Chamber and committees

I refer the member to the answer to question S6W-36501 on 23 April 2025. All answers to written Parliamentary Questions are available on the Parliament's website, the search facility for which can be found at https://www.parliament.scot/chamber-and-committees/written-questions-and-answers.

Under the Verity House Agreement, local government funding in Scotland will not be ring-fenced or directed, unless there is a clear joint understanding to do so. However, the extended producer responsibility for packaging funding purpose - to pay for the cost of managing household packaging waste - is clearly set out in legislation.

The Scottish Government has considered the impact on businesses through the publication of a Full Business and Regulatory Impact Assessment (BRIA).

We will be evaluating the impacts of extended producer responsibility for packaging in future years through a four nation evaluation of the policy. The evaluation is being led by Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs and will run from
2024-2029.

An efficient waste management service is defined by the Producer Responsibility Obligations (Packaging and Packaging Waste) Regulations 2024 as a waste management service where disposal costs are as low as reasonable possible, taking into account the waste management service provided by a local authority, and any other factors specific to that authority, or to the area in relation to which it exercises its waste management functions, which in the opinion of PackUK (the EPR scheme administrator) are likely to affect its disposal costs.

Effectiveness assessments of local authorities waste management services are carried out by PackUK. The assessment of whether a local authority is running an effective waste management service for household packaging waste will include the amounts of household packaging waste managed, and the proportions recycled, recovered or disposed of. It will also account for local authority specific factors including population density, accessibility, deprivation, and government policies in each nation, as well as other relevant factors. Metrics will be agreed between PackUK and local authorities.

If PackUK determines that a local authority is not providing an effective waste management service, they will give notice to the local authority and work with them to determine how the services could be improved. Only if a local authority is not doing everything they can be reasonably expected to do to improve its waste management service and has no mitigating circumstances, could they then be subject to a deduction of their payment up to 20%.

Effectiveness assessments can be brought in from 2026 if sufficient data is available to make assessments, but must be brought in by 2028.

Classification of packaging waste as household or non household waste under extended producer responsibility for packaging is set out by the Producer Responsibility Obligations (Packaging and Packaging Waste) Regulations 2024. Classification is based on several criteria and producers are encouraged to consult the regulations or contact SEPA for specific queries. Glass drinks containers that are not in scope of DRS, will be captured under packaging EPR data reporting and fee obligations. Drinks containers which will be obligated under DRS when in force, such as aluminum, will be exempt from pEPR fee obligations. The use of reusable/refillable packaging such as beer kegs or reusable bottles is also encouraged under pEPR, as producers are only required to report and pay disposal cost fees for household packaging the first time it is placed on the market, and can then offset these fees when they recycle this packaging at the end of its life, thereby avoiding the vast majority of pEPR fees.

Table 1 presents the estimated gross cost of setting the Higher Property Rate equal to the Standard Multiplier in England, from 2016-2017 until 2020-2021.

The Higher Property Rate in Scotland was 1.3p higher than the Standard Multiplier in England from 2016-2017 until 2018-2019, and 1.2p higher in 2019-2020 and
2021-2022. The Higher Property Rate and the Standard Multiplier in each year are shown in Table 2.

Figures for years from 2021-2022 until 2025-2026 are available in answers to questions S6W-25972 on 18 March 2024, S6W-25588 on 1 March 2024 and
S6W-32778 on 7 January 2025.

In 2016-2017, the threshold for the Standard Multiplier was £18,000, while the threshold for the Higher Property Rate was £51,000. Both thresholds were set to £51,000 from 2017-2018 until 2019-2020. From 2020-2021, the threshold for the Higher Property Rate was increased to £95,000, while the threshold for the Standard Multiplier remained at £51,000.

All figures are gross estimates, and are not adjusted for any relief. Figures are broken down by property class, as the Scottish Government does not hold property-level data on industry sectors. Property class is a classification used by Scottish Assessors to describe the type of property, and does not necessarily accurately reflect the use of a property.

This table is based on the valuation roll as at 1 October 2016, 1 October 2017, 1 October 2018, 1 October 2019, and 1 October 2020.

Figures in this table are rounded to the nearest £1,000, and may not sum due to rounding.

Table 1: Estimated gross cost of reducing the Higher Property Rate to the level of the English Standard Multiplier (£), broken down by property class

The information available at Non-domestic rates relief - mygov.scot is regularly reviewed and updated and following successful passage of the legislation through the Parliament, it was updated on 1 April 2025 with information about all the reliefs, including hospitality relief, available in 2025-26.

The Scottish Government has a range of measures to communicate information and raise awareness about the Non-Domestic Rates (NDR) reliefs which are available in 2025-26, including specific relief for the hospitality sector. This includes:

• information on the Scottish Government webpages at Non-domestic rates (business rates) - Local government - gov.scot and Non-domestic rates relief - mygov.scot;
• a Short Guide to NDR Rates and Reliefs 2025-26 which is issued to a wide range of stakeholder groups including trade representative bodies;
• Local Government Finance Circular 4/25 which provides more detailed information for local authorities on NDR reliefs for 2025-26 and is published on Scottish Government webpages; and
• regular engagement and dialogue with industry stakeholders and representatives through the consultative sub-group on Non-Domestic Rates, regular roundtable meetings with Ministers and the Scottish Ratepayer Forum. The membership of these groups includes representatives from the Scottish Hospitality Group, UK Hospitality, Scottish Tourism Alliance, Scottish Licensed Trade Association, Scottish Beer and Pub Association, and Night-Time Industries Association.

Local Authorities also publish information on non-domestic rates reliefs, including hospitality relief, on their individual websites.

I refer the member to the answer to question S6W-36149 on 8 April 2025. All answers to written Parliamentary Questions are available on the Parliament's website, the search facility for which can be found at https://www.parliament.scot/chamber-and-committees/written-questions-and-answers.

There is no statutory deadline to apply for the 40% relief that is available in 2025-26 for hospitality premises liable for the Basic Property Rate in mainland Scotland (excluding specified remote areas), capped at £110,000 per business.