Chamber and committees

Questions and answers

Parliamentary questions can be asked by any MSP to the Scottish Government or the Scottish Parliamentary Corporate Body. The questions provide a means for MSPs to get factual and statistical information.

Written questions must be answered within 10 working days (20 working days during recess)
Other questions such as Topical, Portfolio, General and First Minister's Question Times are taken in the Chamber

Urgent Questions aren't included in the Question and Answers search. There is a SPICe fact sheet listing Urgent and emergency questions.

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Question reference: S6W-19386

Asked by: Fergus Ewing, MSP for Inverness and Nairn, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 21 June 2023
Current Status: Answered by Lorna Slater on 18 July 2023

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S6W-18715 by Lorna Slater on 15 June 2023, whether it will provide the information requested, specifically regarding whether or not the gateway review will be made publicly available, and what its reasons were for not providing this information in its answer.

As stated in my answer to S6W-18715 all correspondence with the Committee will be made publicly available. My letter of 16 June setting out the findings of the gateway review and the Scottish Government response is available on the Scottish Parliament website at:

https://www.parliament.scot/chamber-and-committees/committees/current-and-previous-committees/session-6-net-zero-energy-and-transport-committee/correspondence/2023/scotlands-deposit-return-scheme-16-june-2023 .

I also wrote to the Committee on 28 June to provide them with as full a version of the gateway review as I am able, given we have been obliged to make some redactions to protect the commercial interests of the parties involved. The letter and gateway review are available on the Scottish Parliament website at:

https://www.parliament.scot/-/media/files/committees/net-zero-energy-and-transport-committee/correspondence/2023/drs-gateway-review-28-june-2023.pdf .

Question reference: S6W-18715

Asked by: Fergus Ewing, MSP for Inverness and Nairn, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 06 June 2023
Current Status: Answered by Lorna Slater on 15 June 2023

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S6W-18066 by Lorna Slater on 31 May 2023, whether the (a) gateway review and (b) letter that the Minister will send to the Committee will be made publicly available, and, if this is not the case, what the reasons are for its position on this matter.

All correspondence received by the Committee is published on the Parliament’s website and is therefore publicly available. Gateway reviews are routine components of the Scottish Government’s approach to project management, providing a snapshot of implementation progress. As I set out in my letter of 9 June to the Committee, given the decision by the current UK Government to exclude glass and to set out interoperability conditions, the pathway on which we are now embarked is very different from the context in which the Gateway Review was carried out, and, very different from that in which we sought to frame our response to the Review. Given the very clear call from all stakeholders for certainty, it is important to make sure that our response to the Review best reflects the position we are now in. I will ensure this is provided to Committee before Parliamentary recess.

Question reference: S6W-18066

Asked by: Fergus Ewing, MSP for Inverness and Nairn, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 18 May 2023
Current Status: Answered by Lorna Slater on 31 May 2023

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S6W-15390 by Lorna Slater on 21 March 2023, whether it will now publish in full details of the gateway review that commenced in March 2023, and whether there have been any additional reviews instructed or carried out that the public has not been made aware of.

Question reference: S6W-17941

Asked by: Fergus Ewing, MSP for Inverness and Nairn, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Friday, 12 May 2023
Current Status: Answered by George Adam on 30 May 2023

To ask the Scottish Government, in light of the additional junior ministers recently appointed, for what reason the Cabinet Secretary for Rural Affairs, Land Reform and Islands is not supported by a junior minister to assist in the range of her expanded portfolio responsibilities, and whether the absence of a supporting junior minister represents a reduction in the importance of rural development as a priority area for the Scottish Government.

The recent Policy Prospectus confirmed the Government’s continuing, strong commitment to matters covered by the Rural Affairs, Land Reform and Islands portfolio, and set out actions that government is taking across a number of portfolios in order to create jobs, strengthen food production and food security, and support repopulation and green skills development in our rural communities – boosting the rural and coastal economy.

The Prospectus highlights a number of these commitments, including around Housing, where we will ensure that at least 10% of our 110,000 affordable homes target in remote, rural and island communities. We are also making available up to £25 million in a demand led fund targeted at affordable homes for key workers, such as those working in the public sector and emergency services; and the £30 million Rural and Island Housing Fund plays an important role in offering support to community groups.

The Rural Delivery Plan, that we will publish by the end of this Parliament, will further confirm how this Government is delivering for Scotland’s rural, island and coastal communities.

The composition of the ministerial team and the allocation of portfolio responsibilities are routinely kept under review by the First Minister and shift as a variety of factors require.

