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As this is an operational matter for Scottish Water, I have asked its Chief Executive to respond. His response is as follows:

"Typically, monitors are designed to measure the duration of spills and not flow or volume. Scottish Water is not required to measure the volume of spills other than in a specific limited number of locations where specific equipment is in place to do this. Where Scottish Water is required to measure this, it provides data to SEPA on an annual basis.

The new Event Duration Monitors that are being installed under the improving urban waters routemap will give spill numbers and durations, and not flows or volumes."

However, it should be noted that volume data is not always meaningful as spills are dependent on factors beyond Scottish Water’s control, most notably the weather. The more important metrics are the quality of water in receiving water bodies and as the member is aware, comprehensive monitoring of water bodies is already undertaken by SEPA to assess water quality, water resources, physical condition and aquatic ecology which are combined to produce an overall classification of the water environment. 87% of Scotland’s entire water environment is assessed by SEPA as having a ‘high’ or ‘good’ classification for water quality and Scotland’s River Basin Management Plans (RBMP) have measures in place to achieve 92% ‘good’ water quality by 2027.

Support for young people now forms part of our all-age employability support delivered through No One Left Behind. Employability support is designed and delivered at a local level by Local Employability Partnerships.

Local Authorities have the responsibility of developing approaches with partners, including engaging with employers, to meet local needs. Local Employability Leads will be able to provide local information on employer engagement.

Employability contacts for each local authority can be found on the Employability in Scotland website which can be accessed here: https://www.employabilityinscotland.com/local-employability-services/

No One Left Behind is a place-based approach which sees decisions about services taken locally.

Design and delivery of employability services that meet the needs of users and local labour markets is the responsibility of the Local Employability Partnership (LEP). To support this, and ensure national coherence, we co-designed employability service standards with partners and users. LEPs are required to uphold the expectations set out in the service standards, including ensuring their services are accessible and take account of the experience of users across every area of Scotland.

Learning and evaluation continue to be a key aspect of our approach to employability services in Scotland.

We will consider the recommendations from the implementation evaluation of No One Left Behind and the Young Person’s Guarantee, alongside the outputs from our recent national stakeholder discussion events and actions will be reviewed to identify how we can improve.

The Scottish Government continues to work closely with local government partners in each local authority to promote and drive an increase in the reach of our services across all of Scotland.

Scottish Government has not undertaken an analysis of where in the UK potential purchasers of Scottish carbon credits are located.

Voluntary carbon credits purchased from the UK’s Woodland Carbon Code and Peatland Code can only be used to compensate for UK-based emissions, in a UK-wide market.

Buyers who set up accounts on the Land Carbon Registry use their headquarters address when setting up their accounts, and this is checked by the Registry against the UK-wide Companies House Records. Many UK-wide companies will have a headquarters address in England, even if they operate and have emissions in Scotland. 15% of companies who have a corporate buyer account on the UK Land Carbon Registry have a registered headquarters in Scotland. The remainder are in England.

In the period 10-10-13 to 9-10-2023 there have been 43 public local inquiries held by the Planning and Environmental Appeals Division (DPEA) in respect of onshore wind farm proposals exceeding 50 megawatts which require consent under Section 36 of the Electricity Act 1989.

Parties involved in planning proceedings are expected to meet their own costs. DPEA meet the costs of the reporter and administrative staff; advertisement of the case and the cost of the inquiry venue if necessary; and the general administrative costs of the case. DPEA do not record staff costs as reporters and administrative staff normally deal with a number of different case types at the same time.

DPEA began recording venue and advertisement costs from April 2019. The costs of inquiries from that date onwards are provided in the following table.

*The pattern of meeting types detailed in the information below reflects inquiries which took place during covid-related restrictions which meant that DPEA had to introduce virtual events. As covid restrictions have lifted, DPEA has transitioned back to holding some events in-person, some virtually, and some a mix of the two

I refer the member to the answer to question S6W-22080 on 23 October 2023. 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

I refer the member to the answer to question S6W-22080 on 23 October 2023. 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’s universal Baby Box programme, the only one in the UK, opened for registration on 15 June 2017. Nationwide delivery of Baby Boxes began on 15 August 2017 for all babies born and resident in Scotland.

We commenced issue of reusable nappy vouchers with a QR code at the start of September, giving parents the option to register for the reusable nappy kits by QR code or by post.

We are committed to ensuring every baby born in Scotland should get the best start in life by ensuring that every family with a new-born has access to essential items needed in the first six months of a child’s life.

The Scottish Government works in partnership with Local Government and Local Employability Partners to offer key worker led, person-centred holistic support. At a local level they work in communities and with partners to deliver employability services to those who are experiencing or are at risk of becoming long term unemployed. This includes people with disabilities or long-term health conditions. We engaged with all Scottish Local Authorities when we undertook reviews in the delivery of Supported Employment and Individual Placement and Support (IPS) to consider the most appropriate approach for improved outcomes.

Supported employment including IPS can offer assistance to those requiring intensive and specific help. Officials are working with a range of partners to develop and expand our Supported Employment offer which is currently delivered through Fair Start Scotland. From 2024 this type of support will be made available through our No One Left Behind approach with local partners.

In addition, we are considering the recommendations from the implementation evaluation of No One Left Behind and the Young Person’s Guarantee, alongside the outputs from our recent national stakeholder discussion events and actions will be reviewed to identify improvement measures.

The Scottish Government continues to work closely with local employability partners in each local authority to promote and drive an increase in the reach of our services across all of Scotland.

At a local level, Local Employability Partnerships will deliver a mixed economy of provision bringing together a range of partners including, third sector organisations, ensuring that they continue to have a core role in provision of support based on local demand.