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Following the 2016 Scottish Cup Final, the SPFL agreed to our request to provide data on unacceptable conduct.

To date, we have only received in confidence data for the 2017-18 season. We do not have a record of how many times this document has been accessed.

There is no contract.

Microplastics are present nearly everywhere in modern life; in the air we breathe and in the water environment. They have been found in fish, shellfish, table salt, beer, honey and chicken, and have been intentionally used in goods such as toothpaste and chewing gum. The best way of reducing their unintended ingress into the food supply chain is to reduce their source.

The Scottish Government has taken action on primary microplastic pollution. In June 2018 we introduced legislation to ban the manufacture and sale of plastic microbeads in rinse-off personal care products which passed through water treatment systems and entered our waters directly. We are also working in partnership with industry to build on their best practice guidance in Operation Clean Sweep to ensure pellet loss is minimised in the future.

Secondary microplastics, resulting from the degradation of macroplastics, are best reduced by taking action at source. As part of the Scottish Government focus to grow our circular economy, there are many actions in the Marine Litter Strategy and National Litter Strategy to lower the amount of plastic that enters our waters. We are the first UK administration to commit to establishing a deposit return scheme, and to introducing legislation to ban plastic-stemmed cotton buds, which is expected to come into force this year.

The many actions under our Marine Litter Strategy, published in 2014, support our obligations for OSPAR and the Marine Strategy Framework Directive to achieve Good Environmental Status. These include;

Strategic Direction 1 – Improve public and business attitudes and behaviours around marine and coastal litter, in co-ordination with the national litter strategy.

The Scottish Government is working to promote marine litter education within schools and the fishing industry, and I was delighted to host the British-Irish Council (BIC) Marine Litter Symposium in February to encourage other administrations to commit to the same ambition.

We are also encouraging behaviour change through participatory projects focused on marine litter removal, such as:

• KIMO’s Fishing for Litter scheme, which involves over 300 Scottish vessels, who have landed over 1400 tonnes of waste since 2005.
• Local Coastal Partnerships with funding around our coastline to promote beach cleans and other initiatives to reduce marine litter.
• SCRAPbook, to map the litter hot spots round Scotland’s mainland coastline and support their clean-ups.

In addition we have committed to run a campaign in partnership with Zero Waste Scotland to promote the use of reusable sanitary products in an effort to reduce marine litter, help address social inequality and work towards Scotland’s vision for a low carbon economy.

Strategic Direction 2 – Reduce marine and coastal based sources of litter, in coordination with land sourced litter being reduce by the national litter strategy.

We are the first UK administration to commit to establishing a deposit return scheme which is expected to reduce littering, and also to introducing legislation to ban plastic-stemmed cotton buds which we expect to come into force later this year. Furthermore, in June 2018 we introduced legislation to ban the use of plastic microbeads in rinse-off personal care products.

We are taking action on nurdles, which are small pieces of pre-production pellets, flakes and powders that enter water ways when accidental spills are not cleared up sufficiently. We are working with the plastics industry and other relevant parties including SEPA to expand on the industry’s Operation Clean Sweep initiative of best handling practice guidance. We are taking a fully transparent supply chain approach to ensure nurdle loss is minimised in the future, developing a system for auditing that can be applied across industries.

We have also pledged our support of the Global Ghost Gear Initiative to ensure that the issue of loss or abandoned fishing gear, often made of plastic is addressed around the world.

Strategic Direction 3 – Contribute to a low carbon economy by treating ‘waste as a resource’ and seizing the economic and environmental opportunities associated with the Zero Waste Plan.

As well as our Marine Litter Strategy and National Litter Strategy, we also have a Circular Economy Strategy to keep our resources in high value use as long as possible, and help cut both waste and carbon emissions.

Our deposit return scheme is envisaged to increase recycling rates, reduce littering, and will cut an estimated 160,000 tonnes from Scotland’s carbon footprint. This is expected to become operational in 2021-2022. We have also set up an Expert Panel to advise on environmental charges or other measures to tackle our throwaway culture and the impact of single-use items.

In addition to this work, Marine Scotland partnered with Zero Waste Scotland last year to provide up to £1m funding for innovative solutions to minimise, remove and recycle marine plastics from litter sink areas, creating a use and value for marine litter. Applications are currently being processed. We have also committed, with BIC administrations, to improving recycling routes for End of Life fishing gear.

Strategic Direction 4 – Improve monitoring at a Scottish scale and develop measures for strategy evaluation.

Work continues under the 2017-18 Programme for Government commitment to begin to address litter sinks. Arrochar shore is monitored as a case study to better understand the concept of litter sinks. The area has been maintained with debris removal and analysis in 2018 of 185 tonnes, and in 2019, 220 tonnes.

