Seòmar agus comataidhean

The Independent Review of the Role of Incineration in Scotland’s Waste Hierarchy recommended that no further planning permission is awarded to incineration facilities, beyond those for which planning permission has already been granted, with some limited exceptions. This analysis took into account the need to develop some additional capacity to ensure that Scotland can manage its own waste and implement the ban on landfilling biodegradable municipal waste by 2025, as recommended by the Climate Change Committee. We addressed this recommendation through National Planning Framework 4.

Our Circular Economy and Waste Route Map consultation, published January 18, set out further detail and proposed provisional associated timescales on the steps we will take to minimise the environmental and climate impacts of waste, including the development of an indicative capacity cap as part of our Residual Waste Plan to 2045, with a provisional publication date in 2025-26.

The Pollution Prevention and Control (Scotland) regulations 2012 (“the PPC regulations”) require that SEPA make impartial assessments of all PPC Permit applications and make decisions relating to environmental permits in accordance with these regulations. While Scottish Ministers do have the ability to intervene in the PPC process by way of a direction, SEPA is Scotland’s independent environmental regulator and intervening in the PPC process needs careful consideration and typically would not be appropriate in the absence of exceptional circumstances.

Further information on these developments can be found here: Circular economy and waste route map to 2030: consultation - gov.scot (www.gov.scot)

The Scottish National Investment Bank is guided by the missions set for it by Scottish Ministers but it is operationally independent and makes investment decisions in line with its own investment processes and strategy.

The Bank’s investments are also designed to fill gaps in the supply of capital available to businesses and at the same time to crowd in private capital to create a thriving ecosystem of investors active in Scotland.

The following table details the resource planning assumptions for each local authority for (a) 2024-2025 compared with the assumed figures that were published on 15 July 2021. These figures do not include the additional £40 million for 2024-2025, the allocations of for which are still being considered. No resource planning assumptions have yet been agreed for (b) 2025-2026.

The Scottish Government is committed to supporting the safety and wellbeing of displaced people from Ukraine and to providing opportunities to integrate and thrive in our communities for as long as Scotland is their home. We will continue to engage with the UK Government on issues which impact people living in Scotland, including refugees, people seeking asylum and displaced people.

Since the Homes for Ukraine scheme began, Scottish Government officials have been regularly meeting with their UK Government counterparts to share best practice and look at how we can strengthen the scheme in order to protect the safety and sustainability of sponsorship.

We will continue to engage with the new UK government to ensure a system that is effective and more humane.

The Scottish Government has been engaging with Health Boards regarding their current position in relation to job offers and supply. Health Boards remain committed to maximising opportunities for new qualified nurses to find employment.

I refer the member to the answer to S6W-26620 on 25 April 2024 for information on the progress of installing CSO monitors.

Overflow data is being published on Scottish Water’s website at https://www.scottishwater.co.uk/Your-Home/Your-Waste-Water/Overflow-Event-Data . As new monitors are installed, more information will become available in line with commitments under the Improving Urban Waters Routemap.

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 regulatory regime for hydrogen in Scotland is a mixture of reserved and devolved powers and we continue to routinely engage with UK Government on a range of hydrogen policy matters including the regulation of and responsibility for the decommissioning of hydrogen production sites.

To achieve our hydrogen production ambitions, we must ensure that the regulatory framework for renewable hydrogen developments supports the scale-up of hydrogen at pace, whist protecting the environment and communities.

This is why the Scottish Government is working with the Scottish Regulatory Steering Group, comprised of key regulators, to assess the regulatory requirements for the development of the hydrogen sector in Scotland. This work with UK and Scottish regulators is designed to ensure that action is taken to address any identified issues and create a clear regulatory framework for the full life cycle of hydrogen projects, including the decommissioning of assets.

As the member is aware from previously submitted questions, most recently S6F-01607 on 8 December 2022, arrangements for setting water charges are set out in the Water Industry (Scotland) Act 2002, and the role of setting of annual price rises is primarily a matter for the Board of Scottish Water. During 2021-27, customers are protected by a cap on charges of CPI+2% as set out in the Water Industry Commission for Scotland’s Final Determination.

The answer to S6F-01607 is available on the Parliament's website, the search facility for which can be found at https://www.parliament.scot/chamber-and-committees/official-report/search-what-was-said-in-parliament .

Drinking water quality is regulated by the Drinking Water Quality Regulator. The Scottish Environment Protection Agency monitors the water environment by assessing water quality and quantity.

Both regulators publish information on their websites about the compliance of drinking water quality and environmental water quality on their websites at https://dwqr.scot/public-water-supply/national-water-quality/ and https://www.sepa.org.uk/environment/water/

As the former First Minister reported to the member in answer to S6F-01607, the Scottish Government expects the Board of Scottish Water to take a proportionate position when setting charges; balancing affordability with critical investment needs to protect the quality of our drinking water and the environment.

The Scottish Government is committed to supporting people in light of the rising costs of living and has already taken action on affordability of water charges; from 1 April 2021 – the start of the current 6-year regulatory period for the water industry - we increased the maximum discount under the water charges reduction scheme from 25% to 35% to support those struggling to pay their bills.

The answer to S6F-01607 is available on the Parliament's website, the search facility for which can be found at https://www.parliament.scot/chamber-and-committees/official-report/search-what-was-said-in-parliament .