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The UK Government has not provided details on how their plans to reduce the number of civil servants by 91,000 will affect their staff working in Scotland. There are around 24,800 1 Civil Servants who are part of the reserved Public Sector in Scotland.

For Civil Servants who serve the Scottish Government, the responsibility for determining our workforce size resides with Scottish Ministers and the Permanent Secretary.

The Scottish Government is committed to contributing to achieving the broad aim set out in the Resource Spending Review to return the total size of the devolved public sector workforce to around pre-COVID-19 levels by 2026-27. This will be achieved through effective vacancy and recruitment management, working in partnership with the Council of Scottish Government Unions.

The RSR also sets out how the wider decrease in the public sector workforce will not be achieved via a uniform approach due to varying trends in demand for different services and the recovery of services from COVID-19. Whilst we consider the longer term workforce requirements, and the impact of the Resource Spending Review on the Scottish Government's workforce size and cost for the future, we are already taking action and have enhanced recruitment controls in place, ensuring as much money as possible is directed onto the delivery of the policy priorities of the Government and improving the lives of the people of Scotland.

[1] Source: Public Sector Employment In Scotland Statistics For 1st Quarter 2022

I refer the member to the answer to question S6W-09714 on 29 July 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 .

The Regulations underpinning Scotland’s Deposit Return Scheme (DRS) do not mandate specific labelling requirements, but rather give producers and the scheme administrator the flexibility to decide on their preferred approach. We decided to take this approach following consultation with businesses during the development of the Regulations. You can read a summary of the consultation responses in paragraphs 160 – 162 of the Final Business and Regulator Impact Assessment (BRIA), published on 22 December 2021.

As independent Scheme Administrator established by businesses, Circularity Scotland Ltd (CSL) has developed its own labelling requirements for those businesses who wish to have CSL administer their obligations relating to DRS.

The Full Business Case Stage 1 Addendum for Scotland’s Deposit Return Scheme (DRS), published on 16 March 2020, models the economic impact of DRS based on a central estimate for the producer fee and concludes that there is a strong economic case for DRS.

The specific level of the producer fee is for Circularity Scotland Ltd (CSL), as a private business independent of Government, to set through a commercial negotiation with the producers which it agrees to represent. The Scottish Government has not made an assessment of CSL’s proposed producer fees.

The specific level of the producer fee is for Circularity Scotland Ltd (CSL), as a private business independent of Government, to set through a commercial negotiation with the producers which it agrees to represent. As such the Scottish Government was not consulted as part of the development of the producer fee.

The Scottish Government regularly reviews its workforce numbers to ensure affordability, and that the organisation is delivering for the people of Scotland as efficiently and effectively as possible. This ongoing monitoring of our workforce makes sure that as much money as possible is directed onto the delivery of the policy priorities of the Government and improving the lives of the people of Scotland.

We are committed to contributing to achieving the broad aim set out in the Resource Spending Review, to return the total size of the devolved public sector workforce to around pre-COVID-19 levels by 2026-27.

Our absolute priority is achieving this through effective vacancy and recruitment management, working in partnership with the Council of Scottish Government Unions.

Whilst we consider the longer term workforce requirements, and the impact of the Resource Spending Review on our workforce size and cost for the future, we have enhanced recruitment controls in place which focus any recruitment on the most critical delivery priorities, building capability and making the organisation more diverse.

The Scottish Government has not been requested to research an 8,000 headcount reduction in the Scottish civil service.

The Scottish Government regularly reviews its workforce numbers to ensure affordability, and that the organisation is delivering for the people of Scotland as efficiently and effectively as possible.

The UK Government has not provided details on how their plans to reduce the number of civil servants by 91,000 will affect their staff working in Scotland. There are around 24,800 [1] Civil Servants who are part of the reserved Public Sector in Scotland.

The UK Government plans do not have a direct impact on civil servants who serve the Scottish Government, as the responsibility lies with Scottish Ministers and the Permanent Secretary when it comes to determining our workforce size.

[1] Source: Public Sector Employment In Scotland Statistics For 1st Quarter 2022 .

The Scotland Reserve provides the Scottish Government with a limited facility to manage the smoothing of all types of spending, assist the management of tax volatility and manage the timing of expenditure between financial years. As the cap is not index linked it has remained at £700m since it was implemented in 2017. In real terms it becomes proportionately smaller each year.

Under the terms of the Fiscal Framework the Scottish Government is unable to overspend its budget in a financial year. It must therefore achieve a net underspend each year and these amounts are carried forward within the Scotland Reserve to be utilised in future years.

The balance within the Scotland Reserve following the 2021-22 Provisional Outturn exercise was £650 million . This amount, subject to any adjustments as part of the Final Outturn process, will be drawn down in full to support 2022-23 spending plans as outlined in the Budget. This means the Scotland Reserve balance will be reduced to nil, allowing for an underspend of up to £700m in 2022-23 to be recorded without breaching the Reserve.

Later in the financial year 2022-23 there will be greater certainty around the funding position and spending levels. Financial management will focus on ensuring the Scottish Government achieves a balanced budget without breaching the Scotland Reserve cap. This will take the following into account:

• Ensuring sufficient headroom is included in the Scotland Reserve for a net underspend still to be achieved following post year-end accounting and audit adjustments
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• Including any targeted carry forward balances to support future financial years. In the recently published Medium Term Financial Strategy there is an assumption of £279 million of funding from the Scotland Reserve being used to support 2023-24 which would be factored into the Scotland Reserve workings. This figure is subject to change as part of the 2023-24 budget as well as any in-year revisions as circumstances change.

This process will then be replicated in financial year 2023-24 with a full draw down of any carry forward amounts in the Scotland Reserve.

The valuation of all non-domestic property, including sites of ATMs, is a matter for the Scottish Assessors who are independent of local and Scottish Government.

We are aware that Assessors have been considering the valuation of ATM sites and recently concluded that in most retail premises it is likely that such sites will be deleted from the Valuation Roll. Assessors are now commencing the process of identifying the ATM sites this will apply to.

Where a property is removed from the Valuation Roll, the ratepayer will be entitled to a refund of any overpaid rates back to the effective date of deletion.