- Asked by: Brian Whittle, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 04 April 2023
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Current Status:
Answered by Lorna Slater on 2 May 2023
To ask the Scottish Government what plans are in place to review the Deposit Return Scheme after its launch on 16 August 2023 and its (a) impact in general, (b) financial impact on (i) businesses, (ii) consumers and (iii) the wider economy and (c) environmental impacts.
Answer
Monitoring and analysis work will commence shortly after the launch of Scotland’s Deposit Return Scheme (DRS). This work was originally scheduled to begin in early 2024.
Following the decision to move the scheme’s launch to 1 March 2024, this work will be rescheduled accordingly.
- Asked by: Brian Whittle, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 04 April 2023
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Current Status:
Answered by Lorna Slater on 2 May 2023
To ask the Scottish Government which retailers it has met to discuss the Deposit Return Scheme since 1 January 2023.
Answer
The following table shows the meetings that the Scottish Government has had with retailers to discuss the Deposit Return Scheme.
Date | Meeting |
17-01-2023 | Meeting with Scottish Grocers' Federation (SGF) and Minister for Green Skills, Circular Economy and Biodiversity |
31-01-2023 | Meeting with Grocery CEOs and Minister for Green Skills, Circular Economy and Biodiversity |
14-02-2023 | Meeting with Scottish Grocers’ Federation (SGF) and Scottish Government Officials |
15-02-2023 | Meeting with CSL, British Retail Consortium (BRC) and Chief Executives of major grocery retailers and Minister for Green Skills, Circular Economy and Biodiversity |
27-02-2023 | Meeting with Scottish Grocers' Federation (SGF) and Minister for Green Skills, Circular Economy and Biodiversity |
28-02-2023 | Meeting with Food and Drink stakeholders and Minister for Green Skills, Circular Economy and Biodiversity |
01-03-2023 | Meeting with Scottish Retail Consortium (SRC) and Minister for Green Skills, Circular Economy and Biodiversity |
09-03-2023 | Meeting with Scottish Retail Consortium (SRC) and Minister for Green Skills, Circular Economy and Biodiversity |
16-03-2023 | Meeting with Scottish Retail Consortium (SRC) and Minister for Green Skills, Circular Economy and Biodiversity |
24-03-2023 | Meeting with Scottish Retail Consortium (SRC) and Scottish Government Officials |
28-03-2023 | Meeting with Scottish Retail Consortium (SRC) Technical Committee and Scottish Government Officials |
29-03-2023 | Meeting with Scottish Retail Consortium (SRC) and Scottish Government Officials |
29-03-2023 | Meeting with Scottish Grocers' Federation (SGF) and Scottish Government Officials |
30-03-2023 | Meeting with Asda and Scottish Government Officials |
31-03-2023 | Meeting with Tesco and Scottish Government Officials |
06-04-2023 | Meeting with Scottish Retail Consortium (SRC) and Scottish Government Officials |
11-04-2023 | Meeting with Association of Convenience Stores (ACS) and Scottish Government Officials |
11-04-2023 | Meeting with Federation of Independent Retailers (NFRN) and Scottish Government Officials |
18-04-2023 | Meeting with multiple retailers and Minister for Green Skills, Circular Economy and Biodiversity |
20-04-2023 | Meeting with multiple retailers, the First Minister, and Minister for Green Skills, Circular Economy and Biodiversity |
21-04-2023 | Meeting with Scottish Retail Consortium (SRC) and Scottish Government Officials |
- Asked by: Brian Whittle, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 05 April 2023
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Current Status:
Answered by Lorna Slater on 2 May 2023
To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on whether small businesses will continue to be included in the Deposit Return Scheme from its launch date on 16 August 2023, in light of the First Minister's reported pledge to exempt small businesses for the first year of the scheme.
Answer
Businesses of all sizes will be included in Scotland’s Deposit Return Scheme (DRS), which will now launch on 1 March 2024. Adjusting the launch date by over 6 months provides everyone with additional time to prepare for the launch of the scheme, with around 10 months in total to now prepare, including small businesses.
On 20 April 2023 it was announced to Parliament that any product which sells less than 5,000 articles a year in Scotland will no longer have to place a deposit on the product. This change was asked for by business and will apply to producers of all sizes. However, it will particularly help small producers, removing an estimate 44% of producers from having to place a deposit on any of their products.
The Scottish Government will continue to engage with businesses of all sizes to ensure our DRS is ready for launch on 1st March next year.
- Asked by: Brian Whittle, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 04 April 2023
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Current Status:
Answered by Lorna Slater on 2 May 2023
To ask the Scottish Government for what reason 16 August 2023 was selected as the launch date for the Deposit Return Scheme, in light of the chief executive of Circularity Scotland reportedly stating that it had identified the period of September to October 2023 as deliverable for the scheme launch but, even then, with a degree of risk.
