregnant women in the workplace at any gestation, and recommends a more precautionary approach for women who are 28 weeks pregnant and beyond. As with all coronavirus guidance, this is regularly updated in light of new information and evidence in relation to the virus.

The latest official waste data published by SEPA for 2019 shows that two-thirds of local authorities improved their recycling rate between 2018 and 2019.

However, while we have made significant progress towards our ambitious waste reduction and recycling targets, we know that we must accelerate progress.

This year we will make our first investments from the £70m Recycling Improvement Fund, to support local authorities in improving recycling infrastructure; and will work with industry, local government and environmental groups to develop a route map to achieving our targets to 2025 and beyond. We are also working with local government to review the Household Recycling Charter’s Code of Practice, to help make it easier for householders to recycle the right things and encourage high levels of citizen participation in waste prevention, recycling, and reuse.

We are working with the other administrations on the introduction of an extended producer responsibility system for packaging that will recover full net costs from producers and allocate funding to local authorities for the provision of effective and efficient kerbside recycling services. This will support improved recycling for all packaging types.

Delivery of the actions set out in our Mental Health Transition and Recovery Plan is ongoing. Since publication we have undertaken a wide range of activity to help people deal with the mental health effects of the pandemic. That includes, for example, working with local authorities to establish new community mental health and wellbeing services for children, continuing to support the roll-out of computerised Cognitive Behavioural Therapy and providing ongoing support for the Clear Your Head campaign.

A £120 million Recovery and Renewal Fund was announced in February to support the Plan. So far over £50 million has been allocated from the Fund. This includes allocations of £40 million to improve Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services. We are currently allocating the remainder of the fund and will make further announcements in the coming weeks.

I will update Parliament on progress against the Transition and Recovery Plan in the months ahead.

The Scottish Government is engaging with the Taskforce on Nature-related Financial Disclosures (TNFD) a market-led, UN supported, international initiative, which builds on the model developed by the Taskforce on Climate-related Financial Disclosures (TCFD), and aims to create a framework for how organisations can address environmental risks and opportunities. We are supportive of the objectives of this work, and will ensure that there is effective coordination with Scottish Government policies.

The Scottish Government is committed to reducing the impact of Scotland’s consumption on nature and societies, including our impacts in other countries. This is an outcome sought by our Environment Strategy, and our progress was discussed in the 2020 report Scotland and the sustainable development goals: a national review to drive action. Reducing the impact of our consumption on the natural environment is an important driver of our work to create a more circular economy. The Scottish Government will continue to work with partners and through our own policies and legislative proposals to reduce the impacts on and risks to nature from consumption in Scotland.

All projects, including the A96 Programme, are subject to detailed review and assessment work to ensure we deliver the right schemes and keep impacts on the environment to the absolute minimum. The decision to commit to a review forms part of a wide range of transport commitments set out in the cooperation agreement with the Scottish Green Party.

As per the answer to question S5W-33510 on 2 December 2020, the Deposit Return Scheme (DRS) Full Business Case ( https://www.gov.scot/publications/deposit-return-scheme-scotland-full-business-case-stage-1/ ) was developed on the basis of glass being collected whole under Scotland’s DRS. Glass collected whole is suitable for re-melt, subject to minimal handling losses.

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

Delivery of any section of the programme can only commence if approved under the relevant statutory procedures and thereafter a timetable for progress can be set in line with available budgets.

I refer the member to the answer to question S6W-03232 on‎ 4 October 2021 which is 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 .