Maurice Golden

21 Sep 2020 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government, in light of the priorities set out in Making Things Last: a circular economy strategy for Scotland, whether it will provide a breakdown of medical devices that it has certified for reuse in the NHS since 2016.

Answer · Roseanna Cunningham: The information requested is not centrally held by Scottish Government. NHS boards may hold limited information within their Medical Equipment Management Databases. Decommissioning of medical devices and equipment is carried out in line with guidance given in…

21 Sep 2020 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government, in light of the priorities set out in Making Things Last: a circular economy strategy for Scotland, how many times since 2016 (a) ministers and (b) its officials have met with the (i) UK, (ii) Northern Ireland and (iii) Wales administration to discuss producer responsibility.

Answer · Roseanna Cunningham: Scottish Government officials currently take part in monthly meetings with officials from the UK, Northern Ireland and Wales governments to discuss producer responsibility. Scottish Ministers have also met twice with their counterparts in the other Government…

21 Sep 2020 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government, in light of the priorities set out in Making Things Last: a circular economy strategy for Scotland, whether it will provide a breakdown of the (a) quantity, (b) location and (c) current status of local biorefining hubs that have been set up in each year since 2016.

Answer · Roseanna Cunningham: This information is not held centrally. Zero Waste Scotland has focused on identifying the potential for establishing biorefining hubs in Scotland that could transform a range of materials. In 2017, a research study was undertaken by Zero Waste Scotland to un…

21 Sep 2020 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government how much the remanufacturing sector contributes to the Scottish economy, and how many jobs have been created in each sub-sector since 2016.

Answer · Roseanna Cunningham: This information is not held centrally as there is no specific standard industrial classification of economic activities (SIC) code for remanufacturing activities carried out in the UK or Scotland. Zero Waste Scotland published a report estimating Scottish re…

21 Sep 2020 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government, in light of the priorities set out in Making Things Last: a circular economy strategy for Scotland, and with respect to public procurement, how many products and services where innovation and best practice can have the greatest benefit in promoting circular economic approaches, for exam…

Answer · Roseanna Cunningham: A study was undertaken in 2016 by Zero Waste Scotland to identify and prioritise categories of public sector procurement in terms of circular economy opportunities for reuse, repair and remanufacture which identified 13 products and services: https://www.zer…

21 Sep 2020 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government, in light of the priorities set out in Making Things Last: a circular economy strategy for Scotland, what quantity of biorefinery feedstocks has come from (a) sustainable and (b) food and feed supply sources in each year since 2016.

Answer · Roseanna Cunningham: This information is not held centrally. Zero Waste Scotland has been working with the Industrial Biotechnology Innovation Centre, Scottish Enterprise and wider stakeholders to map and understand the resources and potential feedstocks for biorefining in Scotla…

21 Sep 2020 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government, in light of the priorities set out in Making Things Last: a circular economy strategy for Scotland, whether it will provide a breakdown for each year since 2016 of remanufactured products that the Scottish Institute for Remanufacture has successfully lobbied the EU standards and certifi…

Answer · Roseanna Cunningham: The Scottish Institute for Manufacturing (SIR) does not regularly lobby bodies or organisations. The key purpose of the SIR is to play a pivotal role in transitioning to a circular economy within the remanufacturing sector by stimulating and funding innovatio…

21 Sep 2020 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government, in light of the priorities set out in Making Things Last: a circular economy strategy for Scotland, how many teaching "champions" for the circular economy (a) have been recruited since 2016 and (b) are currently active, and how many learning resources they have developed and deployed to…

Answer · Roseanna Cunningham: Since 2016, a range of multi-media learning resources have been created by Zero Waste Scotland (ZWS) working with over 20 partners. These circular economy education resources and packs have been downloaded over 10,000 times. ZWS has also trained teachers to …

21 Sep 2020 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government, in light of the priorities set out in Making Things Last: a circular economy strategy for Scotland, what the turnover of the Scottish biotechnology sector (a) has been in each year since 2016 and (b) is projected to be in each year to 2025.

