REHIS News

The introduction of minimum pricing for alcohol has had a modest economic impact on the drinks industry in Scotland, a report has found.

The report, commissioned by NHS Health Scotland is part of a wide-ranging evaluation of the Alcohol (Minimum Pricing) (Scotland) Act 2012 which established Minimum Unit Pricing (MUP).

The Scottish Government has set out a finalised policy of no support for the development of unconventional oil and gas (UOG) sometimes known as “fracking” in Scotland.

This means the Scottish Government will not issue licences for new UOG development, and that Scotland’s planning framework will not support development using unconventional oil and gas extraction techniques, including coal bed methane and hydraulic fracturing.

by Jill Sunter, Health Promotion Officer, Fife Health and Social Care Partnership

Breastfeeding is really important to the health of both mother and baby, yet Scotland has one of the lowest breastfeeding rates in Europe. While many new mums start breastfeeding, some will stop within a few months. This is often because they feel there is a lack of support, particularly when they want to feed their baby outside their home. 

Reducing your energy use isn’t just good for our planet, it’s great news for your business’s bottom line too. In fact, advisers from the Scottish Government’s Resource Efficient Scotland programme typically find that by taking action to reduce their energy use, Scottish small to medium-sized businesses (SMEs) can easily slash 24% off their energy costs - and there’s never been a better time to act. 

The Scottish Government’s SME Loan Scheme is helping businesses across Scotland to reduce their energy costs and environmental impact.

An analysis on a recent consultation on restricting the promotion and marketing of foods high in fat, sugar, or salt, and have little to no nutritional benefit has been published.  

Following this analysis, the Scottish Government has brought forward the development of the Bill Restricting Foods Promotions in this parliament

Scottish ministers have published draft legislation for the establishment of the Deposit Return Scheme, with an expected start date of 1 April 2021.

The new regulations will see the establishment of a scheme that will include aluminium and steel cans as well as drinks containers made of glass and PET plastic with a 20p deposit.

On the 3 September the Scottish Government announced their programme for the year ahead with the publication of the 2019-20 Programme for Government. Entitled Protecting Scotland’s Future, the programme unveiled 14 new Bills, as well as non-legislative announcements.

On the 5 September a new Statutory Instrument (SI)was laid in UK Parliament tightening the rules to help protect the food allergy and food intolerance sufferers in England.

The new law, known as ‘Natasha’s Law’, will require food businesses to include full ingredients labelling on pre-packed for direct sale foods.  The law titled Food Information (Amendment) (England) Regulations 2019, will come into effect from October 2021.

On 28 May 2019, Joe FitzPatrick MSP, the Minister for Public Health, Sport and Wellbeing, and Councillor Stuart Currie, Health and Social Care spokesperson for COSLA, launched "A consultation on the new National Public Health Body 'Public Health Scotland'".

The consultation closed on 8 July 2019 and the analysis of the responses is now available here.

The 2018 Annual Reports for Private Water Supplies has been published by Scotland’s Drinking Water Quality Regulator.

In 2018, a total of 42,440 tests were taken from regulated private water supplies (PWS) which are those supplying more than 50 people or a commercial activity. 

93.5 per cent of tests met the required standard, but 11% of these supplies had a sample that contained E.coli.