Seòmar agus comataidhean

The Scottish Government has had regular communication with the Scottish Environment Protection Agency (SEPA) regarding Tarbolton Moss, and remains open to engaging with the local community.

I am pleased to confirm that we have now laid the Climate Change (Scotland) Act 2009 (Scottish Carbon Budgets) Amendment Regulations 2025 in Parliament.

The proposed regulations, if approved by the Scottish Parliament, will amend the Climate Change (Scotland) Act 2009 to set an emissions reduction trajectory through a carbon budget framework for the five year periods between 2026 and 2045.

The levels of proposed carbon budgets mirror the advice on targets from the independent Climate Change Committee, and will provide a pathway for Scotland to achieve net zero by 2045.

The Scottish Government is committed that extended producer responsibility for packaging (pEPR) should cover the full net costs of both binned and ground litter cleanup and disposal, and to its introduction in regulations as soon as practicable. There is not yet the availability of the data which would allow accurate cost recovery calculations to be made for litter costs in year two of the scheme.

PackUK, the scheme administrator for pEPR, will fund public information campaigns focused on the reduction of littered packaging, and report on items of packaging commonly littered or disposed of in street bins. We will continue to engage with local authorities, producers, and waste management companies as a costing model is developed and the underpinning data becomes available.

In line with the Verity House Agreement, funding resulting from extended producer responsibility for packaging (pEPR) will not be ring-fenced or directed, unless there is a clear joint understanding to do so. However, the purpose of the funding, to pay for the cost of managing household packaging waste - is clearly set out in legislation.

Payments under pEPR will support the costs of effective and efficient collection systems for household packaging waste. This includes the costs of incineration. Payments will be adjusted in future years to account for additional costs that local authorities may face, including those incurred under the proposed expansion of the emissions trading scheme.

Our enterprise agencies provide a range of services to help Scottish companies innovate, grow and access new opportunities. The support provided to individual companies is tailored according to their requirements, and is an operational matter for the agencies.

The Scottish Government has, for a number of years, engaged with the private company that expressed interest in taking on the site at Tarbolton Moss. Engagement continues to identify next steps.

The Scottish Government have 880 live contracts and frameworks of which 42 are with voluntary organisations with details of these publicly available on the Public Contracts Scotland contract register. The Scottish Government requires suppliers to account for employment-related costs in its procurement processes, ensuring compliance with employment law and fair workforce practices and none have identified employment exclusions in the costs.

As this is an operational matter for Scottish Water, and the Scottish Government does not hold this information, I have asked them to respond. Their reply is as follows:

The annual cost of blockages related to wet wipes and other items is some £7.5 million. The number of total blockages in 2024 was 34,635. Notably, around 80% of these blockages are due to the wrong items being put into the sewer network, such as wet wipes, sanitary products, and fats, oils, and grease.

Financial and operational decisions in response to the industrial action are a matter for Scottish Water, whose Chief Executive is the Accountable Officer for the organisation.

It is for Scottish Water and the Joint Trade Unions to agree a settlement which is fair and affordable, and the Government urges them to find a solution.

The Scottish Government supported the work of Water UK in developing and promoting the “Fine to Flush” certification while this scheme was in operation. The labelling of products, including that of sanitary items such as wet wipes, remains a reserved issue. We are considering future options in this area.