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The Cabinet Secretary for The Environment, Climate Change and Land Reform announced in Parliament on 8 May 2019 that Scotland’s Deposit Return Scheme (DRS) would be a privately operated scheme, in line with international best practice. This approach was then approved by a parliamentary vote on 13 May 2020.

These regulations enabled any public or private organisation to apply to be approved by the Scottish Ministers as a scheme administrator.

Only Circularity Scotland has applied to be a scheme administrator. Their application was considered in line with the regulations.

Any other eligible application received will be considered by the Scottish Ministers.

Circularity Scotland provides services to drinks producers and retailers to help them comply with their obligations under the Deposit Return Scheme Regulations.

By helping these companies do so, they will ensure the benefits of Scotland’s DRS will be achieved.

In line with the ‘polluter pays’ principle, and just like similar schemes around the world, Scotland’s deposit return scheme is being delivered and funded by industry, led by the scheme administrator, Circularity Scotland. This was the approach agreed and voted for by the Scottish Parliament when it approved the appropriate regulations.

Scotland’s Deposit Return Scheme is not a government scheme, in that it is run by and for industry, and therefore cannot be compared with companies and bodies that do administer government schemes.

Circularity Scotland is a privately owned company and is not under contract to the Scottish Government. It is therefore not a Scottish public authority for the purposes of the of the Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act 2002, and we do not consider there to be any implications for FOI legislation given this legislation applies to public bodies rather than private companies.

Scotland’s Deposit Return Scheme was developed in line with the ‘polluter pays’ principle, and just like similar schemes around the world, is being delivered and funded by industry. The Deposit Return Scheme for Scotland Regulations 2020 enable any public or private organisation to apply to be approved by the Scottish Ministers as a scheme administrator.

Only Circularity Scotland has applied to be a scheme administrator. Their application was considered in line with the regulations.

Any other eligible application received will be considered by the Scottish Ministers.

The Scottish Government did not specifically invite Circularity Scotland Ltd to respond to the Access to Information Rights in Scotland consultation, however it was open to anyone to respond to via the Scottish Government consultation hub. The Scottish Government has, as is standard practice, shared information on this consultation widely to ensure anyone or any organisation who wishes to response is aware of how to do so.

When applying for grant assistance at tender stage to deliver homes for social rent, grant applicants are required to self-certify that the amount of funding that they are requesting is the minimum required for a project to be financially viable for their organisation whilst ensuring rent affordability.

The Scottish Government will consider any additional costs associated with improved quality standards for homes delivered through the Affordable Housing Supply Programme and those additional costs will be accounted for in the affordable housing investment benchmarks which determine how a project is appraised.

As set out in the Future Skills Action plan, the Scottish Government is committed to the important work that the DYW Groups do to improve the relationship between young people and employers. To support this commitment, allocations and grant letters were issued on 31 March to the DYW regional groups for the first 6 months of the financial year 2023-2024.

The renewable heating element of the Home Energy Scotland Grant and Loan Scheme provides funding for well-established technologies to support households to decarbonise heating their homes.

The Scottish Government has previously commissioned research to understand how heat pumps currently, or are likely to, perform in practice in Scottish buildings. A copy of this research is available here: Heat pump use in Scotland: an evidence review (climatexchange.org.uk)

There are a range of grant funded heating measures available through the scheme, including air to water heat pumps and other electric heating measures which can be complemented by installation of solar panels and battery storage.

The measures delivered through the scheme are kept under review and the Scottish Government will consider future changes in line with developments in new and improved technologies.

The renewable heating element of the Home Energy Scotland Grant and Loan Scheme provides funding for well-established technologies to support households to decarbonise heating their homes in line with the Scottish Government’s Heat in Buildings Strategy.

Air to air systems are not currently included in the list of eligible measures because, unlike other heat pump solutions, they do not provide both heating and hot water.

There are, however, a range of grant funded heating measures available through the scheme, including air to water heat pumps and other electric heating measures which can be complemented by installation of solar panels and battery storage.

The measures delivered through the scheme are kept under review and the Scottish Government will consider future changes in line with developments in new and improved technologies.

The Heat in Buildings Strategy confirms our intention to introduce legislation (subject to consultation) prohibiting the use of direct emission heating systems in Scotland’s homes by 2045. We plan to introduce such requirements from 2025 and are developing approaches to phasing in these regulations across the housing stock. As committed to in this year’s Programme for Government, we will consult on our proposals for this legislation this year.

We offer a range of delivery programmes, provide advice and financial support for householders looking to install zero emission heating systems or make their buildings more energy efficient and affordable to heat. This package of support will evolve over the course of the decade to meet the scale of change required and align with any regulations we introduce.