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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.

The end to end testing plans will have to be adjusted due to these developments. However prior to this announcement, as part of CSL Programme Delivery activity, end to end testing was planned to be carried out to ensure successful completion of agreed outcomes.

The Scottish Government is committed to transparency and openness. We aim to publish key information such as notes of meetings and letters relating to the deposit return scheme as soon as possible.

The Scottish Government is committed to transparency and openness. We aim to publish key information such as notes of meetings and letters relating to the deposit return scheme as soon as possible.

The Implementation Advisory Group (IAG) was formed when Zero Waste Scotland was developing DRS, carrying out associated impact assessments and working with Scottish Government to develop and lay the original DRS regulations. It met during 2019 and 2020 and was then disbanded once the regulations were laid as ‘ownership’ of the scheme was then passed on to the Scheme Administrator.

A suite of impact assessments has been updated to reflect the Deposit and Return Scheme for Scotland Amendment Regulations 2023, which changed the implementation date of the scheme to 1 March 2024, alongside a number of simplification measures.

Updated versions of the Islands Communities Impact Assessment, Fairer Scotland Impact Assessment and Equalities Impact Assessments will be published shortly, alongside a supplementary analysis to the Business and Regulatory Impact Assessment in light of the amendments laid in May

These changes pre-date my statement to Parliament on 7 June 2023 on the reset of date to 2025 as a result of conditions set by the UK Government very late in the process and I will be setting out detailed proposals for Parliament as appropriate.

The Cabinet has received regular updates on the Deposit Return Scheme (DRS) and last discussed it on 6 June 2023. Cabinet was briefed on the latest position regarding letters exchanged with the UK Government on the Internal Market Act, in particular the UK Government’s refusal to provide a full exclusion despite detailed engagement over almost two years and the evidence that says the biggest benefits, economically, financially and environmentally, are from including glass.

The membership of the Ministerial Strategic Assurance Group has representation from the following

Circularity Scotland Limited

SEPA

Zero Waste Scotland

Scottish Hospitality Group

The Wine and Spirit Trade Association

The British Beer and Pub Association

SIBA

British Soft Drinks Association

Scottish Wholesale Association

UK Hospitality

Scottish Retail Consortium

Scottish Grocers’ Federation

COSLA

Scotch Whisky Association

These groups had representatives from the organisations themselves and also some members of the organisations also attended.

I am joined by senior SG Officials from the Deposit Return Scheme Division.

The First Minister and myself met on 7 June 2023 to discuss the Deposit Return Scheme.

The Scottish Government has always been clear that we will work closely with the UK and devolved Governments to maximise interoperability of the schemes, while acknowledging that waste and recycling policy is fully devolved.

In order to do this, the UK Government must provide clarity on its own deposit return scheme by introducing regulations for its scheme as soon as possible.

I wrote to the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs and Defra’s Minister for Environmental Quality and Resilience on 6 June setting out that I was keen to work collaboratively with other administrations across the UK to push forward work on issues around interoperability, while ensuring that the wishes and competence of the Scottish Parliament are respected.

In line with the DRS governance structure, officials meet regularly with a range of stakeholders from multiple sectors to discuss operational issues including barcodes for DRS articles.

There are no barcode requirements with Scotland’s DRS Regulations. Producers must provide SEPA with relevant information that supports the identification of scheme articles, which may include barcodes.

Decisions over barcodes rest with drinks producers and the scheme administrator, and will depend on a range of factors.