Furthermore, Marine Scotland Science has modelled marine litter deposition and developed Pilot Scottish Beach Litter Performance Indicators using data collected within Marine Conservation Society’s Beachwatch programme, which continues to monitor beach litter around Scotland’s coastline.

Strategic Direction 5 – Maintain and strengthen stakeholder co-ordination at the UK, EU and international scales.

In February the Scottish Government was proud to hold Scotland’s first ever Marine Conference focussing on marine conservation and marine litter with speakers and delegates from around the world. Sessions encouraged transboundary understanding of marine litter issues, with discussions led by experts from Scotland to South Africa. Conference proceedings can be viewed at .

I hosted the BIC Marine Litter Symposium the day after the conference. Here, Environment Ministers and senior officials from the BIC region agreed a number of commitments to tackle marine litter and agreed to register these as a joint voluntary pledge in the UN Communities of Ocean Action registry of voluntary commitments, for the implementation of Sustainable Development Goal 14.

The Scottish Government is represented internationally on the OSPAR Intercessional Correspondence Group for Marine Litter (ICG-ML). The work of Marine Scotland in partnership with the plastics industry will inform work under the OSPAR convention on marine protection and future actions by the European Commission. Marine Scotland’s work to address fishing sector waste also informs participants of the OSPAR ICG-ML, and we continue to feedback monitoring data for Scotland’s marine litter to this group.

The Scottish Government has taken action on primary microplastic pollution. In June 2018 we introduced legislation to ban the manufacture and sale of plastic microbeads in rinse-off personal care products which passed through water treatment systems and entered our waters directly. We are also working in partnership with industry to build on their best practice guidance in Operation Clean Sweep to ensure pellet loss is minimised in the future.

Secondary microplastics, resulting from the degradation of macroplastics, are best reduced by taking action at source. As part of the Scottish Government focus to grow our circular economy, there are many actions in the Marine Litter Strategy and National Litter Strategy to lower the amount of plastic that enters our waters. We are the first UK administration to commit to establishing a deposit return scheme, and to introducing legislation to ban plastic-stemmed cotton buds, which is expected to come into force this year.

The table shows the number of laboratory confirmed cases of Borrelia burgdorferi, the bacteria which causes Lyme disease , reported to Health Protection Scotland (HPS) between June 2014 and May 2019.

Orkney Islands Council (OIC) are, and remain, wholly responsible for the inter-island ferry services which they provide. Consequently, OIC remain wholly responsible for the vessels and their maintenance.

However, the Scottish Government understands the significant financial challenges that can fall on individual local authorities. This government has made clear its commitment to Orkney internal ferry services with the provision of additional funding to OIC totalling £10.8m in the last two years, comprised of £5.5m in 2018-19 and £5.3m in 2019-20.

Transport Scotland, on behalf of Scottish Ministers, will continue to discuss long term solutions with both OIC and Shetland Islands Council (SIC) through the existing Working Group. The remit of this Group includes the preparation of Outline Business Cases (OBC) being prepared by both councils. I have received presentations of the emerging findings and the final OBCs are all expected to be completed by the end of this summer.

As the Minister with responsibility for the Islands, I have, along with other Ministers, held numerous meetings with OIC Council Leader James Stockan to discuss these issues, with the most recent meeting being held on 20 June 2019.

In setting Scottish Budgets the inclusion of funding for OIC (and SIC) for their internal ferry services has been made clear. This matter has also been debated in the Scottish Parliament.

As is normal practice, Transport Scotland Press Releases were issued which contained full details of the additional support that the Scottish Government has been able to find for both Councils over the past two years, despite the very real fiscal challenges flowing from the UK Government settlement.

Scottish Ministers will take a view on future revenue and capital funding requests from OIC going forward as part of the Scottish Budget setting for 2020-21.

The Working Group meets in Edinburgh on a monthly basis.

The meetings are normally chaired by Michael Craigie (Shetlands Islands Council), in his capacity as lead officer for ZETRANS, however officials from both Orkney Islands Council and Transport Scotland have also chaired meetings.

The Scottish Government, through Health Protection Scotland (HPS) is committed to working with experts to keep evidence and guidance relating to the diagnosis, testing and treatment of Lyme disease under constant review to ensure patients in Scotland receive care tailored to their individual needs and circumstances.

In April 2018 the Scottish Lyme Disease and Tick-borne Infections Laboratory at Raigmore Hospital in Inverness was granted Reference Laboratory status which will provide additional funding for research and development into new tests for tick borne diseases and will help improve our understanding of this complex infection.

With regard to testing, it is acknowledged that there are gaps in the effectiveness of the tests which are currently available and work is underway to address the lack of sensitivity surrounding testing for the early stages of Lyme disease infection.

On 14 June 2019 the Chief Medical Officer wrote to all NHS Health Boards and GP practices highlighting the availability of a series of resources to staff. The letter shares current sources of public facing advice and information about Lyme disease as well as links to current guidance on diagnosis and management.