Deposit Return Scheme

Letter from the Minister for Green Skills, Circular Economy and Biodiversity to the Convener, 9 February 2022

Dear Dean

Scotland's Deposit Return Scheme – amendment to BRIA

Thank you for your letter of 8 February indicating that the Scottish Grocers’ Federation (SGF) has identified an error in the sensitivity analysis set out in Annex F, Table 2 of the Business and Regulatory Impact Assessment (BRIA) for our Deposit Return Scheme (DRS). I am grateful to the SGF for highlighting this error and to you for bringing it to my attention. It is important to note that the error does not affect the overall findings of the BRIA; nor does it change the overall net present value that was presented in Table 2, Annex F.

As you know, Annex F of the updated BRIA, which we published alongside the draft Regulations on 15 December 2021, provides a sensitivity analysis of the economic case for DRS by analysing two assumptions for key scheme parameters raised by industry: a figure of 2.7bn containers per year placed on the market (compared to the 2.2bn originally modelled) and a figure of 37,000 return points (compared to the 17,000 originally modelled). Although the original assumptions published in Table 3 of the same BRIA remain our final, and best, estimate of the costs and benefits associated with DRS, we analysed the impact on the 25-year net present value (NPV) based on these two figures suggested by industry.

Annex F, Table 2 (annexed to this letter for ease of reference) sets out an overall NPV of £583m if the two industry assumptions are taken into account, and provides a breakdown of this figure by sector. The overall figure of £583m has been revalidated and is correct. However, a manual error was made in copying over some of the data cells in this table. The corrected figures, which we will publish in an amendment to the BRIA on the Scottish Government website as soon as possible, are also set out in the Annex to this letter. I apologise for this error and appreciate the opportunity to correct the record.

To provide further reassurance following the detection of this error, all other data presented in the BRIA have been re-validated and confirmed to be correct.

Kind regards

Lorna Slater

Annex – Data Tables

Annex F, Table 2 (as published)

Figures may not sum due to rounding

Annex F, Table 2 (amended)

Figures may not sum due to rounding 

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