DRS apparently doomed long before Westminster refused to allow the inclusion of glass

The Scottish Government knew the deposit return scheme (DRS) could not be implemented months before minister Lorna Slater blamed the UK government for bringing it to an end, it has been claimed.

Westminster refused to allow glass to be included in the DRS which Ms Slater said forced her to delay it at least until 2025 but it has emerged that there was a "severe lack of confidence" in the scheme.

Ms Slater sent part of a readiness report dubbed a gateway review to Holyrood’s net zero committee which is led by Highland MSP Edward Mountain, it reveals that the delivery confidence assessment was amber/red.

The conclusion largely found that the scheme was suffering from over ambition as it sought to “pioneer a new relationship between the public and private sector” run by the scheme administrator from “nothing” while engaging “with multi-sector interfaces in little more than two years".

The report stated: "The review team heard concern from multiple interviewees about the lack of clarity about processes, timings and detailed arrangements for the financial flows.

"This presents practical difficulties for several parties involved as they are unable to make robust plans for their parts of the whole system operation."

A spokesperson for the Scottish Government said the delays are a “direct consequence of the 11th hour decision by the UK government to fatally undermine the viability of Scotland's deposit return scheme by imposing vague and completely unworkable conditions on it".

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