Seòmar agus comataidhean

I refer the member to the answer to question S5W-07984 on 29 April 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

I refer the member to the answer to question S5W-07984 on 29 April 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 powers required to legislate in respect of company acquisition and ownership are reserved to the UK Parliament and, as such, the Scottish Government does not have the power to take action in this area. In addition recent legislative change in the UK via the National Security and Investment Act enables an increased screening of acquisitions on grounds, for example, of national security. This reflects similar change in EU legislation.

These legislative mechanisms notwithstanding, company acquisition remains a commercial decision to be undertaken by two private entities. The Scottish Government and Enterprise Agencies therefore aim to work with businesses in Scotland, domestic and overseas owned, to ensure Scottish operations are not only secured here but opportunities for growth are pursued.

Scottish Enterprise research suggests acquisition can be an important route for companies with growth potential to achieve their ambitions; either Scottish companies who acquire other businesses or Scottish companies acquired by businesses from other parts of the UK and internationally. This is not unique to Scotland and is a feature of similar economies.

In addition both our Inward Investment and Global Capital Investment Plans place maximum emphasis in supporting good quality investment into Scotland aligning with our values as a nation and delivering our net zero economy supported by good green jobs. We will therefore continue to work closely with those Scottish and overseas-owned businesses and organisations with whom those values most closely align.

Our best and final estimate of the number of reverse vending machines (RVMs) that will be required to operate Scotland’s Deposit Return Scheme (DRS) is 3,021, as set out in Table 2 of the amended final Business and Regulatory Impact Assessment (BRIA) published on 15 December 2021. At the time of drafting the amended final BRIA, Circularity Scotland Ltd (CSL) confirmed that this matched their estimate.

We have had no further discussions with CSL regarding any estimated numbers of RVMs since that time and do not recognise the figure of around 5,000. Although it is entirely appropriate for CSL to continue to update its own assumptions regarding key parameters for DRS, our best and final estimate prior to implementation remains unchanged and we have no intention to further revisit the amended final BRIA.

Since 2011 the Energy Saving Trust (EST),on behalf of the Scottish Government has maintained a database of all community and locally owned (CoLo) renewable energy installations in Scotland and produces a report on the information it contains each year.

This Government’s recent manifesto included a commitment to establish a Youth National Performing Company. Work will commence soon setting out what this will look like and how it could be achieved. I will write to the Member to provide her with an update as work progresses.

The Scottish Government provides regular funding of £150,000 to the Scottish Youth Theatre per year. In addition, we have provided £130,000 of additional support in 2021-2022. The Scottish Youth Theatre was also awarded funding from the Creative Scotland Cultural Organisations Recovery Fund to support their recovery from the pandemic.

The 2021-2022 Programme for Government includes a commitment to ‘begin work on establishing a ‘Percentage for the Arts’ scheme’, which would channel a small percentage of spending on all new public buildings and spaces into support for arts and culture.

We are currently in the initial stages of scoping this commitment, which requires us to take into account analytical, regulatory and legislative considerations. We expect to be able to share more information on this work in the coming months.

Any decision by the Republic of Ireland to exclude glass from their deposit return scheme (DRS) is a matter for them.

The Full Business Case Stage 1 for Scotland’s Deposit Return Scheme (DRS), published on 8 May 2019 (pp36-37), considered the costs and benefits of including glass within the scheme and concluded that glass should be included due to the substantial environmental and economic benefits. The Scottish Government remains fully committed to this position, which is also that taken by the Welsh Government.

Our Deposit Return Scheme (DRS) is an important part of our response to the global climate emergency and the member is right that our scheme will be ambitious by international standards. The implementation date of 16 August 2023 was determined after extensive industry engagement and based on feedback from an independent Gateway Review and we consider it to strike the right balance between being stretching and also being deliverable .

The Medication Assisted Treatment (MAT) standards were published on 31 May 2021, and the Scottish Government made a commitment that Health and Social Care Partnerships (HSCPs) will embed the standards by April 2022.

Work to embed the MAT standards by local services and Alcohol and Drug Partnerships (ADPs) is a crucial and significant undertaking. To support progress, we are providing multi-year funding to HSCPs specifically for the standards and have set up a MAT support team, based within Public Health Scotland to lead this work.

I have committed to update Parliament on the progress of MAT standards on a six monthly basis and will be returning to Parliament in June to provide an update on progress on embedding the standards.

Local progress from each HSCP area is currently being evaluated and a report will be published in June to coincide with the update to Parliament. This report will be a collation of process, data and lived experience evaluation. This will be followed in short order during the summer with a report providing more detail of work undertaken in each area.

April 2022 is not the end of line for the standards and what happens post April is as equally important. From now and over the life of the National Mission, work will continue on the standards to make sure they are not only embedded, but are improving and are sustainable.