Scottish Secretary Alister Jack has been accused of lying to a Commons committee over the information provided between Scotland’s two governments over the troubled deposit return scheme (DRS).
At yesterday’s Scottish Affairs Committee, Mr Jack claimed that he has not received “proper grown-up assessments” from the Scottish Government that would allow him to determine whether an exemption under the UK Internal Market Act would be appropriate for the DRS, as requested by Holyrood.
Mr Jack said: “I haven’t seen those proper impact assessments yet, and I can’t come to a decision on an exemption until I see proper impact assessments, so we know we are making the right decision and not causing unnecessary consequences.”
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But the Greens minister responsible for the Scottish Government policy, Lorna Slater, told MSPs that all the information was provided on time.
She added that her account is backed up by Mr Jack’s ministerial colleague Michael Gove, who wrote to Deputy First Minister Shona Robison this morning, thanking the SNP for the information they have handed over.
But the UK Government has claimed that the Scottish Government has not supplied sufficient evidence or assessments on what impact the policy will have on the UK-wide market and what the DRS will mean for businesses and consumers on either side of the Border.
A UK Government source told The Herald: "The Scottish Government has yet to provide adequate analysis of the impact on the internal market as it relates to businesses and consumers across the UK."
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Speaking at Holyrood, the Circular Economy Minister said she was “grateful to all the businesses for the investment they have made”, amid speculation that compensation could be asked for if the DRS is further delayed or axed in an exemption is not granted.
Ms Slater added: “The missing piece of the jigsaw is for the UK Government to agree an exclusion of the Internal Market Act.
“We have been discussing an exclusion with the UK Government for almost two years, fully following the agreed process.
“The UK Government now needs to do the right thing and agree an exclusion now to give businesses the certainty they need in order to prepare for the launch in March and allow investment made by businesses to be put to good use.”
But Scottish Conservative deputy leader Megan Gallacher warned that “the faults with this disastrous scheme lie firmly at the door of the minister’s office”, accusing Ms Slater of “abdicating responsibility and trying to pin the blame on the UK Government”.
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She added: “The shambolic rollout of this policy has damaged the relationship and confidence amongst Scottish businesses.
“Thousands of businesses have not even signed up the SNP-Green deposit return scheme because they think it will be too damaging.”
Ms Slater turned to the comments made by Mr Jack yesterday, insisting that “simply it is not true that the information required under the common framework has not been shared”.
She said: “Provision of the impact assessments that Mr Jack has demanded is not actually part of the common framework process, but it is not true that these have not been carried out.
“We have conducted a full set of impact assessments at the appropriate point in delivery of the scheme.”
The minister said her government has “covered all the impact assessments that Alister Jack has claimed have not been conducted”.
She added: “We have supplied all the required information and more to agree an exclusion for the Internal Market Act.
“Michael Gove wrote to the DFM (deputy first minister) today thanking us for our updated analysis on the impact of the Scottish deposit return scheme and confirms that his government is currently processing and reviewing that information.
“There is no reason for an Internal Market Act exclusion not to be granted. We have provided all the information and Mr Gove and his colleagues are now considering that.”
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