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Ministers and officials regularly meet with environmental stakeholders including Friends of the Earth.

The last time Ms Slater met with Friends of the Earth was on 17 May

Friends of the Earth were invited but unable to attend a meeting with Ms Slater and eNGO’s on 2 June 2023, to discuss the impact of the UK Government’s decision not to grant a full IMA exclusion for the Scottish Deposit Return Scheme and to consider the implications of this decision on the environment in Scotland.

Since its introduction in July 2020, over 3 million NHS Pharmacy First Scotland consultations have taken in place across Scotland.

In the annual Dispenser Payments and Prescription Cost Analysis publication, Public Health Scotland reported that in financial year 2021-22 alone, a total of 2,954,181 Pharmacy First consultations were undertaken with 95% providing advice on self-care or treatment at the point of contact, therefore removing the need for unnecessary visits to GP practices, Out of Hour services or Emergency Department for everyday self-limiting conditions.

Consultations using PGDs in 2021/22 accounted for 4% (119,728) with 84% (100,182) being treated by the community pharmacy instead of requiring a GP/Out of Hours appointment.

Public Health Scotland has also reported that in 2021/22, 23% of the Scottish population (1,242,801 people) accessed Pharmacy First services at least once.

Details of all contracts relating to the provision of independent expertise to enable completion of due diligence upon the delivery of MV Glen Sannox and Hull 802 can be found via Public Contracts Scotland.

The assessment of the value for money case was one output from the overall due diligence work undertaken. We have not received the final invoices for the entirety of our due diligence work but estimate the total costs to be around £620,000.

Specific information of this nature would be regarded as commercially sensitive and therefore not appropriate for disclosure. However, it should be noted that the timetable associated with the delivery of an alternative vessel would include the time taken to undertake a procurement exercise as well as the time taken to build the vessel itself.

Ministers engage with Island Communities on a regular basis.

This information will be included as part of the quarterly update to the NZET Committee by CEO of Ferguson Marine at the end of June.

Other than time spent on the initial scoping work, there has been no spend on the development of a National Pharmaceutical Agency.

Over 670 producers responsible for more than 2 billion drinks containers, representing 95% of products sold in Scotland have registered with Circularity Scotland. This covers producers from global brands to small craft breweries and distilleries.

The Scottish Government last met with the Faculty of Dental Surgery on 6 May 2022 to discuss the Licence in Dental Surgery.

Scotland’s National Innovation Strategy will be published on Friday 9 June, setting out our 10 year vision to make Scotland one of the most innovative small nations in the world.

The Strategy has been developed by the Scottish Government in close collaboration with industry, academia and the wider innovation ecosystem.