The launch of the Deposit Return Scheme (DRS) will be delayed until 1 March next year, First Minister Humza Yousaf has announced, as he looks to “re-set” the government’s relationship with business.
The scheme was due to come into force on 16 August, despite concerns from businesses, but will now be pushed back by 10 months.
“I remain committed to this scheme as a way to increase recycling, reduce litter and help achieve our net zero ambitions, but we recognise the uncertainty that continues to be created as a result of the UK Government delaying the decision to exclude the scheme from the Internal Market Act,“ he stated.
“We had hoped for that decision this week – but it has not come.
“At the same time, I - and the Circular Economy Minister - have heard the concerns of business, particularly about the scheme’s readiness for launch this August.
“As a result, we will now delay the launch of the scheme to the 1st of March 2024 - this provides 10 months for businesses to get ready.
“We will use that additional time to work with businesses, and Circularity Scotland, to address concerns with the scheme and ensure a successful launch next year.”
A package of measures, Yousaf said, would also be put in place to “simplify and de-risk” the scheme.
Scotch Whisky Association chief executive Mark Kent responded: “Our industry has always supported the goals of the scheme, but the Scottish DRS as currently devised would hamper the efforts of businesses across the country to reduce waste and bring about a more circular economy.
“The delay until March 2024 and full review in the coming months will enable us to work with government to ensure DRS is aligned with other systems across the UK and to once again look at the exclusion of glass, which the experience of international schemes tells us will help to simplify the scheme, and reduce the cost for businesses and consumers.”
However, Scottish Greens environment spokesperson Mark Ruskell said: “The Tories are holding Scotland and an entire generation of people hostage with made up rules in the middle of a climate crisis.
“They have deliberately conspired to undermine business confidence and showed contempt for the Scottish Parliament, environmental charities and thumbed their nose at every nation who came to Glasgow seeking leadership at COP26.
"This is a Tory government that is giving even more of the North Sea to fossil fuel giants and opening a new coal mine - only with the Scottish Greens in government does Scotland stand a chance of delivering the kind of vision that is needed to overcome such planet sized stupidity.”
Meanwhile, proposals to restrict alcohol advertising will be sent “back to the drawing board”, Yousaf said.
A consultation on the plans had been launched, with the possibility of alcohol being obscured in shops, raising concerns about the cost of shop re-fits among retailers.
“The aim of this consultation - to reduce the harm caused by alcohol to children - is admirable; I support it wholeheartedly,” the First Minister told MSPs on Tuesday.
“But it is clear that some of the proposals have caused real concern to an industry which is already facing challenges on multiple fronts.
“I have therefore instructed my officials to take these ideas back to the drawing board, and to work with the industry, and with public health stakeholders, to agree a new set of proposals.
“I believe that all of us want to reduce the harm caused by alcohol, particularly to young people but without undermining Scotland’s world class drinks industry or tourism sector.
“I am hopeful that by taking a fresh look at this issue, we can find a way forward which achieves both of those aims.”
The First Minister has also pledged to “take the workers of the north east” with him as Scotland pushes to reach net zero.
Laying out his government’s priorities, Yousaf stressed the need for a “just transition”, stating: “We will never do to oil and gas workers in the north east of Scotland, what Thatcher did to our mining and steel communities.
“We will take the workers of the north east - and indeed the whole of Scotland - with us on our just transition journey.”
Yousaf pledged to “harness the huge potential” of renewable energy and to “continue to support innovation” in the sector.
Also contained within his speech was a six-month trial scrapping peak rail fares, that is set to begin in October.
Yousaf said the evidence from the pilot will be used to assess fares across the rail network.
“I can confirm today that the six-month pilot to remove peak-time fares from Scotrail services will start in October of this year,” he said.
“The evidence from this pilot - and our wider fair fares review - will allow us to bring forward further targeted measures, from next year onwards, to ensure that the costs of transport are more fairly shared.”
In a wide-ranging statement, he pledged the Scottish Government would double the number of public charging points for electric vehicles to “at least 6,000” and would deliver six new vessels for the country’s struggling ferry network.
Less than a month after winning the contest to succeed Nicola Sturgeon as SNP leader and First Minister, Yousaf pledged his administration would be “centred on the principles of equality, opportunity and community”.
With plans already announced to allow local authorities to more than double the council tax on second homes, he suggested tax increases could be on the way for higher earners, as he spoke of the need to be “bolder on taxation”.
The First Minister said: “Scotland is a wealthy country, but that wealth is not distributed evenly.
“To tackle poverty we need to be even bolder on taxation, and redistribution of wealth.”
He stressed the importance of businesses – and particularly small businesses – to Scotland, describing them as the “backbone of our economy”.
Yousaf, who was Scottish health secretary before becoming First Minister, said he would take “slightly more time” with plans to set up a National Care Service, with the first Holyrood vote on this now having been pushed back until after the summer recess.
But the First Minister promised to set out plans to increase pay for those working in adult social care to £12 an hour.
He said: “While we are not able to afford to do this immediately, I want to send a signal to the sector that we are absolutely serious about improving pay, terms and conditions for those who care for our most vulnerable.”
In a bid to improve education he confirmed Scotland would seek to rejoin two major international surveys – Trends in International Maths and Science, and Progress in International Reading Literacy.
Setting out his priorities to MSPs, he said: “The actions we take over the next three years, stand Scotland in good stead for the next decade; and they will use our present, very significant, strengths, to deliver a fresh start for Scotland.”
In his first major parliamentary speech, Yousaf said: “The Scottish Government is today publishing a document - called ‘new leadership, a fresh start for Scotland’ - which sets out how the government I lead will address our challenges, build on our successes and capitalise on our strengths.
“It sets out the key aims and deliverables we intend to achieve in each Cabinet Secretary’s portfolio – working constructively with our Green party colleagues.
“Throughout the next three years we will report routinely, regularly and transparently on our performance against those aims and outcomes.”
Being First Minister “is not without its challenges”, Yousaf also said, as his party’s treasurer was arrested in connection with a probe into the SNP’s finances. “But notwithstanding that is, of course, the honour of my life,” he said to jeers from the Tory benches in Holyrood.
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