Question reference: S6W-13418
- Asked by: Maurice Golden, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
- Date lodged: 21 December 2022
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Current status: Answered by Lorna Slater on 18 January 2023
Question
To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S6W-13037 by Lorna Slater on 20 December 2022, whether it will provide the information requested regarding whether a dedicated anti-fraud team has been established, either within SEPA or otherwise, to tackle potentially fraudulent activity in relation to the Deposit Return Scheme, and, if so, when any such team was established.
Answer
From 16 August 2023 SEPA will become the enforcement authority for the Deposit and Return Scheme for Scotland and as part of this will carry out audits, inspections and enforcement activity in relation to the obligations and offences contained within the regulations. Staff have been allocated accordingly.
SEPA is not empowered to investigate and report instances of fraud, but they have a close working relationship with Police Scotland who are the competent authority for this sort of criminality.