Chamber and committees

As a private company, Circularity Scotland Ltd is not obligated to comply with requests under Freedom of Information legislation. Circularity Scotland already engage with requests regarding their role in the Deposit Return Scheme, including providing evidence before the Net Zero, Energy and Transport Committee on 28 March 2023, and will be holding a Parliamentary drop-in session 03 May 2023. CSL also engage regularly with Ministers and officials as part of wider DRS assurance structures.

The Council of Europe Convention on Access to Official Documents (also known as the ‘Tromsø Convention’) relates to official documents held by public authorities. Whilst the UK is not a signatory to the Convention, the Scottish Government recognises the importance of public access to official information held by Scottish public authorities. However, Circularity Scotland is a private not for profit company, and not a Scottish public authority.

The Cabinet Secretary for The Environment, Climate Change and Land Reform announced in Parliament on 8 May 2019 that Scotland’s Deposit Return Scheme (DRS) would be a privately operated scheme, in line with international best practice. This approach was then approved by a parliamentary vote on 13 May 2020.

These regulations enabled any public or private organisation to apply to be approved by the Scottish Ministers as a scheme administrator.

Only Circularity Scotland has applied to be a scheme administrator. Their application was considered in line with the regulations.

Any other eligible application received will be considered by the Scottish Ministers.

It was determined during the development of the Regulations underpinning Scotland’s Deposit Return Scheme, that Scotland follow international best practice in line with the ‘polluter pays’ principle, and just like similar schemes around the world, a scheme that will be delivered and funded by industry.

I refer the member to my answer to question S6W-12732 on 14 December 2022. 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/questions-and-answers .

Just like similar schemes around the world, Scotland’s Deposit Return Scheme (DRS) is being delivered and funded by industry. It is for them to determine the appropriate manner in which to meet their obligations under the Regulations, including whether or not to establish a private company to act as a scheme administrator.

Given that it is already standard that private companies are not covered by Freedom of Information legislation, and producers themselves formed and administer Circularity Scotland, the Scottish Government does not consider an assessment of any potential impact on relations between the DRS administrator and producers where Circularity Scotland is not subject to Freedom of Information legislation to be necessary.

In line with the ‘polluter pays’ principle, and just like similar schemes around the world, Scotland’s deposit return scheme is being delivered and funded by industry, led by the scheme administrator, Circularity Scotland. This was the approach agreed and voted for by the Scottish Parliament when it approved the appropriate regulations.

Scotland’s Deposit Return Scheme is not a government scheme, in that it is run by and for industry, and therefore cannot be compared with companies and bodies that do administer government schemes.

Circularity Scotland is a privately owned company and is not under contract to the Scottish Government. It is therefore not a Scottish public authority for the purposes of the of the Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act 2002, and we do not consider there to be any implications for FOI legislation given this legislation applies to public bodies rather than private companies.

When applying for grant assistance at tender stage to deliver homes for social rent, grant applicants are required to self-certify that the amount of funding that they are requesting is the minimum required for a project to be financially viable for their organisation whilst ensuring rent affordability.

The Scottish Government will consider any additional costs associated with improved quality standards for homes delivered through the Affordable Housing Supply Programme and those additional costs will be accounted for in the affordable housing investment benchmarks which determine how a project is appraised.

Scotland’s Deposit Return Scheme was developed in line with the ‘polluter pays’ principle, and just like similar schemes around the world, is being delivered and funded by industry. The Deposit Return Scheme for Scotland Regulations 2020 enable any public or private organisation to apply to be approved by the Scottish Ministers as a scheme administrator.

Only Circularity Scotland has applied to be a scheme administrator. Their application was considered in line with the regulations.

Any other eligible application received will be considered by the Scottish Ministers.

The Scottish Government did not specifically invite Circularity Scotland Ltd to respond to the Access to Information Rights in Scotland consultation, however it was open to anyone to respond to via the Scottish Government consultation hub. The Scottish Government has, as is standard practice, shared information on this consultation widely to ensure anyone or any organisation who wishes to response is aware of how to do so.