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Identifying the number of individuals monitored electronically in each year is not possible from the data held without significant further analysis to remove from the data, those individuals who may have received multiple orders and licences over the period.

However the number of installations onto electronic monitoring made each year (with the caveats below) is a reasonable proxy for monitored individuals.

Financial Year Apr-Mar

2016-17 3813

2017-18 4457

2018-19 4140

2019-20 4030

2020-21 2831

2021-22 3620

An installation is the action to fit a monitoring tag, irrespective of the licence or order monitored. While most electronically monitored individuals will be installed on an order or licence only once in a year, the same individual may have more than one installation in the course of a year, for example, if they have a subsequent new order or licence in that time period.

The impact of COVID-19 has been felt across all services within the justice system including within courts and prisons. During the financial year 2019-20 the number of installations of those electronically monitored (court orders and licences) was 4030, however the number then significantly dropped during the periods of COVID-19 disruption.

The numbers of those currently monitored are continuing to rise and we are now once again approaching some of the highest levels of monitoring we have seen.

The second part of the question asks for a breakdown by local authority area. This information is not currently held (although breakdown by issuing court area for example is possible). However a recent systems change from June 2022 means this breakdown by local authority area will be possible in future years.

In 2016 there were 39 air quality management areas designated in Scotland, since then five air quality management areas have been revoked due to improvements in air quality (1 in 2016, 1 in 2020, 2 in 2021 and 1 in 2022).

Revocation procedures for a further two air quality management areas have commenced, and a further 12 are eligible for revocation due to improvements in air quality.

On 19 July 2022, Circularity Scotland Ltd announced that it has signed a contract with Biffa to become Scotland’s Deposit Return Scheme’s logistics service provider.

The award of this contract is a key milestone in the roll out of the scheme and the agreement is expected to create around 500 jobs in Scotland. It comes after several months of close collaboration between Circularity Scotland and Biffa as they progress towards DRS going live in August next year.

Work is also underway to deliver the IT infrastructure for the scheme, and I expect the contract for IT services to be finalised very shortly.

The Government produces quarterly statistics, available from the Scottish Parliament Information Centre, which show how many parliamentary questions were cleared after the substantive date and those still outstanding at the time of audit.

The Nature Restoration Fund is subdivided into two main strands, each of which is further sub-divided, as follows:

1. The competitive strand, which is subdivided into:

• Projects less than £250k lasting 1-2 years;
• Projects greater than £250k lasting 2-4 years.

2. The Edinburgh Process strand:

• Direct allocations to Local Authorities and the National Parks;
• A competitive top-up fund open to Local Authorities only.

Due to the voluminous nature of the data, a spreadsheet containing the requested information has been placed in the Scottish Parliament Information Centre (Bib. Number: 63496). Applications for the second part of the Edinburgh Process strand are currently being assessed.

Local authorities are responsible for the provision of local waste services and are, therefore, best placed to comment on the detail of contractual arrangements for residual waste treatment.

Based on information provided by local authorities, the majority of local authorities have residual waste arrangements in place that extend beyond 2025. However, although significant work is in progress, I understand that 12 local authorities currently do not yet have contractual arrangements beyond 2025 for the treatment of their residual waste which comply with the forthcoming ban on landfilling biodegradable municipal waste.

Based on information provided by local authorities, these are: Comhairle nan Eilean Siar, West Lothian Council, Dumfries and Galloway Council, Perth and Kinross Council, Clackmannanshire Council, Stirling Council, Argyll and Bute Council, West Dumbartonshire Council, Inverclyde Council, South Ayrshire Council, East Ayrshire Council, and Falkirk Council.

Through Zero Waste Scotland, Scottish Government is providing additional support to help remaining local authorities secure appropriate residual waste contracts in preparation for the forthcoming ban. This includes the provision of additional technical, legal and procurement advice.

Local authorities are responsible for and best placed to take decisions on contractual arrangements for the provision of waste services. The independent review of the role of incineration in the waste hierarchy recommended that when negotiating contracts for residual waste management, local authorities should specifically address the risks of lock-in.

Through Zero Waste Scotland, Scottish Government is providing additional support to help remaining local authorities secure appropriate residual waste contracts in preparation for the forthcoming ban on landfilling biodegradable municipal waste. This includes the provision of additional technical, legal and procurement advice.

Under Pollution Prevention and Control (Scotland) Regulations 2012, SEPA may only grant a permit in respect of a specified waste management activity if it is satisfied that planning permission is in force under the Town and Country Planning Act (Scotland) 1997 where the use of the site for the activity requires such permission. As such, SEPA are unable to issue permits if a facility does not have planning permission.

That is why, in line with Dr Church’s recommendation that no further planning permission is granted unless balanced by an equal or greater closure of capacity, (with limited exceptions for remote and rural areas, if fully justified) we will keep in place the Energy from Waste Notification Direction. This requires planning authorities to alert Scottish Ministers of new planning applications that involve incineration facilities and to notify Scottish Ministers if they are minded to grant planning permission to such facilities. This gives Ministers the opportunity to decide whether there are national interests at stake which would merit Ministers calling in an application for their own determination or to allow the local authority to issue the decision at local level.

Zero Waste Scotland is an independent, not-for-profit organisation. Its work in relation to staff wellbeing and working practices is an operational matter for the body. I have asked Zero Waste Scotland’s CEO to respond directly to you on this matter.

The Scottish Government is already taking measures to reduce the quantity of plastic in the residual waste stream. In terms of reducing the proportion of recyclable materials (which include plastics) in residual waste streams, we have implemented bans on problematic single use plastic items and confirmed over £20 million-worth of investments in local recycling infrastructure from our £70 million Recycling Improvement Fund, funding a range of improvements including boosting Scotland’s capacity to recycle problematic materials like plastic films. Additionally, we are implementing Scotland’s Deposit Return Scheme and reforming extended producer responsibility for packaging.

To build on this progress, our recently published Waste Route Map consultation contains a number of proposals to reduce the proportion of recyclable materials in the waste stream, including reducing consumption of single use items, mainstreaming reuse and improving recycling from households and businesses, for example, by facilitating the co-design of high quality, high performing household recycling and reuse services. The consultation on the Route Map also sets out a proposal for the Scottish Government to facilitate the development of a sector-led plan by 2024 to restrict the carbon impacts of incineration and proposes to work with the waste and resources sector to accelerate the reduction of the carbon impacts of existing incineration plants. We will begin by focusing on measures to divert the highest carbon-emitting materials from incineration, such as plastics.