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-05789

Asked by: Maurice Golden, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 20 January 2022
Current Status: Answered by Lorna Slater on 1 February 2022

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide a breakdown of what the municipal recycling capacity in Scotland (a) has been in each of the last 10 years and (b) is projected to be by 2025.

SEPA publish the waste sites and capacity data via a tool on their website to provide capacity information about permitted waste sites across Scotland, which includes recycling facilities. The waste sites and capacity tool is available here: https://www.sepa.org.uk/data-visualisation/waste-sites-and-capacity-tool/

The tool is normally updated yearly with capacity information and quarterly with actual waste accepted. It currently contains data from 2014 – 2019 but has not been updated since the SEPA cyberattack. The next update is scheduled for March 2022.

Projections for municipal recycling capacity in Scotland for 2025 are not held centrally.

Question reference: S6W-05471

Asked by: Maurice Golden, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 05 January 2022
Current Status: Answered by Lorna Slater on 31 January 2022

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S6W-05058 by Lorna Slater on 21 December 2021, which of those compliant contracts were signed in the period since September 2019.

Question reference: S6W-05827

Asked by: Maurice Golden, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 20 January 2022
Current Status: Answered by Lorna Slater on 31 January 2022

To ask the Scottish Government what progress has been made in establishing a SEPA operated producer registration system for the Deposit Return Scheme.

Question reference: S6W-05700

Asked by: Maurice Golden, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 14 January 2022
Current Status: Answered by Lorna Slater on 26 January 2022

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S6W-05229 by Lorna Slater on 11 January 2022, on what date the Minister for Green Skills, Circular Economy and Biodiversity took the decision to postpone the scheme, rather than the date on which the decision was communicated to the Parliament.

In a statement to the Scottish Parliament on 17 November 2022 I gave an update on progress towards implementing Scotland’s Deposit Return Scheme. In that statement I said that officials and I were working hard with Circularity Scotland and the industry to agree a final timescale and clear milestones for delivery including interpreting the impact of the decision from the UK Government on VAT, which had only just been communicated to me. While carrying out that further work, the date was very much under continuous assessment as new information was received and views of stakeholders were taken on-board. The date was made firm when I announced this to Parliament on 14 December.

Question reference: S6W-05595

Asked by: Maurice Golden, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 12 January 2022
Current Status: Answered by Lorna Slater on 25 January 2022

To ask the Scottish Government on what date the Minister for Green Skills, Circular Economy and Biodiversity was first made aware that Circularity Scotland reportedly issued procurement documentation for a deposit return system with a launch date of summer 2023.

Since coming into post in August 2021 I have worked intensively with industry and stakeholders to agree a project plan that we can have confidence in to deliver Scotland’s Deposit Return Scheme (DRS). This has included frequent engagement with Circularity Scotland Ltd (CSL) who have been open and realistic about the scale of challenge facing implementation of DRS due to COVID-19 and EU Exit, as the Gateway Review recognised.

In line with the principle of producer responsibility, CSL is a private company, established by industry to lead on delivery of Scotland’s DRS as scheme administrator. As an independent, industry-led organisation, CSL’s procurement decisions are not a matter for the Scottish Ministers.

Producers of in-scope drinks are responsible for having their scheme packaging collected from return points free of charge from the full implementation date for DRS, either directly or through a scheme administrator. Industry is therefore liable for delivery of DRS by the full implementation date whether or not a scheme administrator is in place by that date. Until and unless amended by the Deposit and Return Scheme for Scotland Amendment Regulations 2022, that date is set in regulations as 1 July 2022.

Question reference: S6W-05594

Asked by: Maurice Golden, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 12 January 2022
Current Status: Answered by Lorna Slater on 24 January 2022

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S6W-05333 by Lorna Slater on 5 January 2022, which organisations listed on page 13 of the Business and Regulatory Impact Assessment (a) were interviewed as part of the Deposit Return Scheme Gateway Review and (b) met separately with the Scottish Government to supplement the findings of the review.

The list of organisations interviewed as part of the Gateway Review can be found in Annex C of the report. This report can be accessed here: https://www.gov.scot/publications/deposit-return-scheme-gateway-review-report-june-2021/documents/ .

Organisations listed on p13 of the amended Business and Regulatory Impact Assessment ( https://www.gov.scot/isbn/9781802018875 ) but not in the Gateway Review met separately with the Scottish Government to supplement the findings of the review.

Question reference: S6W-05495

Asked by: Maurice Golden, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 12 January 2022
Current Status: Answered by Lorna Slater on 24 January 2022

To ask the Scottish Government, in light of the delays to the deposit return scheme, whether Zero Waste Scotland will publish an updated economic and waste management impact assessment for local authorities.

Modelling by Zero Waste Scotland (ZWS) projects that 29 of Scotland’s 32 local authorities will incur a net financial benefit from the implementation of Scotland’s Deposit Return Scheme (DRS). Local authorities are also expected to benefit from a reduction in the impact of litter, and from efficiencies to collection services following the implementation of DRS.

ZWS has no current plans to update its modelling. However, it is engaging with individual local authorities, in particular the three currently projected not to make savings, to assess the impacts of DRS on them and look at options for service improvements.

Question reference: S6W-05593

Asked by: Maurice Golden, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 12 January 2022
Current Status: Answered by Lorna Slater on 24 January 2022

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S6W-05333 by Lorna Slater on 5 January 2022, how many of the retailers listed on page 13 of the Business and Regulatory Impact Assessment were estimated to have a 24-month preparedness time.

The Gateway Review into Scotland’s Deposit Return Scheme (DRS), which was published on 14 December 2021, gives a preparedness estimate of 12-24 months for individual stakeholders including retailers. This informed their judgement that a full implementation date of July-September 2023 was possible albeit with significant risk.

The Gateway Review does not give a breakdown of preparedness estimates for individual businesses. Businesses interviewed separately by SG typically gave ranges of preparedness estimates, which broadly aligned with the findings of the Gateway Review, rather than an exact time.

Question reference: S6W-05492

Asked by: Maurice Golden, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 12 January 2022
Current Status: Answered by Lorna Slater on 20 January 2022

To ask the Scottish Government whether Zero Waste Scotland engaged with the British Metals Recycling Association while producing its report, How should Scotland Manage its Scrap Steel?, and, if not, for what reason such engagement did not take place.

Question reference: S6W-05493

Asked by: Maurice Golden, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 12 January 2022
Current Status: Answered by Lorna Slater on 20 January 2022

To ask the Scottish Government what its response is to reported calls from the British Metals Recycling Association to withdraw the Zero Waste Scotland report, How should Scotland Manage its Scrap Steel?, over serious concerns about its accuracy.

ZWS is a company limited by guarantee that is independent from the Scottish Government and it is for Zero Waste Scotland to respond to calls about its reports. Zero Waste Scotland has advised us that the analysis is based on UK-wide data, which is the best and only data set currently available relating to scrap steel management in Scotland, scaled to allow for different scenarios to be modelled and compared within a Scottish context.