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Inclusion Scotland submission on Environmental Protection (Single-use Plastic Products) (Scotland) Regulations 2021

Letter to the Convener from Lorna Slater, Minister for Green Skills, Circular Economy and Biodiversity, Scottish Government, 17 December 2021

Dear Mr Lockhart

Inclusion Scotland submission on Environmental Protection (Single-use Plastic Products) (Scotland) Regulations 2021

Thank you for providing a copy of, and the opportunity to respond to, Inclusion Scotland’s submission on the Environmental Protection (Single-use Plastic Products) (Scotland) Regulations 2021 (referred to henceforth as the Single-use Plastic Regulations). Please find below detailed responses to the views provided.

Single-use Plastic Regulations Engagement

Extensive engagement was undertaken during the development of the Single-use Plastic Regulations to understand equalities related concerns and how the Scottish Government could mitigate any negative impact the Regulations had on disabled people. This included two online public consultations, direct engagement with disabled people’s organisations and work through the Plastic Straws Advisory Group, which was facilitated by Inclusion Scotland. The findings from these consultation exercises, including an Equalities Impact Assessment, have been taken into account and helped shape parts of the Regulations.

As noted in the Inclusion Scotland submission, the Scottish Government and Zero Waste Scotland worked in partnership with Inclusion Scotland through the Plastic Straws Advisory Group to develop appropriate exemptions to the single-use plastic straws ban and supporting online guidance.  The guidance remains a draft document while we seek views and input on the topics users would find most helpful. Inclusion Scotland were also involved in developing two online toolkits to help straws users and businesses understand the new Regulations. These toolkits will be available on the Zero Waste Scotland website shortly.

The draft guidance states clearly the Scottish Government’s stance that no disabled person should be stigmatised for requesting a straw they are entitled to, and the recognition that straws are a vital accessibility aid, and it is important that they remain accessible to those who need them.

I am pleased to note that Inclusion Scotland welcomes the inclusion of the various exemptions that we have put in place, taking account of views expressed during the engagement process described above. In summary, the exemptions included in the Regulations enable certain establishments to continue to supply single-use plastic straws for those that need them (catering establishments, pharmacies, care homes, prisons or other places of detention, schools, and premises for early learning and childcare, day care or childminding). Furthermore, the following uses of straws are exempt where they are: a medical device, used for medical purposes, supplied for use in the course of a support service which provides personal care or personal support or packaging (such as straws used to package granular medicines).

Concerns

I note the concerns raised by Inclusion Scotland that once the Regulations come into force (in June 2022) a single-use plastic straw will only be available in catering establishments and pharmacies on request and related practical concerns provided such as potential stigma attached to requesting a straw in public.

The Scottish Government is clear on this point: straws are a vital accessibility aid, and it is important that they remain accessible to those who need them.

This is why the Scottish Government, in partnership with Zero Waste Scotland, have worked hard to provide mitigating solutions to these potential issues including measures such as:

• The work of the Straws Advisory Group, facilitated by Inclusion Scotland has, as noted in the submission, resulted in the creation of a request card that straws users can use to request a single-use plastic straw;
• In the run up to the coming into force date a communications campaign will be run to help publicise the fact that understandably, some people will still require straws after the ban is in place; and
• Straws toolkits explaining the new rules will be available on Zero Waste Scotland’s website for straws users and businesses.

With regards to the potential for the price of plastic straws to increase the ban comes into force, work was undertaken as part of a suite of impact assessments to consider this risk. In line with Part 1 of the Equality Act 2010, a Fairer Scotland Duty Assessment was completed. A summary of the assessment is available online and reports that - A market restriction would be expected to significantly reduce demand for plastic straws. It is currently unclear what impact this will have on prices in the long-term, but the research commissioned on product pricing showed that in the wake of the implementation of a market restriction on single-use plastic straws in England, the average price of these straws dropped noticeably, by around 40%.

Scottish Government Policy Making

The Inclusion Scotland correspondence covers a broader range of Scottish Government policy making topics than the Single-Use Plastic Regulations. I have provided relevant responses below.

Policy Making

Promoting the rights of disabled people must be central to everything we do. We have to ensure that disabled people benefit from all that we are doing to improve the lives of the people of Scotland.

Disabled people continue to experience inequality and barriers to independent living and so cannot enjoy their rights on an equal basis to others. Creating a fairer and more equal society is a priority for this government, and our ambitions to achieve equality for all go hand in hand with our wider policy aims.

We recognise that effective solutions to the problems and barriers faced by disabled people must be drawn from the lived experience of disabled people and that is why we are committed to working with disabled people to develop policies and the approaches required to solve problems and dismantle barriers.

The design for Scotland’s Deposit Return Scheme (DRS) for example takes full account of the importance of accessibility.  In particular, to maximise accessibility, Scotland’s DRS will follow a ‘return-to-retail’ model, with every drinks retailer required to operate a return point unless exempted’. More information is available in the DRS Equality Impact Assessment available online.

Just Transition approach

The Scottish Government takes the potential for discrimination against disabled people very seriously. The transition to net zero will impact our whole economy and necessitate an economic transformation. Our actions to ensure fairness will be integral to securing and maintaining support for the scale and pace of change required.

A just transition delivers on our social, economic and climate goals, harnessing the transition to build a better and more equal society. We can be proud of our world-leading approach to just transition, to date. But there is much more to do: delivery will be a national mission that involves and engages all parts of Scotland.

Our National Transition Planning Framework is a world-first, and sets out an ambitious approach to working with others on the economic and social impacts of transition. It has co-design at its heart, meaning that we will ensure that those who stand to be most impacted by the transition to net zero are given a voice in determining their future. We are delivering our first Just Transition Plan as part of the a refreshed Scottish Energy Strategy, with other sectors and regions of Scotland to follow.

Research

The Scottish Government understands the importance of the public sector equality duty and the need to consider equalities in policy development. We always try to engage with Disabled Peoples’ Organisations during policymaking including during the Circular Economy Bill Consultation in 2019, the work of the Expert Panel on Environmental Charging and Other Measures, and the market restrictions on single-use plastic products. The Expert Panel identified equality as one of its 5 principles for policy making on tackling single-use items.

We recognise the evidence gaps on the impact of zero waste and circular economy policies on people with protected characteristics, including disabled people. In 2021, we tendered for research to fill these evidence gaps but we unable to find a suitable contractor to undertake the work. We are planning to recommission the project in 2022. We would welcome Inclusion Scotland’s involvement in undertaking this research to ensure that it effectively captures disabled people’s lived experiences in relation to single-use plastics and other environmental policies.

I hope that you find the above informative and a sufficient response to the Inclusion Scotland correspondence. My officials are of course very happy to engage further on this topic with Inclusion Scotland and disabled people’s organisations.

Kind regards,

Lorna Slater

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