- Asked by: Sarah Boyack, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Monday, 12 June 2023
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Current Status:
Answered by Lorna Slater on 26 June 2023
To ask the Scottish Government how much funding is allocated to preventing fly tipping and littering for the financial year 2022-23.
Answer
The Scottish Government is taking forward a range of measures that contribute to tackling litter and flytipping as part of our wider efforts to tackle Scotland’s throwaway culture. In 2022-23 this included ongoing investment in local authority recycling infrastructure and banning some of the most problematic single-use plastic products.
Within this wider context, the Scottish Government allocated approximately £265,000 to prevent fly tipping and littering for the financial year 2022-23. This includes:
| | £k |
National Litter and Fly tipping Strategy consultation analysis and publication | 51 |
On-going litter and flytipping prevention work, funded via Zero Waste Scotland core grant | 131 |
Staff costs | 83 |
TOTAL | 265 |
- Asked by: Sarah Boyack, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Monday, 19 June 2023
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Current Status:
Taken in the Chamber on 20 June 2023
To ask the Scottish Government, regarding any implications for its Deposit Return Scheme, when it and its agencies were informed of Circularity Scotland's financial position, including the company's reported need to send staff home.
Answer
Taken in the Chamber on 20 June 2023
- Asked by: Sarah Boyack, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Thursday, 01 June 2023
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Current Status:
Answered by Lorna Slater on 16 June 2023
To ask the Scottish Government what projections it has made on recycling rates for (a) glass and (b) plastic following the introduction of the Deposit Return Scheme.
Answer
I refer the member to the answer to question S6W-18462 on 15 June 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 .
- Asked by: Sarah Boyack, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Friday, 02 June 2023
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Current Status:
Answered by Jenni Minto on 16 June 2023
To ask the Scottish Government what steps it is taking to address the growing needs for dentistry and GP services in Lothian, in light of data showing that, for example, the population of East Lothian has increased by 21.5% compared to Scotland’s average of 8.2% between 2001 and 2021.
Answer
Health and Social Care Partnerships are responsible for planning for the health and social care needs of their residents.
Funding for general medical services is based on population level data about registered patients and practice shares are continuously adjusted to reflect the movement of patients.
Scottish Government continually reviews in conjunction with all Boards, including NHS Lothian, areas for inclusion within the Scottish Dental Access Initiative. This provides funding to dentists who wish to establish a new practice, or extend an existing practice in areas where access to dental services is challenging.
Scottish Government will continue to liaise with NHS Lothian and local Health and Social Care Partnerships to understand all their service-related infrastructure plans and priorities.
- Asked by: Sarah Boyack, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Thursday, 01 June 2023
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Current Status:
Answered by Lorna Slater on 15 June 2023
To ask the Scottish Government what information it has on what discussions Circularity Scotland has had with the UK Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs regarding the Deposit Return Scheme.
Answer
Circularity Scotland are a private limited company, Scottish Government do not hold records of Circularity Scotland and the UK Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs discussions regarding DRS. However, we are aware that Circularity Scotland have written directly to Defra on a number of occasions regarding the Deposit Return Scheme.
- Asked by: Sarah Boyack, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Thursday, 01 June 2023
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Current Status:
Answered by Lorna Slater on 15 June 2023
To ask the Scottish Government for what reason there was a six-month delay between the UK Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs agreeing a narrow exclusion to the United Kingdom Internal Market Act 2020 for single-use plastics regulations, in March 2022, and the Scottish Government engaging in cross-administration discussions to secure a separate Deposit Return Scheme (DRS) exclusion under the Resources and Waste Common Framework, as detailed in its publication, Timeline and process for securing an Internal Market Act exclusion for DRS, published on 13 February 2023.
