Questions and answers

Question reference: S5W-31772

Asked by: Maurice Golden, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 11 September 2020
Current Status: Answered by Roseanna Cunningham on 22 September 2020

To ask the Scottish Government how non-refillable drinks cans, known as crowlers, will be treated under the deposit return scheme (DRS).

Question reference: S5W-31771

Asked by: Maurice Golden, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 11 September 2020
Current Status: Answered by Roseanna Cunningham on 22 September 2020

To ask the Scottish Government what enforcement measures will be applied to ensure that producers that do not currently use barcodes for drinks containers adopt them for use in the deposit return scheme (DRS).

Identification and adoption of appropriate measures to identify scheme articles as part of Scotland’s Deposit Return Scheme (DRS), which could include use of a barcode, will be a decision for the businesses with responsibility for implementation of the scheme, including any scheme administrator(s). Accordingly, the DRS Regulations do not mandate that scheme articles carry a barcode nor do they create any powers to enforce use of a barcode.

Question reference: S5W-31708

Asked by: Maurice Golden, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 09 September 2020
Current Status: Answered by Kate Forbes on 22 September 2020

To ask the Scottish Government how much it expects its "national network of world-class start up incubators or tech scalers", as announced in its 2020-21 Programme for Government, will cost, and when it expects funding to be delivered.

Question reference: S5W-31644

Asked by: Maurice Golden, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 07 September 2020
Current Status: Answered by Ash Denham on 17 September 2020

To ask the Scottish Government what discussions it has had with local authorities regarding extending the period after which taxi vehicles are required to be replaced, in light of the reported increased financial impact of COVID-19 on taxi operators.

The Scottish Government would expect independent licensing authorities to take a pragmatic and sensitive approach to licence holders during the challenges of Covid-19. It is however a matter entirely for licensing authorities to decide whether to set vehicle age limit restrictions on taxis operating within their local area and if so, what those age limits should be. Where a licensing authority does consider it appropriate to adjust their policies in this area, the Scottish Government would be supportive of any such steps where that is justified through local circumstances.

Question reference: S5O-04611

Asked by: Maurice Golden, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 16 September 2020
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 23 September 2020

To ask the Scottish Government what analysis it has undertaken of the impact of COVID-19 on the attainment gap.

Question reference: S5W-31530

Asked by: Maurice Golden, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Submitting member has a registered interest.
Date lodged: Wednesday, 02 September 2020
Current Status: Answered by Roseanna Cunningham on 14 September 2020

To ask the Scottish Government what the tonnage capacity for incinerators has been in each year since 2007, and what the projected annual capacity is for the period to 2024.

The following table shows the permitted incineration capacity, which is higher than the actual throughput, for each year since 2007. The total waste incineration capacity includes waste incineration facilities for clinical, municipal, biomass (e.g. wood waste), tyre and poultry litter wastes.

Several potential municipal and biomass facilities with an environmental permit are at different stages of development. Not all permitted facilities will reach financial close and construction. The permitted capacity of municipal waste incineration facilities in the commissioning or construction stages of development is around 0.5 million tonnes. The permitted capacity of waste incineration facilities where construction has not started is 0.8 million tonnes for municipal waste and 42,000 tonnes for biomass.

Permit start (Year)	Total permitted waste incineration capacity (million tonnes)	Biomass permitted incineration capacity (million tonnes)	Municipal waste incineration capacity (million tonnes)
2007	1.1	0.9	0.2
2008	1.1	0.9	0.2
2009	1.1	0.9	0.2
2010	1.1	0.9	0.2
2011	1.4	0.9	0.5
2012	2.0	1.4	0.5
2013	2.0	1.4	0.5
2014	2.2	1.4	0.7
2015	2.4	1.4	0.7
2016	2.8	1.4	1.1
2017	2.8	1.4	1.1
2018	3.0	1.4	1.4
2019	3.6	1.4	1.9
2020	3.9	1.4	2.1

Question reference: S5W-31523

Asked by: Maurice Golden, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 02 September 2020
Current Status: Answered by Roseanna Cunningham on 14 September 2020

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S5W-31163 by Roseanna Cunningham on 24 August 2020, whether decisions regarding deposit claim mechanisms, including digital solutions, will be a matter for the Deposit Return Scheme (DRS) Administrator.

The response to question S5W-31163 made clear that we have no current plans to put in place a solution for returning containers via a smartphone or app as part of Scotland’s Deposit Return Scheme. It would, however, be open to any scheme administrator(s) and/or return-point operators to consider the use of a digital solution (for example allowing consumers to choose to have their deposits reimbursed through an app) to support consumers in returning containers via a return point.

Question reference: S5W-31524

Asked by: Maurice Golden, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 02 September 2020
Current Status: Answered by Roseanna Cunningham on 14 September 2020

To ask the Scottish Government what extra weighting it will grant to Deposit Return Scheme (DRS) Administrator applicants that demonstrate an ability to deliver identified environmental, economic and social benefits that go beyond regulations.

To be approved by Scottish Ministers, any prospective scheme administrator(s) for Scotland’s Deposit Return Scheme must demonstrate how they intend to comply with member producers’ obligations on their behalf and that they are likely to subsist for at least five years.

While we anticipate that any prospective scheme administrator(s) will wish to take the opportunity to demonstrate how they will deliver wider benefits through the operation of the scheme, the decision whether to approve or refuse an application will be based on the criteria set out in the DRS Regulations.

Question reference: S5W-31525

Asked by: Maurice Golden, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 02 September 2020
Current Status: Answered by Roseanna Cunningham on 14 September 2020

To ask the Scottish Government whether the Deposit Return Scheme (DRS) Administrator will be permitted to deliver identified environmental, economic and social benefits that fall outwith the scope of DRS regulations.

The application form for a prospective scheme administrator(s) of Scotland’s Deposit Return Scheme, published on 22 June 2020, provides an opportunity for an applicant to demonstrate how they will deliver wider benefits through the operation of the scheme, although the decision whether to approve or refuse an application will be based on the criteria set out in the DRS Regulations.

The application form is available here: https://www.gov.scot/publications/deposit-return-scheme-
scheme-administration-form-and-template/ .

Question reference: S5W-31532

Asked by: Maurice Golden, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Submitting member has a registered interest.
Date lodged: Wednesday, 02 September 2020
Current Status: Answered by Roseanna Cunningham on 14 September 2020

To ask the Scottish Government what percentage of waste that could have been recycled or recovered by some other means has been recovered via an incinerator in each year since 2007.

It is not possible to determine the percentage of waste that could have been recycled, or recovered by other means, that has been recovered via incineration each year since 2007 as compositional data for mixed residual waste from household and commercial sources is not collected on an annual basis.

Under the Waste (Scotland) Regulations 2012, materials collected for recycling, including plastics, cannot be incinerated; however, mixed residual waste from households and commercial sources may contain recyclable materials.

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