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Factors such as background sound that may lead to raised voices or cause people to lean-in close to others to be heard are a risk factor in the transmission of coronavirus. This is recognised by a wide body of publicly available scientific evidence in relation to the role of aerosols in the transmission of viruses. The current position of no background sound, including low level music and audio from television, is a measured and cautious approach to reduce risk. It is being kept under review and government has engaged with industry experts to consider how guidance can be developed to allow low level background sound to be managed safely when transmission rates are back to a manageable level.

The current position of no background sound in hospitality in Scotland, including low level music and audio from television, is a measured and cautious approach to reduce risk. There have been no discussions with other countries in relation to this measure. It is being kept under review and government has engaged with industry experts to consider how guidance can be developed to allow low level background sound to be managed safely when transmission rates are back to a manageable level.

I last met with a range of hospitality and tourism representatives on 07 October.

I meet regularly with the industry, often through representative bodies such as the Scottish Tourism Alliance, UK Hospitality and others and a wide range of issues are discussed such as funding support, marketing, test and protect, visitor management, business rates, VAT and other issues.

Scottish Government officials also have weekly contact with the same bodies and others through meetings, phone calls and emails and through strategic groups including the Scottish Tourism Emergency Response Group and the Scottish Tourism Recovery Taskforce.

a) The Scottish Government did not intervene in the production of Bell Bottom to halt filming work.

b/c)The information requested about Scottish Government agencies and other public bodies is not held centrally.

ai) and aii) The Scottish Government announced on 22 March that Scotland would be placed under lockdown. Although the Scottish Government did not have any direct contact with productions actively filming in Scotland at this time, any production filming in Scotland would have needed to halt, as all non-essential workplaces were required to shut. We do not have a list of productions affected. On 14 July guidance on the safe re-opening of film and TV production during the coronavirus pandemic in Scotland was published, enabling the resumption of production activity.

Further information on this guidance is available online at: .

The Scottish Government has not otherwise intervened to halt any productions.

bi) and bii)The information requested on behalf of Scottish Government agencies and other public bodies is not held centrally.

The Scottish Government has had no direct engagement with the producers of the Indian film, Bell Bottom. However, we are aware that Screen Scotland engaged with the production in the planning stages and when it arrived in Scotland.

There has been some initial consultation with stakeholders regarding food waste and food surplus reporting within the recent consultation on proposals for legislation in the circular economy bill. It was put forward that there should be a power to enable Scottish Ministers to require mandatory public reporting of unwanted surplus stock and waste of certain materials by Scottish businesses. The full independent analysis of these consultation responses is available on the .

We remain committed to consulting on the Scottish Government’s proposals for reducing food waste, as set out in the Food Waste Reduction Action Plan, in due course.

Just under 250 audits were conducted by Zero Waste Scotland by March 2020 through the Food and Drink Advice and Support Service. Between 2016 and 2019 the service resulted in food waste reductions of 2,500 tonnes of food waste per annum (a carbon saving of 8,700 tonnes of CO ₂ e), and cost savings of £2 million, from the 200 audits during this period. Impact assessment work for 19-20 is not yet available and will increase this figure further; the service is also extending coverage to larger business which will increase savings potential.

The following table provides a projection to the end of 2024. The projection for the year 2025 is currently under review. The projection was based on waste and emissions statistics up to 2017, assumes that key waste and recycling targets are met, and that biodegradable municipal waste being sent to landfill is banned in 2025. The carbon dioxide equivalent emissions are reported using the 100 year global warming potential for methane of 28 as provided in the International Panel on Climate Change 5 th Assessment Report. (p. 731)

Projected methane emissions from biodegradable waste landfilled in Scotland

A breakdown of the Scottish Government marketing spend between 2015-16 and 2018-19 is available on the Scottish Government website:

• 2018-19:
• 2017-18:
• 2016-17:
• 2015-16:

The majority of funding for recycling and reuse communication initiatives is provided by Zero Waste Scotland. Table 1 contains the funding provided for national level initiatives funded through Zero Waste Scotland or Scottish Government containing communications to promote increased levels of recycling and reuse in each of the last five years.

Table 2 contains a breakdown of the capital grants allocated by Zero Waste Scotland to Local Authorities to promote increased levels of recycling and reuse between 2015-16 and 2019-20. These costs represent the combined costs of technical and communications support. Separate costs for communication initiatives are not available.

Table 1. National level campaigns to promote increased levels of recycling and reuse in each of the last five years