Seòmar agus comataidhean

Scottish Water’s Long-Term Strategy recognises the pressures on its water resources and supplies over the next 25 years as a result of climate change and changing demographics across Scotland. Options to address these challenges will consider a range of measures including ways to reduce the demand for water in Scotland, improving connectivity across systems and potentially establishing new water sources. This work will continue during the next Strategic Review period (2027 – 2033) through a Draft Ministerial Objective to provide a report setting out options for addressing the deficit between supply and demand, as well as developing detailed options for areas which are considered not to be resilient to drought.

The Scottish Government works closely with Scottish Water and SEPA to monitor and mitigate long-term water resource pressures. This work is supported by weekly and seasonal water scarcity reporting and regular cross-agency coordination.

As reported in the answer to S6W-43601 on 12 February 2026, there is no reduction in spend that would negatively impact on future resilience and infrastructure planning. 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 is currently consulting on draft Ministerial Objectives for 2027-33. These are proposed to help address the challenges faced by the water industry, including adapting to climate change. They are aligned with our long-term Water Sector Vision and Scottish Water’s Long-Term Strategy. Scottish Water is responsible for preparing and delivering plans that meet these objectives and setting out how it will play its part in achieving the sector vision. These plans are scrutinised by the independent economic regulator, the Water Industry Commission for Scotland (WICS), to determine if they are sufficient to achieve the Ministerial Objectives while meeting the standards required by the Drinking Water Quality Regulator (DWQR) and the Scottish Environmental Protection Agency (SEPA). It is through this review process that WICS ensures Scottish Water is adequately funded to deliver on the objectives of Ministers at the lowest reasonable overall cost.

At the Strategic Outline Case stage of a project it is important to consider a range of alternative approaches so that the benefits and disbenefits of each approach are considered in terms of fit with strategic policy considerations. For this project, the strategic approaches under consideration are Repair, Replace and Remove; each of which provides different benefits and disbenefits. Whilst it is recognised that the Remove approach is anticipated to have major detrimental impacts on the traffic flows, network and Glasgow's local roads, it has been included to ensure that a comprehensive assessment is undertaken of all potential approaches. The preferred approach will balance a range of engineering, environmental, economic, health and safety and social value factors.

Scottish Water has recently updated its projections for the availability of water from its sources, using the UK Climate Projections (UKCP18) based on 2-degree and 4-degree scenarios, in line with advice from the Climate Change Committee. For areas where demand is predicted to outstrip the amount of water available from sources by 2050, the shortfall will total 280 megalitres per day during drought events equivalent to the worst on record. Scottish Water’s Long-Term Strategy recognises these pressures, and work will continue during the next Strategic Review period (2027 – 2033) to identify how to address the deficit.

The Scottish Government works closely with local authorities, producer compliance schemes, and waste operators to improve WEEE collection systems, in order to maximise the efficient operation of domestic recycling sites.

We are working with local authorities and other stakeholders to co-design a new statutory household recycling Code of Practice for Scotland. The Code will set clear, consistent standards to improve recycling, cut emissions, and deliver better, more consistent services. One of the things which will be considered during this process will be collection of Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment. The new Code of Practice will be completed by the end of 2026, after which it will be made available for consultation.

We are also working with on a Four Nations basis towards reform of the WEEE extended producer responsibility system. As an example, we introduced amending legislation in August to introduce a new category for vapes and introduce obligations for online marketplaces. We continue to consider measures included in the Call for Evidence, such as including a producer-funded household collection system, enhanced in store takeback provisions and the establishment of a WEEE Scheme Administrator.

The Scottish Government conducts regular meetings with local authorities about waste recycling, including waste electrical and electronic equipment (WEEE). The retention of waste to be recycled in Scotland is a key policy objective in building towards a circular economy, reducing the impact of volatile global supply chains, and retaining critical raw materials and valuable resources.

In August 2025, the Scottish Government published a report on Waste Reprocessing Infrastructure in Scotland, focusing on 15 priority material streams, including electronic waste. According to the findings of the report, the recycling and physical treatment capacity for WEEE in Scotland in 2023 was estimated to be limited to around 20 kilo tonnes, with 25 kilo tonnes exported for recycling. However, the increasing quantity of waste electronics, including the roll-out of net zero infrastructure and electric vehicles, coupled with further reforms to the WEEE EPR system currently being considered, are expected to increase the tonnage of materials available for recycling within Scotland and potentially strengthen demand for domestic reprocessing.

