6. To ask the Scottish Government what process informed its previous decision to launch the deposit return scheme on 16 August 2023, including any input that it sought from industry regarding its readiness for that date. (S6O-02185)

The launch date of 16 August 2023 for Scotland’s deposit return scheme was informed by a five-month assessment process. It accounted for the findings of the gateway review that was conducted in June 2021, independent advice, review of Circularity Scotland’s implementation plan and feedback from a wide range of stakeholders. That launch date was announced in Parliament on 14 December 2021.

The minister has been at pains to assure us that the scheme is industry led. However, in a written submission, Circularity Scotland said:

“Circularity Scotland’s advice to Ministers had been that the most appropriate time to ‘go live’ would be in Spring 2024. However ... the government’s preferred implementation date” was 16 August. Will the minister explain to the chamber, and to the thousands of businesses that are struggling to get to grips with this shambles of a DRS, why she knew better than the industry?

Circularity Scotland was one of many stakeholders that were included in the five-month assessment process that I outlined. Those stakeholders included those who were vociferous in wanting us to launch in 2022, those who wanted a short delay and those who wanted a longer delay. I chose 16 August as a challenging but deliverable date for the industry, and, as we have seen, many businesses were ready to go for launch on 16 August. That is why there have been letters from businesses, which are publicly available, to me and to the United Kingdom Government asking us not to delay past 16 August.

Yesterday,

Circularity Scotland told me that the DRS launch date of 16 August 2023 would have allowed only a few weeks for all stakeholders to test implementation. What consideration has the minister given to the period of time that is available to test the new DRS arrangements, given the new launch date? How long will that information be available to the industry, so that businesses can test implementation of the scheme in advance?

I thank the member for that really good question. In lots of ways, the industry is still working towards the 16 August date, in that the speed of implementation has not slowed down. As I said in my earlier answer, the launch date of 16 August was always a challenging one for the industry. It was absolutely deliverable, but it was a challenge. It meant that there was limited space for testing and, as we know, very little space for contingencies.

We now have 10 months until the new launch date. That gives businesses not only more time to get ready, which has been welcomed by some businesses, but a very extensive window for thorough end-to-end testing of the system. I know that that will ensure that customers have the best possible experience on the launch date.

Was the minister working on a proposal to delay the launch date beyond August while also assuring businesses that their investment was going towards an August launch? Yes or no.

I am a little confused by the member’s question. Given the delay to the UK Government issuing an exclusion to the United Kingdom Internal Market Act

2020, I was, of course, working with my officials on options for how to deal with that uncertainty, so that we could make sure that we would have a successful launch of our deposit return scheme. I worked with officials to come up with different options. I recommended to the First Minister that we should launch on 1 March next year, and he accepted that. However, that uncertainty remains. Until the UK Government issues us with that exclusion, businesses in Scotland will face uncertainty, which is the last thing that they need.