Question reference: S6W-15994

Asked by: Fergus Ewing, MSP for Inverness and Nairn, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Monday, 27 March 2023
Current Status: Answered by Lorna Slater on 24 April 2023

To ask the Scottish Government, in light of SEPA's position statement that it “will not take enforcement action against any retailer who does not offer a takeback service to consumers in Scotland in relation to online or distance retail sales of scheme articles", whether it can provide any assurance to retailers that, should they breach the requirement under the Deposit and Return Scheme for Scotland Regulations 2020 to provide a takeback service, they will not face enforcement action in the future; whether the Law Officers were consulted by SEPA on this matter, and what discussions it has had with the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service regarding any potential impact of this development on its approach to pursuing prosecutions in respect of this matter.

The Scottish Environment Protection Agency (SEPA) is a separately constituted statutory body, independent from the Scottish Ministers, that has primary regulatory responsibility for protecting and improving the environment. Scottish Ministers are not responsible for SEPA’s operational matters, including the exercise of its enforcement functions. It is up to SEPA to consider its enforcement position in relation to this matter.

As a non-Police specialist reporting agency, SEPA has the option to submit reports to the Crown Office Procurator Fiscal Service (COPFS). Both SEPA and COPFS are clear that such enforcement action is a last resort, used for the most significant offending. SEPA is an independent regulatory agency and is not required to consult with COPFS or others when taking regulatory positions. This includes the published position concerning online takeback for the Deposit Return Scheme (DRS) which provides reassurance to retailers that no enforcement action will be taken by SEPA with respect to DRS takeback obligations whilst this aspect of the Deposit and Return Scheme for Scotland Regulations 2020 is under review.

Question reference: S6W-15390

Asked by: Fergus Ewing, MSP for Inverness and Nairn, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 28 February 2023
Current Status: Answered by Lorna Slater on 21 March 2023

To ask the Scottish Government whether it has carried out, or plans to carry out, a full Gateway Review for the Deposit Return Scheme in February 2023, or close to that date, as recommended in the Gateway Review: Assurance of Action Plan report, which was published in December 2022, and, if so, whether it will commit to publishing the full Gateway Review as a matter of critical urgency to enable sufficient scope and time for any recommendations to be scrutinised and implemented.

The Scottish Government plans to carry out a further Gateway Review during week commencing 13 March 2023, in line with the last Assurance of Action Plan report’s recommendations for a review to take place in February 2023, or close to that date. The Scottish Government will consider carefully the recommendations from this review, and will share these and its response with the Net Zero, Energy and Transport Committee in due course.

Question reference: S6W-15419

Asked by: Fergus Ewing, MSP for Inverness and Nairn, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 02 March 2023
Current Status: Answered by Lorna Slater on 16 March 2023

To ask the Scottish Government, in light of the comments by the Secretary of State for Scotland that, in seeking an exemption from the United Kingdom Internal Market Act 2020, the "bar is very high indeed", what its position is on the potential success of any such application for an exemption, and what it considers the consequences would be for the Deposit Return Scheme in the event that any such exemption was not granted.

Question reference: S6W-15418

Asked by: Fergus Ewing, MSP for Inverness and Nairn, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Monday, 27 February 2023
Current Status: Answered by Lorna Slater on 13 March 2023

To ask the Scottish Government, in relation to the Deposit Return Scheme, whether it has made an application for an exemption under the United Kingdom Internal Market Act 2020, and, if not, what plans it has to submit any such application.

The Scottish Government has been following the process for excluding the deposit return scheme regulations from the Internal Market Act 2020 and we expect a decision from the UK Government as soon as possible.

I recently met with ministers and senior officials from each UK administration at the inter-ministerial group on Environment, Food and Rural Affairs to again ask for urgent clarity from the UK Government on this matter, and by the end of March at the latest.

Question reference: S6W-15421

Asked by: Fergus Ewing, MSP for Inverness and Nairn, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Monday, 27 February 2023
Current Status: Answered by Lorna Slater on 13 March 2023

To ask the Scottish Government whether the Accountable Officer has raised the possibility of seeking a ministerial direction in respect of the Deposit Return Scheme with the Scottish Ministers.

Question reference: S6W-15416

Asked by: Fergus Ewing, MSP for Inverness and Nairn, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Monday, 27 February 2023
Current Status: Answered by Lorna Slater on 13 March 2023

To ask the Scottish Government what information it holds on whether any members of the Executive Team of Circularity Scotland have had any direct experience of running a deposit return scheme.