Answer · Ivan McKee: Industrial biotechnology sector data are not subject to standard industrial classification and official estimates of the turnover of the sector are not produced as part of the annual national accounts. The most recent turnover estimate for the industrial bio…

21 Sep 2020 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government, in light of the priorities set out in Making Things Last: a circular economy strategy for Scotland, what changes it has made to public procurement practice since 2016 to improve reuse, repair and remanufacturing, and what effects those changes have had on the quantity of material reused…

Answer · Roseanna Cunningham: While we do not hold data centrally on circular economy approaches in public procurement activity, procurement legislation has required public bodies to consider and act on opportunities to improve environmental impact of procurement activity since 2016 and w…

21 Sep 2020 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government, in light of the priorities set out in Making Things Last: a circular economy strategy for Scotland, what value of turnover the reuse economy in Scotland has; how many jobs it supports, and what tonnage of material it enables to be reused annually.

Answer · Roseanna Cunningham: This information is not held centrally. Some data are available for Revolve certified organisations. Revolve is Scotland’s National Reuse Quality Standard and Revolve stores are supported to work to key standards, and are committed to quality. In 2018-19 sa…

21 Sep 2020 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what analysis it has undertaken of the employment and financial impact of COVID-19 on the outbound tourism sector in Scotland, and what its position is on the need for targeted support for outbound tourism within the overall tourism and hospitality sector.

Answer · Jamie Hepburn: We do not underestimate the significant impact this pandemic has had on Scotland’s tourism sector, both outbound and inbound. We are engaging with the sector in order to better understand the challenges faced by the outbound travel industry, and will continu…

16 Sep 2020 · Portfolio Question

To ask the Scottish Government what analysis it has undertaken of the impact of COVID-19 on the attainment gap.

15 Sep 2020 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government when the next detailed national-level study into the composition of municipal waste will take place.

Answer · Roseanna Cunningham: Previous analyses of the composition of household municipal waste were undertaken in 2009 and 2014-15. Zero Waste Scotland had planned to undertake a further analysis in 2020 but this has been delayed due to COVID-19. Fieldwork for this analysis is now expect…

11 Sep 2020 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government how producers will be able to register products in the deposit return scheme (DRS) that have no barcodes.

Answer · Roseanna Cunningham: The Deposit and Return Scheme (Scotland) Regulations 2020 require registered producers to submit relevant information to the Scottish Environment Protection Agency (SEPA) to support identification of scheme articles; this could include, but is not limited to,…

11 Sep 2020 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what enforcement measures will be applied to ensure that producers that do not currently use barcodes for drinks containers adopt them for use in the deposit return scheme (DRS).

Answer · Roseanna Cunningham: Identification and adoption of appropriate measures to identify scheme articles as part of Scotland’s Deposit Return Scheme (DRS), which could include use of a barcode, will be a decision for the businesses with responsibility for implementation of the scheme…

11 Sep 2020 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government how non-refillable drinks cans, known as crowlers, will be treated under the deposit return scheme (DRS).

Answer · Roseanna Cunningham: Regulation 3 of the Deposit and Return Scheme (Scotland) Regulations 2020 sets out the conditions under which a drink is a scheme article for the purposes of the Regulations. We will work with industry to ensure that crowlers are treated in a consistent and p…

9 Sep 2020 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what discussions it has had with representatives of the night-time economy, and what plans it has to provide continued support for the sector.

Answer · Jamie Hepburn: The Scottish Government has worked closely with businesses, including those in our night-time economy, to understand their issues and provide appropriate assistance and guidance on reopening. As part of this, Tourism Secretary Fergus Ewing met with Glasgow’s …

9 Sep 2020 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government how much it expects its "national network of world-class start up incubators or tech scalers", as announced in its 2020-21 Programme for Government, will cost, and when it expects funding to be delivered.

