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Throughout the development of Scotland’s Deposit Return Scheme (DRS), all relevant business sectors, including glass producers, were consulted. The Scottish Government continues to engage with industry to ensure that our scheme launches successfully on 1 March 2024.

Most recently, on 5 April 2023 the Director of the Environment and Forestry Directorate replied to a letter from British Glass which restated the Government’s position that glass will be included in Scotland’s DRS.

I refer the member to the answer to question S6W-15600 on 16 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/questions-and-answers

Apprenticeships are a vital resource for employers to invest in their workforce and for people to develop their skills. Investing in skills across people’s lifetimes is critical to our future productivity and success, underlining our commitment to a skilled workforce set out within the National Strategy for Economic Transformation.

Our priority is for high quality apprenticeships that provide sustainable jobs and careers, supporting our transition to net zero.

Skills Development Scotland (SDS) have issued contract awards to support up to 25,500 new Modern Apprenticeship starts in 2023/24. This builds upon the 25,000 Modern Apprenticeship starts which Ministers asked SDS to deliver in 2022/23. SDS previously issued contracts in March for over 39,000 Modern Apprentices in training for 2023/24, supporting businesses and individuals across Scotland.

The Scottish Government meets regularly with representatives of the Scotch whisky industry to discuss Scotland’s Deposit Return Scheme (DRS). The Scotch Whisky Association is a member of the DRS System Wide Assurance Group which meets often to monitor the progress of the scheme’s implementation.

Most recently, on 20 April this year, the First Minister and the Minister for Green Skills, Circular Economy, and Biodiversity, met with industry leaders, including representatives from the Scotch Whisky Association and other producers and retailers to discuss DRS and how all parties can work together to ensure a successful launch on 1 March 2024.

Small Modular Reactors use the same nuclear fission technology as the power generating process found in larger traditional nuclear power plants and carry the same environmental concerns.

As set out in our draft Energy Strategy and Just Transition Plan, the Scottish Government maintains its long standing opposition to the building of new nuclear power plants under current technologies. Therefore, any such analysis on the use of Small Modular Reactors would not be value for money and has not been pursued.

The Scottish Government recognise that social prescribing can be an effective method of improving an individual’s physical, mental and social health. There is growing interest in social prescribing approaches in Scotland and we are currently looking at how we can help develop these further.

At its core, social prescribing is a person-centred approach to supporting people to address the underlying causes of ill-health and an understanding of the importance of non-clinical community resources in helping with these challenges.

The Scottish Government already provides funding to third sector organisations to deliver a range of services, including social prescribing.

Bute House is the Official Residence of the First Minister.

Bute House is Category A listed building and is owned by the National Trust for Scotland (NTS).

There are no costs associated with the transfer of the use of the House between First Ministers: the lease for Bute House is between the National Trust for Scotland and Scottish Ministers (the Scottish Government).

In Scotland, guidance in relation to preparing for emergencies is generally structured around key consequences or themes, rather than specific risks. The Scottish Government’s suite of emergency planning guidance, “Preparing Scotland” ( https://ready.scot/how-scotland-prepares/preparing-scotland-guidance ), covers topics such as response, exercising, scientific and technical advice, preparedness assessments, public communications, and recovery from emergencies, which are all directly relevant to pandemic preparedness.

This guidance is developed in consultation with the organisations which have legal duties in relation to emergency preparedness under the Civil Contingencies Act 2004, which includes all local authorities.

The Scottish Government are in the process of competitively tendering for parts of the Bute House repair schedule and therefore the full cost of the planned repairs has yet to be determined.

The Scottish Government has made clear our support for indigenous languages, including Scots.

The Scottish Government provides around £550,000 of funding to Scots organisations who support Scots education. Organisations such as the Scots Language Centre, Dictionaries of the Scots Language, The Association of Scottish Literary Studies, Scots Hoose and Yaldi Books are all supporting Local Authorities through the development of high quality Scots language learning and resources which allow young people access to Scots.

In addition, the Scottish Government works alongside Education Scotland and the SQA who have worked to standardise, promote and make the Scots language more readily available in schools. The Scottish Government’s Scots language policy was officially launched in 2015 and in 2017 Education Scotland published its Scots Language in Curriculum for Excellence report, which outlines good practice for teachers and senior leaders in Primary and Secondary and to Local authority officers with responsibility for literacy and 1+2 implementation.

We are currently considering the responses to the recent consultation on the future of Gaelic and Scots, this will help inform part of the work to develop Scots language policy and future guidance for Local Authorities, as well as the upcoming Scottish Languages Bill.