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In recognition of the anxiety the pause for those over the age of 71 to self-refer is causing, I asked for work to explore options that will accelerate the restart of self-referrals for women aged 71 and over. Any decision will be informed by clinical advice and the on-going pandemic. As part of these considerations our goal is to restart the option to self-refer by the end of September 2022, with a number of factors still to be worked through. The restart will be done in a phased way without unduly impacting appointment times for the eligible screening population for whom there are clear screening benefits. Every effort continues to be made to increase capacity in the screening programme, including through deploying additional mobile units and offering weekend and evening appointments.

Regardless of their age, women should remain symptom aware and report any symptoms to their GP immediately for these to be investigated.

I refer the member to the answer to question S6W-06890 on 9 March 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 information requested is not held by the Scottish Government. This would be a matter for individual Health Boards.

I refer the member to the answer to question S6W-06890 on 9 March 2022.

It is important that anyone who experiences complications receives appropriate and timely care, and so I would encourage any woman with concerns to speak to her GP in the first instance. We are clear that GPs must take any patient’s concerns seriously, and must ensure that they have all the advice they to make an informed decision on their care.

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 number of Reverse Vending Machines (RVMs) that will be used in Scotland’s Deposit Return Scheme (DRS), was estimated at 3,021. This information can be found in Table 2 on page 19 of the revised Business and Regulatory Impact Assessment (BRIA).

The BRIA also indicates that the cost of an RVM could vary from around £19,000 to £25,000 for smaller models, and around £30,000 for a larger machine.

The costs associated with operating of Return Points, including RVMs can be found in Table 1 on page 5 of the Full Business Case Addendum .

The identification and acquisition of DRS-compatible RVMs is a matter for the Scheme Administrator, Circularity Scotland Ltd, and retailers to manage. This is consistent with the industry-led approach to DRS.

Information relating to the ‘steady state’ costs can be found in Section 3.3 of the Full Business Case Addendum which was published on 16 March 2020 and can be downloaded here: https://www.gov.scot/publications/deposit-return-scheme-scotland-full-business-case-addendum/documents/ .

The most up to date information available regarding the impact of Scotland’s Deposit Return Scheme on retailers, including information about the use of Reverse Vending Machines (RVMs) can be found in the amended Final Business and Regulatory Impact Assessment (BRIA), which was published on 22 December 2021 and can be downloaded from the Scottish Government’s website here: https://www.gov.scot/publications/deposit-return-scheme-scotland-final-business-regulatory-impact-assessment/ .

There is a duty in the Waste (Scotland) Regulations 2012 for local authorities to provide a collection for glass. The Deposit Return Scheme (DRS) is for single-use drinks containers; local authorities will continue to collect all other glass not captured by DRS.

The Scottish Government does not hold figures relating to the proportion of glass recyclate for non-scheme articles. However, including glass in DRS will bring significant environmental and economic benefits. The inclusion of glass will save over 1.2 megatonnes CO2 equivalent over 25 years and will also reduce the amount of harmful glass litter in our environment. In addition, DRS will significantly increase the quantity and quality of glass recyclate, creating an aggregated and high-quality feedstock for reprocessing. This will include clear glass, which we understand to be in high demand.

Return Point operators are responsible for ensuring that the Reverse Vending Machines (RVM) that they use meet the specifications supplied by the Scheme Administrator, Circularity Scotland Ltd (CSL).

The costs of operating a Return Point, including the RVM, is offset by the Retail Handling Fee paid by CSL to Return Point operators per in-scope container they process.

The Scottish Government routinely publishes a range of labour market statistics and analysis to monitor changes in our labour market. These can be accessed at the following link: Labour market statistics - gov.scot (www.gov.scot) .

No evaluation of the UK Government’s proposed reduction in the time offered to unemployed social security recipients to seek work has been carried out by the Scottish Government. However, this recent announcement from the UK Government is yet another example of a system which doesn’t work well enough to help our most vulnerable people, in a time when support is most needed. Universal Credit, which is the responsibility of the UK Government, is too often failing the people it is designed to support and driving more people into poverty.