Seòmar agus comataidhean

Yes.

As you rightly say, the UK Government intends to replace the European Union-derived environmental impact assessment system with new environmental outcomes reports, the framework for which was established in the 2023 act. The systems are not yet operational and require further development. The functions will allow for Scottish ministers to make the environmental outcomes report regulations for electricity applications, and those powers have been transferred by a separate order. Clause 20 provides a pragmatic interim solution that will allow for procedural updates to the existing EIA system, while policy on the potential transition to EORs further develops. There will be no gap, so the transition from the old system to the new system will be covered by clause 20.

If the LCM is agreed and the bill goes through, there will be the pragmatic interim solution that I set out. That would mean that we would have the necessary procedural updates to the existing EIA system while we are waiting for that policy transition to happen and to be bottomed out between all Governments on the transition to the EOR system. There will effectively be a transitional period in which we have the existing EIA system, but it will provide us with updates that start to bring us in line with what is anticipated in the EOR system.

Environmental impact assessments will still apply. That is effectively what I am saying. There is no dilution of that in any way.

Yes, I do. Six weeks—

I have regular discussions with my counterpart Huw Irranca-Davies, the Deputy First Minister of Wales, about this. He is very determined that Wales will have a scheme that includes glass, so Wales has opted out, as you rightly put it, of the DRS regulations that we are putting forward as the three remaining nations. I not want to speak for him, but he hopes that he will get an internal market act exemption to be able to do that, in the same way that Scotland did. My officials have been working with Welsh officials on how we thought that we could do that in order to assist them.

We continue to discuss the impact of the internal market act not just on DRS but on devolved competency and responsibility. The issue is still very alive. The Scottish Government’s position is that we would like the act to be repealed in full to allow devolved Governments to make their own decisions in the way that we should.

I am supportive of what Wales is doing. It is up to those in Wales to decide how they will do it. They are still in negotiation with the UK Government on that and are looking at how any scheme that they come up with will be interoperable with the scheme in the rest of the UK. That is for them to decide and they will be given the space to do that.

I think that there is always a route. I mentioned that some other countries have looked again at their deposit return schemes after five years or so and decided to change their regulations and include glass, so it can be done. I remember the cabinet secretary at the time of our regulations saying that there is a cost associated with that, because the scheme will have been set up to take the original materials. That includes the reverse vending machines and everything else that we have talked about today. That is one of the reasons why we wanted to include glass, because, if you start with glass, there is less cost associated with changing the scope later.

It will be very interesting for Scotland, the UK and Northern Ireland to look at what happens in Wales, because if it is able to have its own scheme that includes glass, it will give us a template. We will be able to look at how it works and at the recycling rates and learn from them. The beauty of having devolved Governments is that we do learn from one another. It would not be the first time that Scotland had adopted something that Wales had done first or vice versa.

All that I can say to Ms Boyack is that I am open to having discussions with COSLA and any local authorities on how we can improve recycling rates and whether there are ways in which we can help them. That is why the Circular Economy (Scotland) Act 2024 put the route map in the hands of those who deliver on waste recovery—our 32 local authorities—for them to work together on ways to bring the recycling rates up and the waste levels down in many areas.

I make that general offer if certain local authorities think that they can do more with regard to glass. With the landscape that we have, which includes the DRS, EPR and the circular economy route map, I am absolutely open to having those conversations, and I regularly have them with COSLA anyway.

I can take Bob Doris through that. Ministers decided that UK DMO Ltd will be designated as the scheme administrator for Scotland’s DRS, although obviously that is subject to approval in Parliament. DEFRA and DAERA have appointed the same organisation. The administrator is responsible for the operational design and delivery of the scheme.

Interested parties were invited to submit applications to be designated as the scheme administrator for the DRS in Scotland, and that window was open from 2 December to 3 February. The application process requested essential information about the applicant and information on operational plans, financial management and cross-cutting issues. Officials assessed the applications in accordance with the three-nation process. All three nations were involved in deciding on which applicant became the scheme administrator. Based on the assessment of the applicants, ministers from the three nations concluded that the UK DMO Ltd application was successful.

I will point to some of the things that have been put in place, which I think strengthen the regulations. People will be able to request a review of the scheme administrator’s decisions, as Ailsa Heine pointed out. Also, the scheme administrator will determine any exemptions and associated fees. Those matters will no longer be for Scottish ministers. Exemption from operating a return point will also be in the gift of the scheme administrator. Those are probably the headline differences.