Seòmar agus comataidhean

As the Cabinet Secretary for Health and Social Care, I am responsible for audiology services.

There are multiple directorates in the Scottish Government with an interest in the delivery of audiology services in Scotland.

I refer the member to the answer to question S6W-05254 on 25 January 2022. 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 are committed to supporting public sector employers in improving wellbeing policies for employees, including exploring the benefits of being part of the four-day working week pilot.

The 2022-23 public sector pay policy introduces the option for employers, in discussion with trade unions, to take a multi-year, reform approach to pay. Employers pursuing this option can explore piloting a four day working week.

More detail regarding four day week pilots in the public sector will be set out in due course.

As set out in our Programme for Government, the Scottish Government has already increased its ambition and commitment to deliver more social homes by increasing our affordable homes target from 100,000 to 110,000 affordable homes by 2032, with 70% of these being for social rent.

Housing to 2040 sets out our long term vision for Housing in Scotland. While a longer-term ambition allows for greater foresight, it does present challenges with predicting how circumstances might change or what unforeseen events might arise. That is why we will carry out a review at the mid-point of the target period, to assess if plans should continue unchanged or be adapted.

Scottish Government officials continue to hold frequent meetings with SEPA to support the organisations recovery measures following the cyber-attack in December 2020.

All applications made to SEPA for authorisation under the Water Environment (Controlled Activities) (Scotland) Regulations for new marine finfish farms or significant changes to existing farms are subject to public consultation. Information about these applications is made publicly available on SEPA’s consultation hub: https://consultation.sepa.org.uk/permits/car-regulations-aquaculture-applications/

Additionally, as part of its pre-application process for marine finfish farm developments ( https://www.sepa.org.uk/regulations/water/aquaculture/pre-application/ ), SEPA produces screening modelling and risk identification reports. These reports are published on SEPA’s website (the first posted 6 September 2021) ( https://www.sepa.org.uk/regulations/water/aquaculture/screening-modelling-and-risk-identification-report/ ) to inform pre-application consultations with interested parties as well as the later consultation on any application. The reports

A small subset of the information submitted to SEPA by applicants (ie large raw data sets, such as visual imagery footage of the seabed) is not available via SEPA’s website because of the large data file sizes involved. This information is provided by other means to the public on request.

Information relating to assessing fish farms was unavailable for the majority of 2020, however was restored on 6 September 2021.

The Scottish Government is committed to working with local authorities, including by funding in key areas for public sector climate action through a mix of competitive and other funding programmes. Inviting bids from local authorities enables us to identify relevant projects, and to offer access to financial and other support tolocal authorities working in these areas . Combined, our funds represent a comprehensive package of support for local authority climate action.

Some examples of our strong climate funding offer to local authorities include: non-competitive funding for investment in electric vehicle charging infrastructure and decarbonisation of public sector fleets to all of Scotland's local authorities, with over £65 million of funding awarded over the last decade, competitive funds like the £200 million Green Growth Accelerator programme, an outcomes-based funding model for local authorities, and our Switched on Towns and Cities Programme, which has awarded over £14 million of funding to five projects (/local authorities) to support decarbonisation of transport.

We strongly support the Scottish Parliament’s Net Zero, Energy and Transport Committee’s ongoing Inquiry into the Role of Local Government and its Cross-Sectoral Partners in Financing and Delivering a Net- Zero Scotland. The findings of the inquiry will be a valuable contribution to how we can further develop our relationship with and support towards local governments.

The Scottish Government regularly engages with local authorities and the wider public sector, including through COSLA and the Sustainable Scotland Network (SSN), where current opportunities and challenges within local authority climate action are frequently discussed. Scottish Government officials also engage with the Improvement Service on the capacity needs of local authorities in delivering net zero.

Since 2015-16, around 180 listed Scottish public bodies have been required to report annually on compliance with their statutory climate change duties. To assess progress on emissions reduction, the Scottish Government funds SSN to produce an annual analysis of the submitted reports. New regulations, which came into force on 9 November 2020, require Scottish public bodies from November 2022 to report, where applicable, how they will aligns spending plans and use of resources to contribute to delivering their emissions reduction targets.

We work with stakeholders regularly including with our Cladding Stakeholder Group to ensure all appropriate solutions are considered for homeowners and residents in affected buildings.

The Single Building Assessment programme in Scotland will not have a restriction to 18m and above. The UK Government's recent announcement for England does focus solely on buildings over 18m. Whilst we welcome the announcement from the UK Government about ensuring that the polluter pays, a collective approach is needed to secure reparations from developers and the wider construction industry.

Since coming into post in August 2021 I have worked intensively with industry and stakeholders to agree a project plan that we can have confidence in to deliver Scotland’s Deposit Return Scheme (DRS). This has included frequent engagement with Circularity Scotland Ltd (CSL) who have been open and realistic about the scale of challenge facing implementation of DRS due to COVID-19 and EU Exit, as the Gateway Review recognised.

In line with the principle of producer responsibility, CSL is a private company, established by industry to lead on delivery of Scotland’s DRS as scheme administrator. As an independent, industry-led organisation, CSL’s procurement decisions are not a matter for the Scottish Ministers.

Producers of in-scope drinks are responsible for having their scheme packaging collected from return points free of charge from the full implementation date for DRS, either directly or through a scheme administrator. Industry is therefore liable for delivery of DRS by the full implementation date whether or not a scheme administrator is in place by that date. Until and unless amended by the Deposit and Return Scheme for Scotland Amendment Regulations 2022, that date is set in regulations as 1 July 2022.

I refer the member to the answer to question S6W-05839 on 21 January 2022. 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