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The first stage of the Circular Textile Fund is the submission of an Expression of Interest, a high-level overview of the project, and the 5 week timescale provides a suitable amount of time to prepare this. Zero Waste Scotland runs weekly webinars during this period to support applicants. Feedback received from applicants, following round 1, was that increasing the time available for the second stage submission phase, where detailed information is needed, would be welcomed. Accordingly, Zero Waste Scotland extended time for the second stage of submissions to 8 weeks.

I refer the member to the answer to question S6W-18098 on 5 June 2023. All answers to written Parliamentary Questions are available on the Parliament's website, the search facility for which can be found at /chamber-and-committees/written-questions-and-answers

Circularity Scotland is a private not for profit company. Decisions regarding advanced payments is a matter for them and it would not be appropriate for the Scottish Government to comment in such commercial arrangements between private companies.

One of the many factors the Scottish Government took into account when considering the timing of launch of the Deposit Return Scheme was feedback from stakeholders. We are grateful to all businesses for the investment they have made in preparing for the launch of the deposit return scheme and this investment will be important for the success of the scheme when it launches.

Zero Waste Scotland is progressing two life cycle analysis reports of the impact of secondary steel production as an update to the published carbon assessment. The other three reports referred to in the answer to question S6W-08343 have been amalgamated into one report. These reports are all expected to be published in 2023-24.

The purpose of the Scottish Government’s call for evidence was to gather evidence to inform policy development on how to reduce consumption of single-use food containers and other single use items. All responses to the call for evidence have been published, where consent was given to do so, here: . The Scottish Government will publish an analysis of the call for evidence this year.

Curriculum for Excellence is a flexible curriculum with defined experiences and outcomes that allow for teaching and learning of a very wide range of topics. This ensures that schools are able to deliver a curriculum that is best suited to their learners in their circumstances and local context.

Learning for Sustainability, which is an entitlement for all learners, provides the general curricular theme on sustainable development education, social justice, climate change, global citizenship, children’s rights, equality and outdoor learning.

There are experiences and outcomes across the curriculum that cover learning on material extraction and end product use such us: Sciences SCN 4-04b: “Through investigation I can explain the formation and use of fossil fuels and contribute to discussions on the responsible use and conservation of finite resources”; Social Studies SOC 4-08a: “I can discuss the sustainability of key natural resources and analyse the possible implications for human activity”; and Technology TCH 2-06a “I can analyse how lifestyles can impact on the environment and Earth’s resources and can make suggestions about how to live in a more sustainable way”.

Scotland’s Heat Network Fund (SHNF) provides funding for primary and secondary heat network infrastructure. This includes projects that utilise waste heat from existing incineration plants to provide low carbon, affordable heat to local consumers. Under the scheme, £5.6 million was committed in August 2022 to the extension of the Torry Heat Network which uses waste heat from an energy from waste plant. The Low Carbon Infrastructure Transition Programme (LCITP) awarded £5.78m for Phase 1 in November 2020.

LCITP awarded £7.3m in January 2020 to Midlothian Council to build a heat network using waste heat from the Millerhill incineration plant.

SHNF is focused on the construction of heat networks and doesn’t cover the installation of electricity generation equipment.

Critical minerals are becoming increasingly important for emerging technologies. However, the Scottish Government is not aware of any existing research on public support for critical minerals for communication to stakeholders.

I would encourage all business sectors in Scotland that rely on critical minerals to ensure that supply chains are resilient to current and future impacts of climate change, and that critical minerals are obtained from sustainable sources.

Where new development proposals come forward, our Fourth National Planning Framework (NPF4) supports the sustainable management of resources, whilst minimising the impacts of the extraction of minerals on communities and the environment.

The Scottish Government has no role in directing individuals to a particular university programme. Universities are responsible for their own admissions processes and it is for them to decide how they wish to allocate places to each course.

We remain absolutely committed to the principle that access to education should be based on the ability to learn and not the ability to pay, and will continue to work with SFC and the sector to maintain our commitment to the widening access agenda.

SFC are committed to investing in education that is accessible to learners from all backgrounds and monitors each institutions progress on widening access as part of their role.

Scotland's universities are amongst the best in the world. We want every child, no matter their background, to have an equal chance of entering and succeeding in higher education. By 2030, we want 20% of students entering university to be from Scotland's 20% most deprived backgrounds. With 16.5% of full-time first degree entrants coming from the 20% most deprived areas in 2021-22, we achieved the interim Commission on Widening Access target to have 16% by 2021.

Scotland’s Deposit Return Scheme has been based on successful schemes across Europe. The Minister has been thoroughly briefed by Zero Waste Scotland on relevant research findings throughout the policy’s development.

Research was undertaken by Zero Waste Scotland, who designed the scheme, and met with a range of international scheme administrators and operators, including those from Norway, Estonia, Sweden, Lithuania, Germany, Iceland, Denmark and Finland.

This research and briefing has meant that the minister has been fully appraised of the main characteristics of schemes across Europe and has not therefore personally travelled to the countries listed or personally met the chief executives from these schemes.