- Asked by: Clare Adamson, MSP for Motherwell and Wishaw, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 28 May 2024
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Current Status:
Answered by Gillian Martin on 10 June 2024
To ask the Scottish Government whether it will commit to (a) investing in and (b) incentivising resource-efficient design, production and processes for e-waste products.
Answer
Between 28 December 2023 and 7 March 2024, the Scottish Government, along with the UK, Welsh and Northern Irish governments, held a consultation on reforming the producer responsibility system for waste electricals and electronic equipment (WEEE). This consultation sought views on a number of policy reforms. Along with this our Circular Economy Route Map the Scottish Government has also committed to creating a Product Stewardship Strategy, with the aim of minimising the health, safety, environmental and social impacts of products and packaging. Recognising the significant e-waste impact of single-use vapes, The Scottish Government is also introducing regulations to ban these products, incentivising more resource-efficient design and ensuring any vapes on the market are both rechargeable and refillable.
Effective product stewardship policies can help to meet our objective of having a circular economy. They reduce waste by decreasing the materials needed for production, and by increasing product lifespan. They increase recycling by providing incentives to collect, re-use and recycling products and their component parts. They help keep products and materials within the circular economy and reduce waste to landfill.
- Asked by: Miles Briggs, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 28 May 2024
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Current Status:
Answered by Jenni Minto on 10 June 2024
To ask the Scottish Government how many women have been invited for their breast screening appointment outwith the 36-month round length standard, in each year since 2019.
Answer
The Scottish Breast Screening Programme Statistics 2022-23 published by PHS confirm that uptake of breast screening is at its highest level. This means that more women with breast cancer are diagnosed at an early stage when it is more easily treatable and survivable.
Secondary data from this report shows the following number of women seen from 37 months in the respective years.
Year | >37 months screening round |
2019 | 61,091 |
2020 | 81,021 |
2021 | 188,081 |
2022 | 198,981 |
2023 | 138,120 |
The programme pause between March and August 2020, and the continued impacts of COVID-19, including the measures designed to control its spread, made it particularly challenging for the programme to run at full capacity. This resulted in a significant backlog. Screening organisations worked closely with the breast screening centres to increase the number of available appointments, including introducing more mobile units and extending opening hours.
Significant progress has been made on reducing the average round length, the interval between the date of a woman’s previous screening mammogram and the date of her next first offered appointment, as it has fallen from 41 months in 2021 to 37 months in the first quarter of 2024. We will continue to monitor progress and work with the organisations responsible for breast screening to ensure as many women are invited within 36 months (up to one day less than 37 months) as possible.
- Asked by: Clare Adamson, MSP for Motherwell and Wishaw, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 28 May 2024
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Current Status:
Answered by Gillian Martin on 10 June 2024
To ask the Scottish Government what steps it is taking to improve data collection, mapping and tracking of critical minerals and other material streams within electrical and electronic equipment.
Answer
I refer the member to the answer to S6W-27838 on 7 June 2024. 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 Scottish Government is also working on a joint 4-nations consultation on digital waste tracking which notes our intention to track waste through to end of waste products or materials that are produced from waste. The digital waste tracking will improve the quality of waste data and make it easier to identify opportunities to keep materials in use for as long as possible and ensure nothing is wasted, including material streams within electrical and electronic equipment.
- Asked by: Claire Baker, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 28 May 2024
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Current Status:
Answered by Jenni Minto on 10 June 2024
To ask the Scottish Government what it is doing to raise awareness among the public of the risks of choking during consensual sexual activity.
Answer
The Scottish Government does not currently have any plans for specific public health awareness raising relating to the risks associated with choking during consensual sexual activity. Through our existing channels we will explore opportunities to discuss these matters and to identify possible areas for this to be highlighted, including the new sexual health website for Scotland, which is currently being developed.
- Asked by: Clare Adamson, MSP for Motherwell and Wishaw, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 28 May 2024
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Current Status:
Answered by Gillian Martin on 10 June 2024
To ask the Scottish Government what steps it is taking to support world-class research into sustainable materials, including those limiting emissions along entire material and product lifecycles.
Answer
The Scottish Government is taking significant steps to imbed the principles of a Circular Economy, enabling the increased recovery of sustainable materials, including those limiting emissions along entire material and product lifecycles. Within our draft Circular Economy Route Map the Scottish Government has also committed to creating a Product Stewardship Strategy, with the aim of minimising the health, safety, environmental and social impacts of products. We will focus on policies and activities which have the greatest environmental and economic impact while continuing to encourage best practice by all businesses and consumers, with the aim to produce, consume and manage resources as effectively as possible. We are engaging with research from ZWS, SEPA and other partners, along with looking at best practice internationally to ensure the policy interventions in this area are not only effective but as impactful as possible.