The Scottish Government engages regularly with the waste sector to discuss best practice around the transport and handling of WEEE, particularly in relation to the risk of lithium-ion battery fires and persistent organic pollutant (POP) containing materials.

The Scottish Government is keen to support making it easy for individuals to correctly dispose of electrical items and products containing lithium batteries. Retailers and distributors of electrical products are required to provide takeback services so consumers can return used batteries and electrical items for appropriate recycling.

On 3 December 2025, the Scottish Government hosted a roundtable with industry on fire and battery safety at waste and recycling sites, including presentations from the Scottish Fire and Rescue Service and Optimum Eco Group on the proper disposal and handling of WEEE and waste batteries. Following this meeting, SEPA updated guidance with input from industry stakeholders to ensure best practice was captured and shared.

The Scottish Government recognises the crucial role that colleges play in our country and the challenges faced by the sector in recent years, as set out in reports by Audit Scotland and the Scottish Funding Council in September 2025. The 2026-27 budget provides the college sector with a combined increase of £70 million in resource and capital funding, equivalent to a 10 per cent uplift on last year’s budget, and is a clear signal of this Scottish Government’s commitment to the sector.

While a number of the issues facing colleges have been discussed and progressed through the work of the College Tripartite arrangement, there is broad consensus that a bolder sector and system wide approach is now needed to secure a strong and sustainable future, and enable the college sector to play its full part in the new landscape created by the reformed tertiary education funding system.

We announce from today an ambitious, short-life workstream to design and deliver a college sector suitable to support the skills needs of Scotland, economically and socially, both in the shorter-term and in the future. This workstream, which has been co-designed with Colleges Scotland and the Scottish Funding Council, will draw on the views and ideas of college leaders, lecturers and professional service staff, trade unions, learners of today and tomorrow, businesses and employers, and independent experts. It will challenge the status quo and design and deliver recommendations to Ministers, setting out actions, initiatives and policies for all parties to consider and take forward.

The first phase will synthesise previous reports and reviews, alongside other learning from the sector and more widely, to build on previous successes, lessons and evaluations.

With a strong regional emphasis, priority will also be given to identifying early adopter initiatives that can showcase new and innovative ways for the sector to collaborate to support learners and regional needs more effectively and efficiently, and to contribute to the aims of the Scottish Government’s public sector reform programme.

This activity is a partnership between the Scottish Government, Colleges Scotland, the Scottish Funding Council, and crucially, the people who need, rely on and deliver learning and skills opportunities all across Scotland.

The Scottish Government looks forward to working closely with a wide range of stakeholders and with colleagues across the Scottish Parliament on this important next step for the sector. Further details will be made available as the work progresses.

Scotland has developed one of the world’s strongest concentrations of marine energy expertise, built through significant investment to date by Scottish Government and its Enterprise Agencies in research and development which has leveraged additional support. The Scottish Government invested over £70 million into Wave Energy Scotland, and £15 million into the European Marine Energy Centre site to date. Further investment is now needed from the UK Government and its bodies to support the sector which is where the main levers sit for commercialising these emerging technologies.

We are very fortunate that our domestic skills base spans engineering, research, manufacturing, project development, offshore operations, and advanced subsystem innovation which is in demand not only across tidal stream and wave but also floating offshore wind. This cross fertilisation of innovative skills and knowledge between sectors offers a wider range of opportunities to individuals and also benefits the advancement of key industries.

The Scottish Government, alongside the UK Government and the Welsh Government, is participating in the work of the Marine Energy Taskforce which is tasked with making recommendations on how best to accelerate the UK’s marine energy sector and is due to report this summer. We look forward to working with governments across the UK to consider these recommendations.

The successful commercialisation of the marine energy sector in Scotland certainly has the potential to grow our economy. While the research referenced shows promising projections for the marine energy sector, the realisation of these projections is reliant on significant technological advances being made in very short order.

To get to commercialisation, the sector will need to demonstrate sufficient technical maturity at utility scale and cost competitiveness with other marine energy technologies. The main levers for enabling the commercialisation of emerging, pre-commercial technologies lie with the UK Government (e.g. Contracts for Difference) and bodies such as GB Energy whose remit includes providing market confidence in nascent and growth clean energy sectors.

We will continue to make representations to the UK Government, encouraging them to provide sufficient support for the development of the sector, including through the UK industry-led Marine Energy Taskforce.