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Gender equality is at the heart of the Scottish Government’s vision for a fairer Scotland.

The PWC Women and Work Index reports on data gathered across the UK from 2017 – 2018. More recent figures from Annual Population Survey (Oct 2018 to Sep 2019) show that Scotland outperforms the UK in the gender employment gap and there has been recent positive progress, over the quarter, in women’s employment and unemployment rate. ( Source: Labour Force Survey Oct-Dec 2019, ONS )

Women’s employment rate in Scotland is the joint highest (with England) at 71.6% amongst the countries of the UK and higher than the UK as a whole. ( Source: Annual Population Survey Oct 2018-Sep 2019 )

The median gender pay gap for all employees in Scotland has decreased from 15% in 2018 to 14.3 % in 2019. This is lower than the UK level of 17.3 %. (Source: Office for National Statistics, ONS)

Scotland also has a lower gender employment gap (6.5 percentage points) than the overall UK level (8.4 percentage points). This is close to the lowest gap on record since 2005 . (Source: Annual Population Survey Oct 2018-Sep 2019)

But we recognise the continued need to do more, that’s why we launched our Gender Pay Gap Action Plan which sets out over 60 actions to tackle the root causes of the gender pay gap and reduce it by 2021. A one year progress report will be published this spring.

As at 11-3-2020 there were 755 GlobalScots, of which, 401 are based in Europe, the Middle East and Africa, 115 are based in Asia (including Australasia) and 239 are in the Americas. This represents a 13.5% increase over the past 10 months.

Since 2018, we have been reforming our offer with regard to employability services, with the introduction of Fair Start Scotland using newly delegated powers, and the development of our No One Left Behind agenda. No One Left Behind was developed to improve employability support in Scotland through actions including the development of a comprehensive delivery and funding arrangement with a collectively agreed national outcomes and measurement framework.

We recognise that coming from a workless household is one of the barriers to the labour market faced by participants in employability programmes supported by the Scottish Government, but the Scottish Government does not currently hold the data requested. It may be data that is collated in the future through the development of the No One Left Behind Shared Outcomes and Measurement Framework. At this early stage in delivery of No One Left Behind, it is too early to publish meaningful data. However, the Scottish Government does regularly publish a range of information on our employability services, which include local authority breakdowns. We will continue to review and assess the data we collect and publish with partners as part of our development of a shared measurement framework.

97 businesses have been assisted through the Scottish Circular Economy Business Network, providing opportunities to improve business profitability, jobs and environmental outcomes.

 As part of our flagship Fair Work First policy, Scottish Enterprise are attaching Fair Work criteria to large business support grants, starting with those awarded from April 2019.

The award of grants to specific industries is an operational matter for Scottish Enterprise. I have therefore asked the Chief Executive to respond to you directly.

As set out in the answer to S5W-27293 on 20 February 2020, Zero Waste Scotland has been working closely with local authorities to assess the likely impacts of Scotland’s Deposit Return Scheme (DRS) in more detail and we intend to share a summary of that work with the Environment, Climate Change, and Land Reform Committee in due course. Local authorities are likely to see significant benefits overall from DRS including reduced litter collection and disposal costs.

All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament's website, the search facility for which can be found at:

We have not received any enquiries from councils about financial support for renegotiating waste-management contracts as of 28 February 2020.

The schools and their locations are listed below:

Scotland

•  Acharacle Primary School, Highland

England

• Bushbury Primary School, Wolverhampton
• Wilkinson Primary School, Wolverhampton
• Harris Academy, Sutton

Wales

• Burry Port Primary School, Carmarthenshire
• Ysgol Gorslas, Carmarthenshire
• Ysgol Trimsaran, Carmarthenshire

The draft Deposit Return Scheme Regulations, published on 10 September 2019, allow the Scottish Ministers to exempt a retailer from the obligation to operate a return point where:

•   An alternative return point located within reasonable proximity has agreed to take back containers on the retailer’s behalf, and
•   If the exemption is granted, this will still provide consumers with reasonable access to a return point.

We have been engaging with the Royal Environmental Health Institute of Scotland to better understand potential risks around food safety and related issues associated with operating a return point in a retail setting and intend to share further information with the Environment, Climate Change, and Land Reform Committee in due course.

We recognise that retailers, particularly those who prepare food on their premises, will need to put in place controls in order to avoid risks around food safety and related issues arising from their obligation to operate a return point under Scotland’s Deposit Return Scheme (DRS).

We will work with the Royal Environmental Health Institute of Scotland to develop guidance for retailers, particularly smaller businesses, to support them in implementing DRS in a way that is consistent with their obligations.