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It has been an interesting debate. In summing up, can you say whether you believe that there is a role for single-use item charges at all? What I have heard from you has been pretty negative.

I am not quite sure about the analogy of chip paper—as a consumer, I certainly would not want to reuse chip paper. What do you see as the role of single-use charges? They have been effective for carrier bags, and there has been a long-standing policy development around the use of charges in relation to coffee cups and other hot-drink cups.

I am interested to know the thrust of what it is that you are trying to achieve with your amendments. If you are trying to achieve clarity by putting more requirements in the text of the bill in relation to schemes that are brought forward, or trying to design in exemptions around the nature of biodegradability and everything else, I can understand where you are coming from, but that seems to be quite a negative place. It seems that you do not, fundamentally, see a use for such charges, which may be seen as punitive, but which—it could be argued—nonetheless have a pretty critical role in reducing waste and delivering behavioural change.

We have lots of time, so let us use the time.

Did COSLA approve these amendments, which would require its approval on various matters?

I recognise that the focus of the bill is on co-production with local authorities. We have had a number of debates about targets and putting more certainty in the bill. However, I believe that the best way forward and the best way to drive up recycling rates is to really double down on areas such as the code of practice and to get local authorities working together to try to deliver that. There should be uniformity where it makes sense to deliver that.

I am sympathetic to what Maurice Golden is looking to insert in the bill with amendment 161. I was thinking along the same lines. However, I am interested to hear the minister’s response to that.

There is a need to ensure that there are proper facilities for reuse and repair not just in one local authority area or a handful of exemplar local authority areas, but across the whole of Scotland. Embedding that into the bill is really important. I am interested to hear the minister’s response to that and how, if that cannot be supported today, it can be taken forward for stage 3.

Likewise, there is a need to get on with the code of practice. Maurice Golden’s amendment 58 would introduce a date of the end of 2025. I do not know whether that will be welcomed by local authorities, but we need clarity on what that date is and progress in relation to the code of practice.

To be honest, I am less clear about Bob Doris’s amendments, because there are some quite big choices for local authorities in that space. I speak as a former councillor—albeit that I was a councillor some time ago now, before I entered Parliament in 2016—when I say that the decision on whether to invest in a household garden waste service is a difficult one. Driving around in big trucks and picking up garden waste is not always the best environmental option. It is also important that councils configure household bulk uplift services in a way that is just. Those are important choices that councils need to make.

I am not entirely sure about the extent to which all of that can be codified in a code of practice. I am also not entirely sure that consistency is always the best approach.

When does the minister think that the code will be produced?

Good morning. Thanks for joining us.

I would like to hear your reflections on the UK Internal Market Act 2020 exemptions process. I presume that you will be reluctant to talk about individual decisions, and their merits or otherwise. What are your reflections on how the process by which IMA exemptions are granted or denied has worked in various sectors, given the number of different policies that have been in place over the last year or two?

I will return briefly to the issue of the DRS. Mr Macbeth, in effect, you are saying that it would not have been possible for the OIM to offer advice because, although the rules of a Scottish scheme were clear and were there in the regulations, there was no clarity on what an English DRS scheme would look like. That lack of clarity remains, so it would be difficult to go to businesses to ask what they think when the scheme does not exist and we do not know how it would interrelate with a Scottish DRS. Is that correct?

So, if an English scheme came forward and the rules were clear, you could do some work on that.

I am asking you to comment on whether you think that it is working.

You have reflected on the IMA’s role within the decision-making process. Given that you have reflected on and have spoken to businesses to get an understanding of their view of the exemptions process, do you have thoughts on whether the process is working effectively? I will use the example of the deposit return scheme. The UK Government granted an exemption for a DRS in Scotland, with an exclusion of glass as part of the scheme. A requirement was that any scheme that was brought forward in Scotland would have to align with an English scheme and the rules around that. However, that has effectively provided a block, because there is no English scheme to align with, which means that there is a lack of clarity around what the future rules might be. Of course, in the past couple of weeks, the current UK Government has announced that it will not be moving forward with an English DRS scheme until 2027.

From what you have heard from the businesses that you speak to and your reflections on that process, do you think that we have an ideally functioning process at the moment? There is now a lot of uncertainty about the direction of the regulations in England, and, given the announcement that has been made, it feels like there needs to be another stage in the process where businesses can say that the position needs to be revisited. I do not know, but it feels as though the voice of those who are affected by such decisions is not built into the process.

I am trying to tease you into reflecting on all the evidence that you have gathered from businesses and to say whether you feel that the process in relation to DRS has left us in a place where businesses can get certainty around what the market for glass and other recyclates is going to be through deposit return.