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The Scottish Government has established an Implementation Advisory Group to provide industry advice on the implementation of the deposit return scheme.

The Implementation Advisory Group has established a dedicated Sub-Group to consider the range of existing retail activities and processes which will be affected by the scheme’s introduction.

The Scottish Government will shortly publish a Business and Regulatory Impact Assessment offering an analysis of the costs and benefits to business associated with implementation of a deposit return scheme.

Where a single-use drinks container sold online is delivered to a consumer in Scotland, a deposit will be applied to that container. Retailers that provide a delivery service will be required to provide a doorstep takeback service. We are considering further what duties should apply to online sales which are fulfilled using a postal or courier delivery service.

The Scottish Government is clear that the desired outcome is that the deposit should not be subject to VAT. Discussions are ongoing with the UK Government to reach a final position on this matter.

Under the Looked After Children (Scotland) Regulations 2009 , local authorities are responsible for care planning, which includes assessing the immediate and long term needs of every looked after child. The legislation and supporting guidance also make clear the process and timescales by which a Child’s Plan must be developed, monitored and reviewed. As every child is unique, the support, including therapeutic support, should be built around their identified needs.

The turnover of Children & Families Social Work staff is a matter for individual local authorities to address.

The Scottish Government is delivering an overall funding package of £11.2 billion to local authorities in 2019-20 This is a real terms increase of over £310 million on the 2018-19 funding settlement, equivalent to 2.9%, enabling local authorities to deliver essential public services, including Children & Families Social Work services.

Work in progress under Part 2 of the National Health & Social Care Workforce Plan, co-published with COSLA, aims to support workforce planning for health and social services and to help address current recruitment and retention issues in the sector.

FSS alongside the Food Standards Agency (FSA), developed practical guidance on the interpretation and practical application of the specific requirements laid out in the EU Regulation on allergen information.

MenuCal is a free online tool that supports two areas of FSS work in the out of home catering settings: mandatory provision of allergen information and voluntary energy labelling. It is available on the FSS website and is currently being promoted to food businesses via Environmental Health in Scottish LA’s.

The FSS website carries a link to an interactive online training tool that was developed with FSA when it was formerly FSA Scotland. The training material covers catering and manufacturing premises and consists of six modules that are specific to allergen information.

Food Standards Scotland regularly review the alert service including the open rates of emails and texts received. In October 2019 (6 months following the official launch) a survey will be sent to subscribers to collect feedback about the service which will include the accessibility of the text alert system.

Food Standards Scotland (FSS) has developed guidance and tools to support food businesses, including caterers regarding food allergies, which is freely available on its website. These resources include:

• MenuCal, a free online tool that supports two areas of FSS work in the out of home catering settings: mandatory provision of allergen information and voluntary energy (calorie) labelling.
• Technical guidance developed with the Food Standards Agency (FSA) in order to support food businesses (including caterers) with the implementation of the applicable food law. It provides practical guidance on the interpretation and practical application of the specific requirements laid out in the Regulation on allergen information.

In addition, FSS jointly developed an interactive online training tool that covers catering and manufacturing premises and consists of six modules that are specific to allergen information.

As a matter of best practice, food business operators (FBOs) should consider using a system where staff direct allergen queries to a nominated person to ensure the consistency of allergen information to consumers. However, under the law there are overarching requirements that FBOs must provide safe food and ensure that their staff are trained on hygienic and safe food production. Technical guidance, tools and training material to support allergen training is available via the Food Standards Scotland website. In addition, external training and accreditation is available through organisations such as the Royal Environmental Health Institute of Scotland.