Answer
As set out in the Scottish Government publication of 28 February 2023 on “Timeline and process for securing an Internal Market Act exclusion for DRS”, in July 2021 the Scottish Government proposed a broad exclusion from the Internal Market Act under the Resources and Waste Common Framework which would have covered future policy such as DRS. The UK Government’s decision to agree only a narrow exclusion for single-use plastics resulted in the need for Scottish Government to again follow the agreed and published process in preparing a separate proposal for an exclusion for DRS. UK Government advised that cross-administration discussion should follow official level agreement on the interim Resources and Waste Common Framework – which was agreed in September 2022 - and clarity on UK Government Ministers following the 2022 Conservative Party leadership contest. Cross-administration discussions under the Common Framework began as soon as practicable thereafter.
- Asked by: Sarah Boyack, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Thursday, 01 June 2023
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Current Status:
Answered by Lorna Slater on 15 June 2023
To ask the Scottish Government what plans it has to publish an updated version of its publication, Timeline and process for securing an Internal Market Act exclusion for DRS, published on 13 February 2023.
Answer
I refer the member to my statement of 7 June 2023 which has been published on the Scottish Parliament website. The process for considering an exclusion for Scotland’s DRS from the Internal Market Act led to the unilateral UK Government decision on 26 May not to agree a full exclusion by removing glass and imposing uncertain conditions on interoperability. This decision left the Scottish Government with no other option than to delay launch until October 2025 at the earliest, according to UK Government aspirations for their scheme. We regularly publish information and will consider any updated publication in light of these further substantive developments. UK Government has not challenged the accuracy of our published timeline.
- Asked by: Sarah Boyack, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Thursday, 01 June 2023
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Current Status:
Answered by Lorna Slater on 15 June 2023
To ask the Scottish Government what assessment it has made of the potential impact of the Deposit Return Scheme on recycling rates for (a) glass and (b) plastic.
Answer
The Scottish Government has undertaken extensive analysis of the impact of Scotland’s Deposit Return Scheme on recycling rates of both glass and plastic.
Scotland’s DRS will target a recycling rate of 90% of scheme articles by the third year of DRS being operational for both plastic and glass. Current recycling rates are around 50% for PET plastic and 63% for glass.
We expect to collect an extra 14,500 tonnes per year of plastic resulting in a CO2eq saving of 31,000 tonnes of carbon when the scheme launches. The UK Government’s intervention through the Internal Market Act Exclusion will delay these benefits by at least 19 months.
- Asked by: Sarah Boyack, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Thursday, 01 June 2023
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Current Status:
Answered by Lorna Slater on 15 June 2023
To ask the Scottish Government how many countries in total the Minister for Green
Skills, Circular Economy and Biodiversity has travelled to in order to research
deposit return schemes, and whether it will provide a list of any such
countries.
Answer
Scotland’s Deposit Return Scheme has been based on successful schemes across Europe. The Minister has been thoroughly briefed by Zero Waste Scotland on relevant research findings throughout the policy’s development.
As stated in question S6W 18000 on 31 May 2023, research was undertaken by Zero Waste Scotland, who designed the scheme, and met with a range of international scheme administrators and operators, including those from Norway, Estonia, Sweden, Lithuania, Germany, Iceland, Denmark and Finland.
This research and briefing has meant that the minister has been fully appraised of the main characteristics of schemes across Europe and has not therefore personally travelled to the countries listed.
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
- Asked by: Sarah Boyack, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Thursday, 01 June 2023
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Current Status:
Answered by Lorna Slater on 15 June 2023
To ask the Scottish Government whether it has consulted people with visual impairments in relation to any concerns regarding the accessibility of the Deposit Return Scheme.
Answer
The Scottish Government and Zero Waste Scotland consulted several organisations including Disability Equality Scotland and Inclusion Scotland in the process of assessing the potential impacts of the Deposit Return Scheme. This was accounted for in the Final Equality Impact Assessment, published in March 2020 and available at A Deposit Return Scheme for Scotland : Final Equality Impact Assessment (www.gov.scot).
