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We are continuing to make good progress towards delivery of Scottish Carer’s Assistance. We are currently undertaking joint feasibility work with the Department for Work and Pensions on the complex interactions Carer’s Allowance has, and Scottish Carer’s Assistance will have, with benefits such as Income Support and Universal Credit which will remain reserved. This will give us a better understanding of what can be delivered and when so that we can confirm our new delivery timetable for Scottish Carer’s Assistance.

Our aim is to begin building Scottish Carer’s Assistance next year, and we anticipate that it will take a minimum of 18 months, given the complex links with reserved systems. We plan to consult on proposals for the future of Scottish Carer’s Assistance this winter.

We have met with a range of private rented sector representatives, including those representing tenants and landlords, and we will continue to do so as we progress work on implementing an effective national system of rent controls. Our aim is to ensure quality, affordability and fairness for everyone who rents a home, whilst carefully examining potential unintended consequences. This continued engagement will help develop the policy, which will form part of a public consultation on a new draft Rented Sector Strategy at the end of this year – and providing an opportunity to gather a wide range of views and interests. Upon consideration of the consultation responses, a final Rented Sector Strategy will be published later in 2022 and deliver a key commitment, set out in Housing to 2040 , Scotland’s long term vision for housing.

We do not monitor individual businesses readiness to comply with the Deposit Return Scheme. However Zero Waste Scotland, Circularity Scotland, the Scottish Government, SEPA, and Zero Waste Scotland have been engaging with businesses and trade associations to help them understand their obligations under the regulations.

The Scottish Government, in partnership with Zero Waste Scotland, SEPA and Circularity Scotland Ltd, are engaging with businesses to address their queries and concerns regarding Scotland’s Deposit Return Scheme. SEPA is also in the process of developing guidance for producers, retailers and return point operators to help them meet their obligations under The Deposit and Return Scheme for Scotland Regulations.

As set out in the Scottish Government’s Climate Change Plan update (CCPu) published in December 2020, a route map will be produced by the end of 2021, assuming the pandemic has moved to a phase to allow this.

The commitment to reduce car kms by 20% by 2030 (against a 2019 baseline) was, as with all of the CCPu transport policy outcomes, determined through consideration of the overall emissions pathway for transport, which in turn was determined by the TIMES model alongside other evidence and assessments.

The 20% figure was also shaped through consideration of a range of analysis, including published academic material and UK Committee on Climate Change assertions on mode shift away from private car use. Moreover, the figure was informed by research Transport Scotland commissioned and undertaken by Element Energy (published here: Decarbonising the Scottish transport sector ). The Element Energy work modelled a number of scenarios to account for the many uncertainties between now and 2030, including the disruption to transport demand brought about by the Covid-19 pandemic.

I chaired the most recent Low Emission Zones Leadership Group on 8 September 2021. The LEZ Leadership Group comprises of myself, the Minister for Environment, Biodiversity and Land Reform, along with the four LEZ city Local Authorities of Aberdeen City Council, Dundee City Council, City of Edinburgh Council, and Glasgow City Council, and senior officials from SEPA and Transport Scotland.

We are working with industry, local government and environmental groups to develop a route map to deliver our waste and recycling targets for 2025 and beyond. As part of this work, local variation in recycling performance and its causes are being carefully considered, building on the work to identify key challenges and lessons through Scotland’s 2019 Recycling Summit. There are numerous factors that impact on recycling rates, including housing stock, social demographics, rurality, service design & delivery and communication to residents.

The Scottish Funding Council (SFC) and Skills Development Scotland (SDS) administer the Flexible Workforce Development Fund (FWDF) on behalf of the Scottish Government. They do not allocate funds to different sectors, as the Fund works on a first come first served basis.

Recognising the significant delivery challenges in the last year due to Covid-19 restrictions, it has been agreed with SFC and SDS to extend academic year 2020-21 delivery to the end of March 2022. Information on employer sector is provided by employers themselves to colleges, the Open University in Scotland (OUiS) and SDS during the application process. To date, the estimated FWDF spend per sector in 2020-21, as reported by SFC and SDS, has been the following:

The majority of Scotland’s council areas have experienced a stall in life expectancy growth since 2012-2014. Life expectancy has unfortunately decreased across many areas in Scotland. This trend has also been experienced across the UK.

National Records of Scotland publish official annual statistics on life expectancy by council area. Their report for 2018-2020 can be found here: Life Expectancy in Scotland, 2018-2020 | National Records of Scotland (nrscotland.gov.uk) . Between 2016-2018 and 2018-2020, average life expectancy in Inverclyde reduced from 75.2 to 74.3 for males and 79.6 to 78.6 for females. Average life expectancy in North Ayrshire reduced from 76.3 to 75.3 for males, though female life expectancy increased from 79.9 to 80.1.

It is worth highlighting that deaths from COVID-19 have accounted for the vast majority of the fall in life expectancy across Scotland as a whole, reducing male life expectancy by 16.7 weeks and female life expectancy by 14.3 weeks. Inverclyde and North Ayrshire have sadly experienced some of the highest rates of deaths per local population from COVID-19, with 216.7 per 100,000 population in Inverclyde and 234.6 per 100,000 population in North Ayrshire.

We know that deprivation drives excess mortality, and that areas of high deprivation have increased rates of deaths from COVID-19. Inverclyde and North Ayrshire have a higher proportion of local zones of high deprivation than many other areas in Scotland. We are committed to ending poverty, increasing equitable access to fair employment, education and training, and improving our physical and social environments. We will do this by working more effectively in partnership across government and with our local partners across all sectors.

Our recently published COVID-19 Recovery Strategy sets out how we will tackle many of the deep-rooted inequalities that lead to unfair differences in health and life expectancy. Increasing life expectancy and improving the health for everyone in Scotland remains a clear priority for this Government.

I refer the member to the answer to question S6W-03574 on
‎ 25 October 2021. 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
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