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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-16258

Asked by: Maurice Golden, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 27 March 2023
Current Status: Answered by Lorna Slater on 24 April 2023

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S6W-15735 by Lorna Slater on 23 March 2023, whether it will provide the information requested regarding whether or not producers that have registered for the Deposit Return Scheme after 1 March 2023 have been registered in accordance with regulations.

The Scottish Environment Protection Agency’s (SEPA) Deposit Return Scheme (DRS) producer registration service will only grant registrations that meet the requirements of The Deposit and Return Scheme for Scotland Regulations. All producer registrations granted to date have been registered in accordance with the Regulations. A registration is complete once it has been accepted by SEPA and the producer has been formally notified.

Question reference: S6W-16120

Asked by: Maurice Golden, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 23 March 2023
Current Status: Answered by Lorna Slater on 20 April 2023

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S6W-15101 by Lorna Slater on 20 March 2023, whether (a) it or (b) its agencies have consulted with the Competition and Markets Authority on this matter.

The Scottish Government and the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) have consulted each other at various stages in the development of Scotland’s Deposit Return Scheme. This has included CMA providing general guidance on competition matters relevant to DRS policy. Executive agencies of the Scottish Government have not consulted CMA on DRS. I refer the member to the answer to question S6W-15101 on 20 March 2023 that decisions regarding contracts entered into by Circularity Scotland are for them as a private non-profit organisation. 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 .

Question reference: S6W-16904

Asked by: Maurice Golden, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 06 April 2023
Current Status: Answered by Mairi McAllan on 18 April 2023

To ask the Scottish Government what action it will take to reduce sewage in rivers, in light of reported Scottish Water data that states that sewage was discharged into Scotland’s rivers 14,000 times in 2022.

Question reference: S6T-01313

Asked by: Maurice Golden, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 17 April 2023
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 18 April 2023

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on the Deposit Return Scheme, in light of the First Minister recently stating that he was actively looking at options around the scheme and that he was "taking advice".

Question reference: S6O-02123

Asked by: Maurice Golden, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 12 April 2023
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 20 April 2023

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on how it will work with local authorities to ensure access to local services, including leisure facilities, for local communities.

Question reference: S6W-15738

Asked by: Maurice Golden, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 09 March 2023
Current Status: Answered by Lorna Slater on 24 March 2023

To ask the Scottish Government whether retailers will be reimbursed for any deposits paid on Deposit Return Scheme (DRS) articles that are recalled for non-DRS reasons, and, if so, how.

Where there is a product recall, we would expect current procedures to apply with the product being recovered intact to the producer who would manage the destruction as production waste or recycling.

Deposits and product costs would be reimbursed by the producer to the retailer and the producer will adjust their 'placed on market' report to Circularity Scotland Limited (CSL) by reporting the volume of product they have ‘placed on market’ via a self service portal. This allows CSL to calculate deposits and producer fees resulting in a refund of deposits and producer fees to the producer.

Question reference: S6O-02028

Asked by: Maurice Golden, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 23 March 2023
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 30 March 2023

To ask the Scottish Parliamentary Corporate Body whether it will provide an update on what preparations it has made for the launch of the Deposit Return Scheme.

Question reference: S6W-15736

Asked by: Maurice Golden, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 09 March 2023
Current Status: Answered by Lorna Slater on 23 March 2023

To ask the Scottish Government, regarding the Deposit Return Scheme, how many applications for return point exemption were (a) made, (b) approved and (c) rejected since applications opened, broken down by month.

The following table shows the number of exemptions and voluntary return point applications, broken down by month, as of 16 March 2023.

	Feb-22	Mar-22	Apr-22	May-22	Jun-22	Jul-22	Aug-22	Sept-22	Oct-22	Nov-22	Dec-22	Jan-23	Feb-23	Mar-23	Totals
Proximity Applications Received	1			1	3		9		1		1		21	1	38
Granted				1		4	7				1			1	14
Rejected								1	1		1			1	4
Environmental Health Applications Received	3				1		2	1	1	4	7	16	51	168	254
Granted										1	3	2	4		11
Rejected				1	1					2	7				11
Voluntary Return Point Applications Received													1		1
Granted															0
Rejected															0

Question reference: S6W-15894

Asked by: Maurice Golden, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 13 March 2023
Current Status: Answered by Lorna Slater on 23 March 2023

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the holding answer to question S6W-15363 by Lorna Slater on 9 March 2023, for what reason it does not have information readily available on the use of public funds to support (a) Circularity Scotland and (b) Deposit Return Scheme activities, and whether it will provide a breakdown of how public funds used for those activities are (i) recorded and (ii) monitored.

Question reference: S6W-15929

Asked by: Maurice Golden, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 14 March 2023
Current Status: Answered by Lorna Slater on 23 March 2023

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S6W-15344 by Lorna Slater on 10 March 2023, whether it will provide the information requested regarding (a) what communication it has had with drinks suppliers outside of Scotland to inform them of the Deposit Return Scheme, and (b) which companies it has informed of the scheme in each of the last 12 months, also broken down by country or region.