Answer · Kate Forbes: I announced on 3 September an initial £4 million funding in financial year 2021-22 towards the establishment of a national "Tech Scaler" network, one of Mr Logan’s key recommendations, which will provide incubation space while also delivering the best availab…

9 Sep 2020 · Portfolio Question

To ask the Scottish Government whether, following the end of the transition period, it will want Scotland to keep pace with all new EU laws.

8 Sep 2020 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S5W-31438 by Fiona Hyslop on 3 September 2020, how many awards from the culture and heritage support package in response to the COVID-19 pandemic have been allocated in each local authority area toward each of the 13 purposes set out in the response, al…

Answer · Fiona Hyslop: The funding for the purposes set out in my answer to question S5W-31438 is mostly being distributed through open funds which have been recently, are currently, or will soon be, open for applications. £2.5 million from the £97 million was added to our £10 mil…

8 Sep 2020 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S5W-31549 by Fiona Hyslop on 7 September 2020, how many (a) micro-finance, (b) debt/loan and (c) equity investments have been allocated in each year in each local authority area under Scottish Growth Scheme, also broken down by their value.

Answer · Fiona Hyslop: The Scottish Growth Scheme became operational in summer 2017. The following table provides details on how many (a) micro-finance, (b) debt/loan and (c) equity investments have been made in each year broken down by their value. The information requested is not…

7 Sep 2020 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what discussions it has had with local authorities regarding extending the period after which taxi vehicles are required to be replaced, in light of the reported increased financial impact of COVID-19 on taxi operators.

Answer · Ash Denham: The Scottish Government would expect independent licensing authorities to take a pragmatic and sensitive approach to licence holders during the challenges of Covid-19. It is however a matter entirely for licensing authorities to decide whether to set vehicle …

7 Sep 2020 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government, regarding the Logan Review, whether (a) price controls and (b) rail operator subsidies are being considered as mechanisms to reduce inter-city rail journey pricing.

Answer · Michael Matheson: The Scottish Government will consider these mechanisms within its review.  

7 Sep 2020 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government, regarding the Logan Review, whether its commitment to reduce inter-city rail journey pricing will benefit all travellers or only those working in target sectors.

Answer · Michael Matheson: The Scottish Government will consider issues relating to all travellers within its review.  

7 Sep 2020 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government, regarding the Logan Review, at what level the inter-city rail price threshold is between each of Scotland’s cities, and whether its commitment to reduce inter-city journey pricing applies to those specific thresholds, or a Scotland-wide threshold.

Answer · Michael Matheson: The Scottish Government will consider the level and geographic scope of thresholds within its review.  

3 Sep 2020 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide a breakdown of the financial support it is providing to amateur dramatic and theatre groups.

Answer · Fiona Hyslop: The specific information requested about amateur dramatic and theatre groups is not held centrally. The Scottish Government is supporting charities, community groups and voluntary organisations, where they deliver activities in Scottish communities, with emer…

2 Sep 2020 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government how much has been allocated by the Scottish Growth Scheme; how many businesses have received support, and whether it is still operational.

Answer · Fiona Hyslop: As at 31 July 2020, under the Scottish Growth Scheme, £258.9 million of investment has been unlocked for SMEs, in the form of debt and equity, for 441 companies. The Scheme continues to deliver much needed finance for SMEs, in the form of microfinance (up to …

2 Sep 2020 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government how much has been allocated by the Digital Growth Fund; how many businesses have received support, and whether it is still operational.

Answer · Kate Forbes: The programme is still operational and continues to support SMEs. Up to the end of August £4,846,021 of funds have been allocated with 100 businesses having accessed this funding to increase their digital capability.

1 Sep 2020 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what percentage of waste that could have been recycled or recovered by some other means has been recovered via an incinerator in each year since 2007.

Answer · Roseanna Cunningham: It is not possible to determine the percentage of waste that could have been recycled, or recovered by other means, that has been recovered via incineration each year since 2007 as compositional data for mixed residual waste from household and commercial sour…