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The impact assessments for Scotland’s Deposit Return Scheme (DRS) published on 16 March 2020 recognised that a single scheme administrator would likely be responsible for the day-to-day operation of the scheme, in line with the Scottish Government’s preferred scheme design. We therefore have no plans to update any of these impact assessments in light of the approval of Circularity Scotland Ltd as scheme administrator of DRS.

The Crown Office & Procurator Fiscal Service (COPFS) proactively notifies victims of decisions not to prosecute in all solemn cases and all summary cases within the specified case remit of the COPFS Victim Information and Advice (VIA) service, including Domestic Abuse and Hate Crime. COPFS proactively notifies victims of decisions to discontinue prosecutions in all categories of cases. COPFS advises all victims of all decisions not to prosecute on request.

COPFS is exploring possible approaches to extending the current notification scheme to all relevant summary cases, including possible IT solutions.

The information requested is not held centrally by the Scottish Government. Whistleblowing complaints and discipline are matters for the designated Deputy Chief Constable of Police Scotland, with oversight by the Scottish Police Authority.

Police Scotland takes whistleblowing seriously and have set-up an independent advice line to provide confidential expert advice to officers and staff who have any concerns. They will continue to develop the Whistleblowing process to support Policing for a safe, protected and resilient Scotland.

The Scottish Government does not hold this information. Property transactions involving the sale of land and leases of 20 years and over are usually registered in the Land Register of Scotland. The register is managed and maintained by the Keeper of the Registers of Scotland as required by the Land Registration etc. (Scotland) Act 2012. The register contains information on the parties to registered deeds (the buyer and the seller) but not on the status of those parties (ie whether they are private sector or public sector).

Social Security Scotland routinely publish information as part of the quarterly Official Statistics release ‘Best Start Grant and Best Start Foods’. This includes information on the number of applications authorised for payment and the value of payments issued in each local authority area.

Information on Best Start Grant and Best Start Foods was last published on the 27th July 2021 and provided information up to the 31st May 2021. This publication is available from:

https://www.gov.scot/publications/best-start-grant-and-best-start-foods-high-level-statistics-to-31-may-2021/

I am meeting with the industry on a weekly basis to address the supply chain issues, which are due to a number of factors including the COVID-19 pandemic and EU Exit.

Data from the fortnightly Business Insights and Conditions Survey (BICS) provides us with an insight into the impact on the construction industry in Scotland, for example:

• In Wave 34 of the survey (covering the period 28 June 2021 to 11 July 2021), 59.6% of Construction businesses reported that the prices of materials, goods or services bought in the last two weeks had increased by more than normal price fluctuations. The proportion of Construction businesses reporting that prices had increased more than normal has been rising since April 2021 (32.7% in Wave 29).
• In Wave 33 of the survey (covering the period 14 June 2021 to 27 June 2021), 50.1% of applicable Construction businesses reported that they were able to get the materials, goods or services they needed from the EU in the past two weeks, but 36.6% reported that the business had to change suppliers or find alternative solutions, and a further 13.3% reported that they had not been able to get the materials, goods or services needed. The proportion of Construction businesses reporting that they had been able to access materials has been declining since April 2021 (83.0% in Wave 29), and Construction businesses reporting that they had not been able to access materials has increased since April 2021 (8.1% in Wave 29).

The latest data from the Scottish Government analysis of the BICS is available at: BICS weighted Scotland estimates: data to wave 34 - gov.scot (www.gov.scot) .

The £10 million funding, announced on 28 June 2021 will primary be used to support additional staffing, capacity for cancer services and will allow for more patients to be seen, diagnosed and treated, with the aim of ensuring patients receive the care they need as soon as possible.

Cancer has and will remain a top priority for this Government with Early Cancer Diagnostic Centres coming on stream as of June this year enabling GPs to refer patients with non-specific symptoms suspicious of cancer (such as fatigue, weight loss and nausea) onto a fast-track diagnostic pathway to get the care and treatment they need sooner.

On parts (a) and (b) of the question - this information is not held by the Scottish Government.

On parts (i), (ii) and (iii) of the question - we do not give specific financial support to windfarms, but have supported offshore wind innovation via grant funding totalling over £9.5 million since 2014, to initiatives which help towards the reduction in cost of this technology.

This includes almost £8 million to the Carbon Trust to support the Offshore Wind Accelerator and Floating Wind Joint Industry Project - programmes which utilise a market-led approach to address technical challenges in order to lower the levelised cost of energy. We have also provided £1.5 million to the Offshore Renewable Energy Catapult, to match fund a number of projects in partnership with industry and the Welsh Government through their Floating Offshore Wind Centre of Excellence. These projects explored barriers and opportunities for floating wind in Scotland across innovative areas including oil platform electrification using floating wind, floating substructure fabrication in Scotland, and mapping the Scottish supply chain.

The recording of information on the lobbying register is a matter for regulated lobbyists in line with the requirements of the Lobbying (Scotland) Act 2016.

All Ministerial engagements are proactively published by the Scottish Government and are available at the Gov.scot website .

Any changes to the lobbying register would be a matter for the Scottish Parliament to consider in the first instance.

The responsibility for publishing the Deloitte audit report of the Crofting Commission lies with Audit Scotland. Officials have advised that the report will be in the public domain in November 2021.