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The Deposit Return Scheme (DRS) Scheme Administrator, Circularity Scotland Ltd, is a privately owned company. This arrangement is consistent with the polluter pays principle and is the same approach used by many similar schemes internationally.

The Scottish Government has not given any consideration to its designation as a Scottish public authority for the purposes of the Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act 2002.

All of the 16 new R100 subsea cables connecting 15 Scottish islands - Colonsay, Iona, Lismore, Eigg, Eday, Flotta, Hoy, Rousay, Sanday, Shapinsay, Stronsay, Fair Isle, Unst, Whalsey and Yell – were laid during Summer 2022.

Planned post-laying activity is now continuing with work to establish terrestrial connections on those islands underway.

The Scottish Government is committed to introducing a national system of rent controls with an appropriate mechanism to allow local authorities to introduce local measures, by the end of 2025, and to do so in a way which is robust and provides lasting benefit to tenants.

We consulted widely earlier in 2022 on our New Deal for Tenants draft strategy which sets out a whole range of reforms, including the vision and principles for a future model of rent control. We published an independent analysis of all of the consultation responses in August.

In the meantime, the Cost of Living (Tenant Protection) (Scotland) Act which came into force on 28 October 2022 introduced a rent cap to protect tenants from high rent increases.

We have also made support available to tenants in the private rented sector who are struggling with high housing costs.

This includes £68.1m to mitigate the bedroom tax, helping over 91,000 households to sustain their tenancy, and up to £13.5m which has been made available to mitigate against the impact of other UK Government welfare cuts.

We will extend the eligibility criteria of our £10m Tenant Grant Fund so local authorities can use any remaining funds to support people who are struggling with arrears resulting from the rising cost of living, and will be investing up to a further £5m in Discretionary Housing and giving local authorities more flexibility in their prioritisation of households for Discretionary Housing Payments.

The introduction of longer-term rent controls is being carefully considered alongside our emergency response for the rented sector to the costs crisis and the operation of the temporary rent cap will inform our plans to implement an effective and long term model of rent control.

The consultation responses to the New Deal for Tenants, and our ongoing engagement with stakeholders, will inform our work to develop the approach to long term rent control in Scotland and we will publish further details on our planned approach in due course.

Local authorities are responsible for the development and delivery of flood protection schemes. The 2015-2021 Flood Risk Management Strategies included 42 formal flood protection schemes. Local authorities were expected to start work on development of these schemes by 2021. However as flood protection schemes can have significant impacts on individuals, communities and the environment, and so require careful and detailed planning and consultation, it was recognised that construction work may not be completed within the 2015-2021 timeframe.

Schemes (a) under construction are as follows:

The Scottish Government currently provides significant support through Business Energy Scotland (BES) and the SME Loan and Cashback Scheme to help SMEs implement renewable heating technologies such as air source heat pumps. We have also recently enhanced support for Scottish organisations to decarbonise through expanding the capacity of the Business Energy Scotland advice service.

In the Bute House agreement the Scottish Government committed to transition the cashback element of the BES SME loan schemes to standalone grants. Officials are working closely with delivery partners to develop this improved scheme for SMEs in Scotland to access both loan and grant support for the installation of renewable heating technologies.

Scotland will receive £24.6 million from within the £484 million package of support announced by the UK Government. This will be distributed to the sector via the Scottish Funding Council. Universities and research institutions may be eligible for other aspects of the package announced by the UK Government.

This allocation is intended to address the shortfall in research funding caused by delays in negotiating association to the Horizon Europe Research programme. The funding awarded reflects Scotland’s previous track record of success and influential position in this prestigious and highly competitive research programme.

We highly value European partnerships and collaborations, built through initiatives like Horizon, which help drive Scotland’s strength and excellence in research. The impact of Brexit has risked our ability to continue to access funding and compete as a world leading research nation. Therefore, the Scottish Government’s position remains that maximising participation in Horizon Europe is the best outcome for Scotland.

We urge the UK Government to work together with the European Commission to limit the damage caused by their ideological pursuit of a ‘hard’ Brexit. Finding a mutually beneficial solution for our research and innovation communities remains of pressing importance.

Marine Scotland management measures for wild harvesting of wrasse mean that only licenced and derogated vessels, in possession of a contract with an aquaculture company, may engage in fishing operations for this species. Those who do so are required to provide information on their operations to Marine Scotland. This includes completion of a weekly record of fishing time, location and catch weight and in addition, the number of wrasse landed (by species), the number of fish retained or discarded; and the sizes of fish in the first 20 traps hauled on each trip.

Marine Scotland are currently analysing data gathered from this fishery during the 2021 and 2022 seasons and will publish a report in due course.

Wild harvesting of Wrasse is managed under the licence derogation system introduced following consultation in 2020. In 2021, we added mandatory controls on fishing activity, including obligations for the collection and reporting of data, on a weekly basis, to Marine Scotland. These included minimum and maximum landing sizes, controls on the number and design of traps, a maximum trap lift rate and a prohibition on fishing when water temperature is above 17 degrees. Marine Scotland also require derogation-holders to take observers on board if directed.

This represents a positive step towards sustainable management of this fishery. The time until the next wrasse fishing season begins will enable us to share findings on this fishery and facilitate discussion on next steps.

The Scottish Government is committed to introducing a national system of rent controls by the end of 2025, and to do so in a way which is robust and provides lasting benefit to tenants.

We consulted widely earlier in 2022 on our New Deal for Tenants draft strategy which sets out a whole range of reforms, including the vision and principles for a future model of national rent controls with an appropriate mechanism to allow local authorities to introduce local measures. We published an independent analysis of all of the consultation responses in August.

In the meantime, the Cost of Living (Tenant Protection) (Scotland) Act which came into force on 28 October 2022 introduced a rent cap to protect tenants from high rent increases.

We have also made support available to tenants in the private rented sector who are struggling with high housing costs.

This includes £68.1m to mitigate the bedroom tax, helping over 91,000 households to sustain their tenancy, and up to £13.5m which has been made available to mitigate against the impact of other UK Government welfare cuts.

We will extend the eligibility criteria of our £10m Tenant Grant Fund so local authorities can use any remaining funds to support people who are struggling with arrears resulting from the rising cost of living, and will be investing up to a further £5m in Discretionary Housing and giving local authorities more flexibility in their prioritisation of households for Discretionary Housing Payments.

The introduction of longer-term rent controls is being carefully considered alongside our emergency response for the rented sector to the costs crisis, and the operation of the temporary rent cap will inform our plans to implement an effective and long term model of rent control.

The consultation responses to the New Deal for Tenants, and our ongoing engagement with stakeholders, will inform our work to develop the approach to long term rent control in Scotland and we will publish further details on our planned approach in due course.

The Heat in Buildings Supply Chains Delivery Plan was developed through close engagement with our delivery partners highlighted in Chapter Two.

To inform our understanding of the sector and support the development of the plan, we utilised feedback gained though published reports from expert groups including our Heat Pump Sector Deal Expert Advisory Group and the Zero Emissions Social Housing Taskforce.

We have also utilised extensive feedback on supply chain issues received through a number of wide ranging public consultations in relation to our heat in buildings programme, namely, our consultation on the Draft Heat in Buildings Strategy, and our scoping consultation on the New Build Heat Standard.

We continue to engage with the sector on a routine and informal basis alongside our delivery partners and, as outlined within the Plan, we have committed to carrying out a formal public consultation to seek views on our proposal to develop a new supplier led funding scheme for green heat works.