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As a private business, the remuneration of Circularity Scotland Ltd staff is not shared with the Scottish Government, nor is it subject to Ministerial approval.

The most up to date information available regarding the impact of Scotland’s Deposit Return Scheme on retailers, including information about the use of Reverse Vending Machines (RVMs) can be found in the amended Final Business and Regulatory Impact Assessment (BRIA), which was published on 22 December 2021 and can be downloaded from the Scottish Government’s website here: https://www.gov.scot/publications/deposit-return-scheme-scotland-final-business-regulatory-impact-assessment/ .

The Scottish Government routinely publishes a range of labour market statistics and analysis to monitor changes in our labour market. These can be accessed at the following link: Labour market statistics - gov.scot (www.gov.scot) .

No evaluation of the UK Government’s proposed reduction in the time offered to unemployed social security recipients to seek work has been carried out by the Scottish Government. However, this recent announcement from the UK Government is yet another example of a system which doesn’t work well enough to help our most vulnerable people, in a time when support is most needed. Universal Credit, which is the responsibility of the UK Government, is too often failing the people it is designed to support and driving more people into poverty.

Circularity Scotland Ltd, the industry-led Scheme Administrator for Scotland’s Deposit Return Scheme (DRS), is responsible for determining the number and location of counting and sorting centres and the associated staffing requirements.

Under the producer responsibility principle, the costs of these centres will be borne by industry.

The number of reverse vending machines (RVMs) was based on analysis of data that identified retail locations in Scotland, the store type and the sales area. This estimated that there would be approximately 3,021 automatic return points using RVMs and 14,386 manual return points.

The decision on whether to install a RVM will be for individual retailers to make.

As noted in the answer to S6W-06239, we do not hold detailed information centrally on those local approaches and so cannot provide the breakdown as requested. However, the latest information we have from councils indicates that almost 280,000 devices have been, or are in the process of being, rolled out to learners across Scotland.

Devices are being procured by individual local authorities to ensure they can be used in line with local digital learning strategies. We do not have detailed information on how they are currently being procured and decisions on their use and distribution are taken by councils themselves.

The recommendations of the panel were received at the fourth meeting on 24 January 2022. These minutes and noted recommendations will be published by the end of March 2022.

I refer the member to the answer to question S6W-05600 on 19 January 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 .

Since the late 1990s, an agreed definition of domestic abuse has been used to collate information on domestic abuse incidents within Scotland. This definition was progressed by the then Scottish Office and agreed through consultation with key justice agencies and stakeholders. It is as follows:

‘Domestic abuse is any form of physical, non-physical, or sexual abuse which takes place within the context of a close relationship, committed either in the home or elsewhere. This relationship will be between partners (married, co-habiting or otherwise) or ex-partners.’

The Scottish Government has considered the statutory definition of domestic abuse contained at Part 1 of the Domestic Abuse Act 2021 which relates to England and Wales. The principal practical difference between the definition contained in that Act and the Scottish definition above is that domestic abuse does not extend in Scotland so as to include abuse between certain relatives who are not partners or ex-partners.

The Scottish Government recognises that abuse can be committed by people who are not a person's partner or ex-partner, including by other family members. However, in line with the views of the majority of stakeholders who responded to Scottish Government consultations that led to the development of recent legislation concerning domestic abuse, the Scottish Government considers that it is appropriate that this legislation applies specifically to partners and ex-partners. This is because abuse committed by a person's partner or ex-partner typically has a dynamic that differs from violence or abuse more generally, including where this abuse occurs within a family between, for example, siblings or parents and their adult children. There is a range of existing legislation that can be used to address familial abuse.

While the Scottish Government keeps the law under continual review to ensure that it is effective, there are no current plans to amend the definition of domestic abuse in Scotland to cover abuse perpetrated by family members who are not partners or ex-partners.