Chamber and committees

The Programme for Government sets out that a Circular Economy Bill will be introduced in 2022-23 and we remain on track to meet that deadline. Further, the Deposit Return Scheme remains on track to go live in August 2023.

I have engaged with a wide breadth of stakeholders in the offshore energy sector during this period, in the North East of Scotland and across Scotland. Regarding formal meetings with companies in the North East Scotland region I had the following formal meetings:

12 October 2022 - St Fergus Terminal /Segal Terminal Site Tour which included meeting with St Fergus field visit with North Sea Midstream Partners (NSMP), Storegga and Shell attending 26 October 2022 - OEUK UK1 March 2023 - Decom North Sea meeting.

This list is not exhaustive of all the engagement I have with offshore energy companies, I speak with companies and stakeholders at all the events that I attend and take part in. Some of the stakeholder events I attended in this time period include:

2 November 2022 - Speaking at Supporting Scotland's Renewable Energy Supply Chain, Scottish Renewables 22 November 2022 – Speaking at the event International Scotland Report, Fraser of Allander Institute and CMS Partners Event 22 November 2022 – Visit to NESCOL Altens 30 November 2022 – Meeting with the North Sea Transition Forum 10 October 2022 – SEE - Maximising Scotland’s Energy Potential: Achieving a Just Transition Conference 8 December 2022 – OEUK Awards Ceremony

Analysis in the Business and Regulatory Impact Assessment, published in December 2021, shows that on-the-go drinks purchases are largely driven by consumer convenience, and that switching to large containers in this segment of the market is unlikely.

There are other deciding factors for consumers, such as practicality, convenience, brand preference and presentation of the product. This specific issue was examined by the ECCL Committee in 2019, see Report on the proposed draft Deposit and Return Scheme for Scotland Regulations 2020 (azureedge.net) .

Additionally, the Deposit Return Scheme (DRS) already operates in over 50 other countries and territories around the world. Evidence from these other deposit return schemes indicates that any effect on product or format switching is small, and it is rare that this can only be attributed to DRS.

Everyone who pays a deposit on a drinks container will be able to reclaim that deposit in full therefore that should not have an impact on inflation. In line with the wishes of business, Scotland’s DRS is an industry-run scheme. It is for drinks producers and retailers to deliver the most efficient scheme possible. As an example of this, in December 2022 Circularity Scotland published new producer fees that are 8%, 30% and 40% lower than originally planned for glass, PET plastic and metal containers respectively.

We recognise the current pressure on the third sector, and understandably there are calls being made on the Scottish Government every day for more support.

SCVO estimate that the public sector as a whole invests around £1.4 billion each year to support the work of charities and social enterprises. Of that, around £500m comes from Scottish Government via a broad range of programmes including those supporting community empowerment, mental health and wellbeing, children and families and health and social care.

We will continue to invest widely in the third sector from across the Government and have committed to increase multi-year funding wherever possible. This includes investing £21.9m in Third Sector infrastructure and programmes that provide the ‘backbone’ support and development to the wider sector.

A range of resources and advice can be accessed through the Find Business Support service which Families Like Us that support the Juniors Play Café may find helpful. These can be accessed at the following link: Find Business Support .

Meeting frequency will be determined by the Taskforce when it meets. We envisage that there will be a series of meetings and separate subgroup meetings focusing on the key themes within the terms of reference, and the frequency will vary by workstream, and as work progresses.

The Scottish Government will agree the date of the first meeting in due course, following confirmation of representatives and proposed structure.

The Scottish Government has increased public investment and support in our natural capital through a variety of methods. This includes the £65 million Nature Restoration Fund, and the Facility for Investment Ready Nature in Scotland (FIRNS) that was launched in February this year. However, the Global Biodiversity Framework that was agreed at COP15 last year identified leveraging responsible private finance as a key target, and in Scotland alone it is estimated that there is a finance gap of £20 billion to meet nature-related outcomes.

For the purposes of this agreement, NatureScot entered into discussions with Hampden & Co., Lombard Odier Investment Managers and Palladium and mutually agreed that a Memorandum of Understanding would best define the ways of working and respective roles of parties, as is commonplace.

This is a partnership project and not a procurement project. It is not exclusive to the partners involved and NatureScot would be delighted to work with other responsible private investors looking to invest in nature restoration in Scotland.

Private investment resulting from the Memorandum of Understanding will support woodland expansion, peatland restoration and enhancement of other habitats. It will pay for all capital costs, though we anticipate that land managers involved will also apply to existing grant schemes such as the Forestry Grant Scheme.

I refer the member to the answer to question S6W-15841 on 24 March 2023. 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 .