Scottish First Minister has written to the Prime
Minister urging him to revoke the UK Government’s rejection of
glass in Scotland’s deposit return scheme...
The First Minister said the UK Government’s demands, including
the removal of glass from DRS, would impact the environment,
detrimentally affect businesses based in Scotland, and threaten
the viability of the scheme.
The full text of the letter is below:
Rt Hon
Prime Minister
10 Downing Street
London
SW1A 2AA
02 June 2023
Dear Rishi,
On Friday 26 May the secretaries of state for DEFRA, LUHC and
Scotland wrote to me indicating the UK Government is not prepared
to agree a full exclusion from the Internal Market Act for
Scotland's Deposit Return Scheme (DRS), and instead insist on the
exclusion of glass, among other conditions.
These conditions will have a stark environmental impact and
detrimentally impact businesses based in Scotland.
Specifically, the letter sets out that the UK Government is only
prepared to agree to a temporary exclusion if we remove glass,
agree a UK-wide cap on deposit levels, achieve reconciliation
between scheme administrators to ensure fair distribution of
payments, have one administration fee per participating company,
and agreement of a single common UK logo. The removal of glass
fundamentally threatens the viability of Scotland’s DRS with
reduced revenue for the scheme administrator.
Removing glass will also have a significant impact on business.
For example, C&C Group – owners of the iconic Tennent’s brand
– has been explicit that the decision by the UK Government to
remove glass threatens investment and jobs. Other Scottish
businesses have raised similar concerns privately with us.
We cannot – and will not – put Scottish businesses at a
competitive disadvantage by the UK Government’s eleventh hour
changes to the range of materials included, impacting Scottish
jobs, inward investment and potentially reducing choice for
consumers in Scotland.
The UK Government had intended to include glass in the English
DRS from 2019 right up until March 2022 – two years after our
Regulations were passed by the Scottish Parliament, and we
planned our scheme on this basis. As late as January 2023, the UK
Government confirmed that it was for devolved governments to
decide the scope of their DRS. The Welsh Government’s stated
intention has been to include glass in their DRS, meaning that it
is the English scheme which is out of step with the design of
other UK schemes.
In relation to interoperability, we have already been working
with your officials to ensure alignment and we agree in principle
that this is desirable. The conditions imposed by your
letter of 26 May, however, are so lacking in detail as to make
this requirement effectively impossible to meet. The reality is
that your scheme is at such an early stage of development that
you are unable to provide the operational details required to
allow the schemes to be interoperable. Businesses need certainty
and they need it now – not in two years’ time when the UK
Government scheme potentially, hopefully launches. The UK
Government has significantly undermined the clarity and certainty
that businesses unanimously tell us they need.
Businesses need firm evidence that the UK scheme will actually
launch in 2025. There is no UK legislation in place yet or scheme
administrator appointed. Until the full design and timescales of
your DRS are in place it is unclear what operational detail we
are being asked to align with or agree to.
In essence your letter asks the Scottish Government to either
remove glass and sign up to a list of unfinalised and vague
conditions to allow us to proceed in March 2024 or delay and
align with a more limited UK Government scheme that is, frankly,
unlikely to proceed in October 2025.
There are much wider consequences of the decision. This UK
Government intervention at such a late stage demonstrates a major
erosion of the devolution settlement. I urge you to revoke the
conditions set out in your letter and grant a full exclusion for
Scotland’s DRS, to be implemented as per the regulations agreed
by the Scottish Parliament in this area of devolved competence.
Without this, the Scottish Government is not prepared to put
Scottish businesses at a competitive disadvantage due to the last
minute demands the UK Government has made. There is little doubt
your Government’s action have put the future of DRS in grave
danger not only in Scotland but also in the rest of the UK due to
the damage to consumer and investor confidence.
I would be grateful for a reply by close on Monday 5 June to
enable my Cabinet to consider the matter and the Scottish
Parliament to be updated thereafter.
HUMZA YOUSAF
Background
The Scottish Government asked the UK Government to grant a full
exclusion under the Internal Market Act that would allow
Scotland’s all-in DRS, including glass, to go ahead in March
2024.
On Friday 26 May, after almost two years of discussion, the
Scottish Government learned that the UK Government are only
willing to grant a temporary exclusion if certain conditions are
met, including the removal of glass from the scheme – a key part
of Scotland’s DRS proposals.
