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The programme board is chaired by senior Scottish Government officials and comprises representatives from SEPA, Cosla, Solace and Zero Waste Scotland.

The board regularly reports to Scottish Ministers, and is supported by an advisory group which is composed of industry and local authority representatives.

The retail handling fee is intended to ensure that the obligation to operate a return point is cost neutral for retailers. It is for Circularity Scotland Ltd (CSL) to manage this in a way that meets the needs of obligated businesses across Scotland.

As DRS Scheme Administrator, it is for Circularity Scotland Ltd to determine when to publish such information.

Circularity Scotland Ltd, announced the return handling fees for Scotland’s Deposit Return Scheme earlier this year. Any decision to update this information will be for them to take after consultation with industry.

Scotland’s Deposit Return Scheme is an industry-led initiative, consistent with the vast majority of similar schemes across Europe. It is the responsibility of all affected businesses to ensure that they are prepared for the scheme’s launch on 16 August 2023. This includes online takeback requirements, which will ensure that those who rely on online deliveries because of personal circumstances can still redeem the deposit.

I refer the member to the answer to question S6W-10380 on 20 September 2022. All answers to written Parliamentary Questions are available on the Parliament's website, the search facility for which can be found at https://www.parliament.scot/chamber-and-committees/written-questions-and-answers

Scotland’s wool industry is covered by the British Wool Board which is a Public Non-Financial Corporation who have regional offices in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland, it is a cross-border public authority with ministers in all 4 administrations having limited sponsorship functions. British Wool is a farmers’ co-operative who presently represent the interests of around 40,000 producer members, they collect, grade and sell wool on behalf of registered producers aiming to maximise income for producers from the sale of wool.

In addition its established shearers training programme is successfully tackling skills shortages in the UK and reducing reliance on shearers from abroad.

A review of the British Wool Board is presently being undertaken.

In December 2020 the Scottish Government and Skills Development Scotland published the Climate Emergency Skills Action Plan (CESAP) setting out the actions required to ensure Scotland’s workforce are equipped with the skills to support the transition to net zero.

The Scottish Government and its skills agencies will continue to work with the manufacturing sector, including traditional textile manufacturing, to ensure that employers and workers have the skills needed to address the challenges and benefit from the opportunities of a low carbon and circular economy.

In June 2022 we launched our £2m Circular Textiles Fund to improve the circularity of textiles in Scotland through innovation, and implementation, to help tackle the environmental impacts that textiles have.

Scotland is one of the few countries to publish annual reports setting out consumption-based emissions, including those associated with imported textiles, in the “Scotland’s Carbon Footprint” official statistics release [available at: www.gov.scot/publications/scotlands-carbon-footprint-1998-2018/ ]. We recognise the inherently global nature of climate change and the necessity of co-ordinated international action and our transition to a circular economy.

Embodied emissions in imported textiles peaked in 2007 at an estimated 2.3 million tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent (MtCO 2 e). In the latest year (2018) these emissions were estimated to have fallen to a level of 1.0 MtCO 2 e. Textile production in the Middle-East and China were the largest contributors.

In June 2022 we launched our £2m Circular Textiles Fund, to support businesses working in this sector to address issues associated with textile waste and throwaway culture.

We are aware that the wool prices have been affected by the Covid-19 pandemic, with limited sheep farmers now reliant on their wool cheque.

We have committed to support active farming and food production with direct payments - which provides certainty to the industry - and we delivered 2021 Common Agriculture Policy (CAP) payments to schedule with over £564 million issued to date. In addition, this year, to support crofters and farmers with the cost of living, the Scottish Government has brought forward the advance payment start date to as early in the year as is practicably possible. The intention is to support businesses, as far as possible, with immediate cash flow challenges.

In addition the 2022 Scottish Upland Sheep Support Scheme (SUSSS) opened for applications on 1 September. The scheme provides additional support to help maintain sheep flocks in farm businesses reliant on poorer quality rough grazing found in Scotland’s Basic Payment Region three. These payments help farmers and crofters maintain the social and environmental benefits that sheep flocks bring to these areas.