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Waiting times for medical procedures that require anaesthetic are monitored by new outpatient national standards and the Treatment Time Guarantee for inpatient and day-case.

Over 2.8 million inpatients and day cases have benefited from the 12-weeks treatment target since it was introduced – with 81.7% of these being seen within 12 weeks. Further information about waiting times can be found on the PHS website.

Every person recovers differently and how quickly someone can return to work depends on a number of things, including the type of surgery and the type of work they do. The surgeon will advise how long it's likely to take to recover.

We are fully committed to delivering the ban on landfilling biodegradable municipal waste on 31 December 2025. As part of preparations for the ban, we are continuing to support and work with those local authorities without a solution for their residual waste when the ban comes into force, to ensure they can comply with the ban.

I met with Argyll and Bute Council on 26 July 2023 to discuss possible options to overcome challenges in complying with the forthcoming ban on landfilling biodegradable municipal waste associated with their public private partnership contract for waste services.

Discussions between Scottish Government, SEPA, and Argyll and Bute Council are ongoing and we will continue to work with the council in relation to these challenges.

We recognise the financial challenges facing colleges and understand the need for greater flexibility in college sector funding. The Scottish Funding Council (SFC) implemented a series of flexibilities for colleges in both academic years 2022-23, and 2023-24.

The Scottish Government and SFC are working with the sector to explore whether there are further flexibilities that could assist the sector in the short to medium term, while ensuring robust public accountability is safeguarded.

The Scottish Government’s 2023-24 Programme for Government, published on 5 September 2023, outlined our commitment to take action to reduce vaping among non-smokers and young people and to tackle the environmental impact of single use vapes, including consulting on a proposal to ban their sale and other appropriate measures.

On 13 September 2023, at the initiation of the Scottish Government, Ministers and senior officials from across the UK met to discuss single use vapes. They discussed the available evidence, recognised shared challenges, and committed to work together on a range of options to tackle the impacts, up to and including a ban.

Our approach will be subject to further engagement, policy development and consultation and developed in the spirit of the new deals recently agreed with local government and with business. The Scottish Government will work constructively with the UK nations, as well as retailers, local government, young people and other stakeholders to develop and deliver solutions.

Forestry and Land Scotland submitted an application for a translocation licence to NatureScot on the 3 August 2023 and currently await a formal response.

The Scottish Government remains committed to supporting the restoration of 250,000 hectares of degraded Scottish peatlands by 2030. Earlier this year the First Minister’s policy prospectus ‘New Leadership - A Fresh Start’, reaffirmed this commitment with an interim target -promising to deliver up to 110,000 hectares of restored peatland by 2026.

As well as our commitment of £250 million of funding over ten years, through our Private Investment in Natural Capital programme, we are working to attract increased private investment in peatland restoration as a nature-based solution for climate change and biodiversity loss.

Scotland’s Health Board’s operate their own escalation policy for the management of whole system capacity that includes well established processes with locally agreed trigger points. We believe Health Boards are best placed to judge what reasonable measures should be taken to maintain a safe service and ensuring patient safety.

The Winter Plan for 2023-24 seeks to provide a whole system approach to mitigate pressures that will be experienced over the course of winter. We know that this winter will present a sustained period of pressure for Health and Social Care services and we are committed to supporting local systems to ensure that appropriate levels of care are delivered at the right time.

It also reflects and recognises the complex landscape of Health and Social Care and articulates the actions that are being taken now to create capacity within the system and support resilience over the course of winter 2023-24.

The Scottish Government will continue to work with health boards and partners to support preparations for this coming winter.

On 13 September 2023, at the initiation of the Scottish Government, Ministers and senior officials from across the UK met to discuss single use vapes. They discussed the available evidence, recognised shared challenges, and committed to work together on a range of options to tackle the impacts, up to and including a ban.

The Scottish Government has engaged on the issue of single use vapes from an early stage with governments across the UK, and indicated the potential future requirement to raise relevant issues for consideration within the Resources and Waste Common Framework.

The Scottish Government has directly engaged with justice stakeholders to provide the following information. Police Scotland have confirmed that RAAC has been identified in three sites across the Police Scotland estate, in Edinburgh, Perth and Dundee. These sites are pre 2007, however where RAAC has been identified, appropriate mitigation measures have been put in place and there is no immediate risk to officers, staff or visitors.

Scottish Courts and Tribunals Service (SCTS) have confirmed ongoing structural survey work is underway, RAAC has been identified in one building within the North Lanarkshire area at Airdrie Sheriff Court.

The Scottish Government’s response to question S6W-21348 on 27 September 2023 provides the member with a response to the question “To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide a list of any fire station buildings that contain reinforced autoclaved aerated concrete (RAAC)”.

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

We recognise the financial challenges facing colleges. We have committed to providing greater flexibility for institutions in how they use the investment that is available and autonomy to set ambitious, stretch targets for delivery. We are working closely with Colleges Scotland and Scottish Funding Council in a Tripartite Alignment group to seek constructive approaches to financial flexibilities. The Purpose and Principles for Post-School Education, Research and Skills published on 28 June 2023, developed in collaboration with stakeholders, sets out our long-term ambition for the sector. This can be found here: https://www.gov.scot/publications/post-school-education-research-skills-purpose-principles/ .