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I had an introductory meeting with Alex Plant, Chief Executive of Scottish Water, on 6 June 2023 and have been in close contact with Scottish Water particularly on issues around water scarcity recently and will continue to do so.

Scottish Water has recorded the following number of deaths since 2013 at the reservoirs it manages:

2013 – Mill Glen – 2 deaths

2014 – Torduff – 1 death

2018 – Glenburn – 1 death

Scottish Water takes a proactive role in reducing the risks around its assets, and is urging people to stay safe, behave responsibly and not take risks around watercourses such as reservoirs, rivers and lochs.

Guidance on wild swimming is now available to Public Health Scotland website and provides useful information - .

A total of £194,841 in private water supply grants has been awarded by North Ayrshire, Inverclyde, Renfrewshire, East Dunbartonshire, West Dunbartonshire and East Renfrewshire Councils from financial years 2007-08 to 2022-23. A further £2,263,062 has been awarded by Argyll and Bute Council for the same period. However, it should be noted that the Argyll and Bute Council area goes beyond the West Scotland region. Totals by local authority are set out in the following table. The Scottish Government does not hold information regarding the breakdown of amounts awarded to (a) homes and (b) commercial premises.

The Scottish Government and our overseas offices work to advance Scotland’s interests, including those of our universities. Our international network will continue to invest in our international relationships and support our universities to engage globally.

As an autonomous body it is for Glasgow Caledonian University to decide on its strategic direction, including investment in particular areas of activity such as overseas campuses.

As this is an operational matter for Scottish Water I have asked them to respond. Their answer is:

The number of interns Scottish Water hired in each year since 2013 is set out in the table below. In 2020, the Covid 19 pandemic impacted Scottish Water’s ability to support internships and this continued to have an impact in 2021 and 2022.

This is an operational matter for NatureScot. I have asked their Chief Executive to write with the relevant information.

Local authorities are not required to indicate to the Scottish Government their intentions for kerbside glass recycling collections after the introduction of the Deposit Return Scheme. All local authorities will consider and monitor the impact of the scheme on recycling collections after implementation.

Our Respiratory Care Action Plan published in March 2021, contains a key commitment to ensure that people living with respiratory conditions have access to the tools, resources, and information that they need to support them to self-manage their own condition.

Work is already established across Scotland to support the remote monitoring of conditions from home through our investment in the Connect Me programme. National pathways for conditions such as asthma and pulmonary disease are in development to be made available for use by Health Boards which will support early intervention and prevention of hospital admissions. All Health Boards in Scotland are expected to be working with the national programme by September 2023 and have been supported with provision of pulse-oximeters where requested.

We continue to assess the evidence for COPD developments which currently demonstrate sufficient potential to continue researching but insufficient evidence to justify a national roll out. While early indications are positive, evidence to support its potential benefits and applicability for national support are still to be demonstrated.

Bute House has an EPC rating of D.

The EPC is listed on the Scottish EPC register under 6 Charlotte Square, Edinburgh EH2 4DR. Reference Number 6810-1931-5439-2403-6002.

All 17 Scottish Government owned buildings, although not fully accessible, have recently (late 2022 to mid-2023) undergone a round of accessibility audits that have graded each as a B (satisfactory, minor works required). These audits will feed into the Scottish Government Asset Planning work which follows on from our Estate Strategy. The Plan will prioritise where investment will be targeted and subsequently where the recommendations of minor works can be taken forward to further improve accessibility where required.