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Ensuring Scotland is a place where children eat well, have a healthy weight and are physically active is a public health priority. We continue to implement the ambitious and wide-ranging action set out in our 2018 Diet and Healthy Weight Delivery Plan to support our aim to halve childhood obesity by 2030, significantly reducing diet related health inequalities. Our actions emphasise prevention to ensure children have the best start in life.

We are focusing on transforming the food environment because this is more likely to be effective in improving children’s diets and reducing health inequalities than only encouraging individual behaviour change. This includes restricting promotions of less healthy food and drink and we will consult on the detail of proposed regulations this autumn. We are also working with Food Standards Scotland and Public Health Scotland to implement our 2021 Out of Home Action Plan .

We are also ensuring that all children and young people have access to balanced and nutritious food and drink options throughout the school day. All local authorities are required to meet the standards set out in the amended Nutritional Requirements for Food and Drink in Schools (Scotland) Regulations . We are providing local authorities with funding to make free school lunches available to all primary school pupils in primaries one to five, children in funded early learning and childcare and eligible pupils in Primary 6 through to S6. We are committed to a pilot of free school meals in secondary schools to support our consideration of further expansion.

Whole Systems Approaches are increasingly being seen as influential in responding to the complexity of public health problems such as childhood obesity. We have continued to support pilots in eight local areas to develop and champion a whole system approach to diet and healthy weight. An evaluation was published on 6 December 2022, which is informing the development of resources to support national rollout.

Alongside this our Good Food Nation policy provides an over-arching framework for clear, consistent and coherent future Scottish food policy which will help our children eat well. A draft of the national Good Food National Plan will be published for public consultation this summer.

We continue to provide funding to health boards to deliver weight management services for children and young people in line with our national standards , ensuring consistent quality and equity of access to evidence-based support across Scotland.

We are also addressing the underlying causes of poor diet and higher weight. This includes ending poverty, supporting fair wages and families, and improving our physical and social environments through initiatives, such as the Scottish Child Payment , Best Start Foods and Best Start Grants.

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.

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.

The Scottish Government has not established a Land Tax Working Group and does not have plans to do so at present. The Medium Term Financial Strategy set out that the Deputy First Minister will establish and chair an external Tax Advisory Group this summer, building on our inclusive approach to tax policymaking. The outcomes of this engagement will feed into the Budget 2024-25 and the development of the Government’s longer-term tax strategy.

The following table provides annual figures for the total number of reports of suspected invasive non-native species (INNS) submitted via Scotland’s Environment website. The two reports in 2015 are test reports submitted by project partners; the system went live to the general public in 2016.

A small number of the following reports listed were not verified as INNS due to misidentification. Twenty of the more recent reports from 2023 are pending verification while further information is gathered.

The Warmer Homes Scotland successor will be a demand led scheme, i.e. the number of households supported will depend on the number of households contacting the scheme, which reduces the accuracy of any estimates of households that will benefit. Substantial changes in customer volumes are not anticipated in the new scheme in comparison to Warmer Homes Scotland.

Budgets for the scheme will be set annually in line with the Scottish Budget allocation process. For example, if the budget in a given year was £60m, we envisage between 3788 – 4252 households may be supported.

The successor scheme will have a widened eligibility criteria which will allow a broader range of households to access the scheme. The scheme will adopt PAS 2035 standards, delivering whole house retrofit and with a greater emphasis on zero direct emission heating so households will on average benefit from a higher level of interventions per household.

The support offered through WHS sits alongside other help, such as our Home Energy Scotland grant scheme and our Area Based Schemes which provide local delivery of energy efficiency improvements.

Budgets for the scheme will be set out annually in line with the Scottish Budget allocation process.

The contract for the Warmer Homes Scotland successor has a maximum value of £728m (ex VAT) over a period of 7 years.

Household intervention rates have not yet been set for the scheme, however these are anticipated to be higher than the current Warmer Homes Scotland scheme.

This support through WHS sits alongside other help, such as our Home Energy Scotland grant scheme and our Area Based Schemes which provide local delivery of energy efficiency improvements.

Our seas must remain a source of prosperity for the nation, especially in our remote, coastal and island communities. It is vital that those communities help shape the creation of Highly Protected Marine Areas, which is why we chose to consult early on in the process.

We recognise there is considerable strength of feeling on this issue – from those who support it and those who have concerns. We are currently analysing responses to the public consultation and will consider these very carefully as we develop next steps.

We are also committed to ensuring that any future decisions on the creation of Highly Protected Marine Areas is informed by a robust process, supported by impact assessments, which provide a clear and transparent assessment of the economic, social and environmental effects of the policy.

In the meantime, I have committed to visiting coastal and island communities in the coming months to hear directly from those people who may be affected.

We will continue to engage directly with coastal and islands communities before any sites are proposed and we will work with those communities throughout the site selection process to ensure their concerns and views are listened to and understood.

The successor scheme to Warmer Homes Scotland will launch on 2 October 2023.

As with the development of all new trade arrangements, the Scottish Government has sought to engage with the UK Government at Ministerial and official level throughout the negotiation process for accession to the CPTPP to ensure that Scottish interests are identified and taken into account.

The Scottish Government’s position, as set out in the Vision for Trade, is that human rights impact assessments, including workers’ rights, should be carried out at the outset of preparations for Free Trade Agreement (FTA) negotiations and updated throughout the process. It is disappointing that this was not undertaken prior to accession to CPTPP.

We will continue to make the case that FTAs, including CPTPP, should be used to create constructive engagement on human rights, including workers’ rights, with a view to raising standards, establishing or promoting forums for dialogue and sharing best practice.