Alongside this, the 2023 Programme for Government outlined that we would continue to work on how we will help businesses and investors to realise the enormous economic opportunities of the global transition to net zero and create good, well-paid jobs across Scotland. Work is already happening at pace in various areas including how best to use and support research with the aim of capturing economic benefit from the transition to net zero.
- Asked by: Miles Briggs, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Thursday, 23 May 2024
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Current Status:
Answered by Angela Constance on 10 June 2024
To ask the Scottish Government what temporary facilities are available for critical policing facilities in the event that Police Scotland's Edinburgh Division Fettes headquarters are closed, and what assurances it can provide that any such facilities do not contain reinforced autoclaved aerated concrete (RAAC), unsafe cladding or any other unsafe materials.
Answer
The location of critical policing facilities is an operational decision for the Chief Constable.
Police Scotland is currently in discussions with a number of partners around possible locations in Edinburgh, to ensure it can continue to provide a policing service that meets the needs of communities across the city, in the event that the Divisional headquarters at Fettes are closed.
It is for Police Scotland to assure itself on the condition of its estate, and to ensure it meets all health and safety statutory requirements, to support the wellbeing of officers, staff and the public.
- Asked by: Clare Adamson, MSP for Motherwell and Wishaw, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 28 May 2024
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Current Status:
Answered by Gillian Martin on 10 June 2024
To ask the Scottish Government what steps it is taking to support the development of infrastructure to enable the re-use, repair and re-manufacturing of e-waste products according to the waste hierarchy.
Answer
We will focus on policies and activities that have the greatest environmental and economic impact while continuing to encourage best practice by all businesses and consumers, with the aim to produce, consume and manage resources as effectively as possible. The Product Stewardship Strategy will set out a clear, cohesive approach to tackling the environmental and social impacts of products placed on the Scottish market, making the most of opportunities within the competence of the Scottish Government to reduce the environmental impacts of products and goods, and being clear where this requires further action from the UK Government.
- Asked by: Claire Baker, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 28 May 2024
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Current Status:
Answered by Jenni Minto on 10 June 2024
To ask the Scottish Government what recent discussions it has had with NHS representatives regarding the risks of choking during consensual sexual activity, including in relation to guidance issued to medical professionals.
Answer
The Scottish Government is aware of the guidelines issued by the Institute For Addressing Strangulation that have been endorsed by the British Association for Sexual Health and HIV Non-Fatal-Strangulation-Guidelines_AcuteEmergency_Feb24.pdf (ifas.org.uk) . We will continue to work with key partners, including the Scottish Health Protection Network, to consider how this guidance can be promoted and shared.
- Asked by: Paul O'Kane, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Thursday, 23 May 2024
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Current Status:
Answered by Natalie Don on 10 June 2024
To ask the Scottish Government how many women workers in the early learning and childcare workforce it estimates will be captured by its commitment to pay at least £12 per hour to workers delivering the funded entitlement.
Answer
It is estimated that around 12,500 female practitioners and support workers who are working in private and third sector ‘day care of children’ settings that deliver funded ELC will benefit from Scottish Government investment to allow staff to be paid at least £12 per hour. This could result in a £2,000 increase in the gross salary annual salary of a full-time childcare worker.
- Asked by: Pam Duncan-Glancy, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 28 May 2024
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Current Status:
Answered by Jenny Gilruth on 10 June 2024
To ask the Scottish Government what research it is undertaking to establish the reasons for the reported increase in recent years of pupils being absent from (a) primary and (b) secondary school.
Answer
Education Scotland published the results of a deep dive on attendance in November 2023, which sought to understand the current barriers and challenges which influence school attendance and make recommendations on how local authorities can support increased attendance. All 32 local authorities were consulted as part of the work, with 14 local authorities and 18 schools taking part in case studies. The case studies indicated that pupil mental health is a key concern and is believed to be a significant driver behind absence.
Im proving attendance: Understanding the issues (education.gov.scot)
The Behaviour in Scottish Schools Research (BISSR), published in November 2023, included insights into behaviours that were related to attendance and engagement in school. Attendance and school avoidance was identified as a significant issue post-COVID 19 by school staff and local authority representatives. Across local authority areas, representatives spoke about a small but persistent cohort of students who had experienced difficulties in returning to school post-COVID-19 and were continuing to learn online and in the community. The research found that some school staff felt that the disruption had made pupils feel that in-school attendance wasn’t important, while others felt that low attendance was related to mental health issues as a result of the pandemic.
Behaviour in Scottish Schools 2023 (www.gov.scot)