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The Deposit Return Scheme (DRS) Regulations state that any return point operator must retain scheme packaging for collection by, or on behalf of, a producer or a scheme administrator.

I refer the member to the answer to question S6W-14904 on‎ 20 March 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

Information regarding employment in the creative industries is publicly available on the Scottish Government’s website and can be found at Growth Sector Statistics Database . The relevant data is included in Table 2.5.

The employment data in the Growth Sector Statistics Database does not provide coverage of businesses and self-employed workers operating under the VAT threshold, which are of particular significance to creative and cultural employment, given that many work freelance or in small businesses. As part of ongoing work to develop our approach to measuring the size and performance of the sector within the National Performance Framework, we are currently undertaking work to improve our estimates of employment in the sector to include additional cultural, heritage and creative activities and to allow for better coverage of freelancers.

The Scottish Government does not hold data on future employment growth in this area.

The commercial value of advertising space was calculated by assigning a standard advertising rate attributable to similar footfall areas per RVM. The calculations are commercially sensitive and are not published. “Allocated to society”, in this case, means the Return Point Operator who would receive the value for their advertising space. This figure has not been revised.

Statistics relating to the waits patients experience for a new outpatient attendance and inpatient or day case appointment at NHS Board and specialty level are published by Public Health Scotland (PHS) up to 31 st December 2022 and can be found using the following links:

New Outpatients - https://publichealthscotland.scot/media/18024/newop_feb23.xlsx

Inpatients/Daycases - https://publichealthscotland.scot/media/17838/ipdc_feb23.xlsx

The statistics published in the tables above include the median and 90th percentile waits in days for:

• New outpatients waiting (‘1.1 Table’)
• New outpatients seen (‘1.2 Table’)
• Inpatients/day cases waiting (‘2.2 Table’)
• Inpatients/day cases seen (‘2.1 Table’)

We continue to work intensively to clear long waits, which have been exacerbated by the impact of the global pandemic and are determined to provide NHS Boards with support necessary to drive improvements. This includes targets announced in July 2022 to address the backlog of planned care, maximising theatre productivity, optimising Golden Jubilee National Hospital capacity, and the delivery of the £1 billion NHS Recovery Plan to support sustainable improvements and new models of care, such as the National Treatment Centre Programme.

We are also working with the Centre for Sustainable Delivery (CFSD) and boards to embed regional and national working to ensure that long waiting patients can access treatment more quickly.

The Scottish Government continues to work with its partners and key stakeholders, including Public Health Scotland, health boards, and across the Four Nations to prepare Scotland to identify and respond to future infectious disease and pandemic threats. This work builds on existing health protection approaches, including the 2011 UK Influenza Pandemic Preparedness Strategy , and a now enhanced respiratory surveillance programme.

National preparedness arrangements include stockpiles of clinical consumables, PPE, medicines, a contract for access to a pandemic influenza vaccine – and a national pandemic influenza service at 4 Nation level to distribute antivirals. NHS Boards have pandemic flu plans based on guidance – and are also expected to plan locally on a multi-agency basis with Resilience Partnerships and/or HSCPs. The Coronavirus (Recovery and Reform) (Scotland) Act 2022 was passed last year, giving the Scottish Government new powers to respond to public health emergencies. This includes provisions for education, higher and further education, care services, housing, justice.

The Scottish Government established the Standing Committee on Pandemic Preparedness to bring together scientists and technical experts to advise the Scottish Government on the future risks from pandemics and how best to approach these. The final report will be presented later this year.

The Scottish Government remains engaged with the review process, however, the responsibility for the implementation of the recommendations falls to NHS Highland, working closely with the local community, NHS 24, the Scottish Ambulance Service and other agencies as recommended in Professor Ritchie’s original review.

At present, there are some endometriosis medicines that are unavailable. Alternatives remain available and clinicians are advised to prescribe these alternatives until supplies stabilise.

Scottish Government has had no communication with the MHRA regarding medication supply issues. The supply of medicines is a reserved matter for the UK Government. Scottish Government officials are regularly updated on any supply disruptions which may arise and will provide advice to the NHS in Scotland on options to address any shortages that may arise.

a) For 2022-23, core funding for university research was increased to £299 million to maintain and strengthen Scotland’s excellent research base, with levels maintained for 2023-24. This funding is used for a range of purposes, including the provision of state of the art research facilities and lab equipment, and development opportunities for student and early career researchers who are the future of Scottish life sciences.

b) To ensure there are facilities available to support university spinouts the Scottish Government has invested in Research Pools, Innovation Centres and in the Alliance for Research Challenges. The aim is to create a critical mass of excellence, pulling together academic and industry expertise in areas of global importance, including Life Sciences.

In addition, investment through the City Region Deals is supporting a number of bespoke life sciences infrastructure projects including £10 million investment towards BioHub, an Aberdeen City Region Deal project. Located at the University of Aberdeen's Foresthill Health Campus, it will provide the support and physical infrastructure to help attract and retain life sciences spin outs in Scotland. As part of the Tay Cities Region Deal, Scottish Government agreed to provide £25 million towards facilities at the University, including £20.2 million towards an Innovation Hub to host and support spin-out and developing companies, including laboratory infrastructure.

As well as expert advice and help from our enterprise agencies to support business growth, through the Tech Scaler initiative we will provide intensive, structured commercial education to ‘start-up’ businesses in Scotland, to support them in growing and scaling-up to the full extent of their ambitions.