Scottish politicians voice concerns over refund scheme

A motion by Scotland's SNP-Green coalition calling for the scheme s rollout to be delayed from July until August next year passed through Holyrood this week. People will be charged a 20 p deposit every time they buy a drink in a single-use container, according to its eco-friendly agenda.

They will get their money back when they return the empty container to one of tens of thousands of return points. Nicola Sturgeon's Government has tasked Circularity Scotland to roll out the deposit return scheme instead of creating a public body. This means it does not have to respond to freedom of information requests in the same way that public organisations do. At a meeting of the Scottish Parliament's Net Zero, Energy and Transport Committee, Conservative and Labour MSPs raised concerns about transparency. JUST IN Blackford fuming as Boris quits demands with brutal cake gag They will get their money back when they return the empty container to one of tens of thousands of return points. Nicola Sturgeon's Government has asked Circularity Scotland to roll out the deposit return scheme instead of creating a public body. It doesn't have to respond to freedom of information requests in the same way that public organisations do. At a meeting of the Scottish Parliament's Net Zero, Energy and Transport Committee, Conservative and Labour MSPs raised concerns about the transparency.

Rishi Sunak dragged into Boris Johnson party row INSIGHT Liz Truss accused of betrayal as MP unleashes fury REVEALED Brexit LIVE: EU walks away! In line with the principle of producer responsibility, Circulatory Scotland is a private company, it was established by the industry to lead the delivery of the DRS. As a private company, its procurement decisions and processes are not for government intervention. Golden later tweeted: The SNP Greens have shrouded deposit return in secrecy. They claim to be transparent while setting up a private company to hide details from the public. Labour MSP Monica Lennon called for the deposit return scheme to be sent back to the drawing board for a re-think. She said that it is very disappointing that we have this further delay on top of previous delays. I welcome the ambitions that have been taken, but this has to be more than a paper exercise, so I am very concerned about the regulations in front of us. I would like to see the Government bring this back through Parliament with a scheme that everyone can trust in, that takes account of the concerns raised.