Answer
The 16 August 2023 launch date of Scotland’s Deposit Return Scheme launch date was informed by a five month assessment process. This accounted for the findings of the Gateway Review conducted in June 2021 independent advice, review of Circularity Scotland’s implementation plans, and feedback from a wide range of stakeholders. This launch date was announced in Parliament on 14 December 2021.
- Asked by: Brian Whittle, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 04 April 2023
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Current Status:
Answered by Lorna Slater on 2 May 2023
To ask the Scottish Government what consideration it has given to excluding, or delaying the inclusion of, small businesses within the scope of the Deposit Return Scheme, which is due to launch on 16 August 2023.
Answer
All producers, regardless of size, will be included in Scotland’s Deposit Return Scheme from its launch on 1 March 2024. The Circular Economy Minister announced on 20 April 2023 a package of measures to simplify the scheme which will benefit businesses of all sizes but particularly small producers. All retailers which sell scheme articles will automatically be a return point but some businesses, particularly smaller retailers, may wish to apply for an exemption and can do so via Zero Waste Scotland.
- Asked by: Brian Whittle, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 04 April 2023
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Current Status:
Answered by Lorna Slater on 2 May 2023
To ask the Scottish Government what work it has done to raise awareness of the Deposit Return Scheme among consumers; what activities have been involved in this, and how many civil servants have been engaged in this work, broken down by salary grade.
Answer
The Deposit Return Scheme consumer campaign, which will be led by Circularity Scotland Ltd, has yet to begin. It will commence in the run up to the scheme’s launch next year to ensure consumers are aware of the launch date and how the scheme will work.
- Asked by: Brian Whittle, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 04 April 2023
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Current Status:
Answered by Lorna Slater on 2 May 2023
To ask the Scottish Government on what basis the stakeholders interviewed as part of the gateway review into the Deposit Return Scheme were selected, and for what reason the Scottish Hospitality Group was not included.
Answer
Gateway Review teams normally speak with 12-15 interviewees including relevant commercial and external stakeholders (e.g. prime contractors and consultants). For the latest review, reviewers spoke to 45 people which included CSL, a range of producers, retailers, wholesaler, hospitality representatives, SEPA, Zero Waste Scotland and Scottish Government.
For this review, the interview team selected their chosen interviewees based on the information gathered from the previous gateway reviews as well as their understanding of Scotland’s Deposit Return Scheme (DRS).
The Scottish Government continues to engage with the Scottish Hospitality Group, and they attended a round table meeting with the First Minister and myself to discuss DRS on 20 April 2023.
- Asked by: Brian Whittle, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 26 April 2023
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Current Status:
Taken in the Chamber on 4 May 2023
To ask the Scottish Government what process informed its previous decision to launch the Deposit Return Scheme on 16 August 2023, including any input that it sought from industry regarding its readiness for that date.
Answer
Taken in the Chamber on 4 May 2023
- Asked by: Brian Whittle, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 11 April 2023
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Current Status:
Answered by Mairi Gougeon on 26 April 2023
To ask the Scottish Government what its response is to the statement in the Climate Change Committee publication, Progress in reducing emissions in Scotland: 2022 Report to Parliament, that “Scotland’s targets for peatland restoration are not ambitious enough and are not being met”.
Answer
We are currently reviewing the proposals put forward in the Climate Change Committee’s Progress in reducing emissions in Scotland: 2022 Report to Parliament and will publish our response in due course.
- Asked by: Brian Whittle, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 05 April 2023
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Current Status:
Answered by Mairi Gougeon on 25 April 2023
To ask the Scottish Government what work it is doing to meet the (a) gaps in contractor availability and (b) skill shortages, which are reportedly limiting progress towards peatland restoration goals.
Answer
The Scottish Government continues to work with our delivery partners across Peatland ACTION to tackle the many barriers to upscaling peatland restoration in this relatively young sector.
Recent progress to address contractor availability and skills shortages include:
- NatureScot published a Technical Compendium in November 2022 which includes guidance on how to restore peatland; this is direct response to a call for greater standardisation which will help contractors to specify and plan works more efficiently
- A variety of skills initiatives are underway including: on-site demonstration days; a newly launched peatland restoration training course; on-the-job new entrants initiative; and targeted training on topics such as Public Contracts Scotland (PCS) tendering.
- A Peatland Skills, Capacity and Training Group has been established which brings together partners from the Peatland ACTION delivery partners, Skills Development Scotland, LANTRA, Confor, Scotland’s Rural Collage and the James Hutton Institute to develop a collaborative approach to addressing the skills shortages.
Peatland restoration is an industry in its infancy – it is only a few years old and has not yet developed significant supply capacity.
The £250 million multi-year government commitment entered into as part of the Bute House Agreement has increased confidence in the private engineering sector to invest in the people, machinery, skills and training needed to increase delivery capacity, is helping to increase capacity and output, and we expect that trajectory to continue.
