SNP’s doomed bottle scheme ran up £1.5m bill for civil servants
Taxpayers fork out for ‘industry-funded’ project
SCOTTISH Greens Minister Lorna Slater has been criticised for paying civil servants £1.5 million to work on her shambolic bottle recycling scheme – despite claiming it is an ‘industry-funded’ project.
Ms Slater has admitted to employing 27 Scottish Government staff – paid for by the taxpayer – to fix the ‘flawed’ Deposit Return Scheme (DRS).
It comes despite claims from the Scottish Government that ‘no public money has been spent on the running of the scheme’.
It is the latest indignity to plague Ms Slater, who was humiliated last month when her plans had to be delayed and drastically overhauled following an outcry from businesses and politicians.
The DRS, which will impose a 20p charge on all drinks bottles and cans, was set to come into force in August but will not be introduced until March next year.
Conservative MSP Maurice Golden yesterday said the revelations raised questions about Ms Slater’s use of taxpayers’ money. He said: ‘The Scottish Government has always claimed that the DRS would be an industry-led scheme. So people will be shocked to see the scale of the staffing costs that have come with it.
‘They will wonder why so many civil servants have been working on a system that has been beset by farce and controversy from the outset.
‘The Scottish Government should explain why these costs have been so high and what exactly it is doing to ensure this scheme begins in March and with the blessing of Scotland’s business community.’
The DRS is being administered by a private company, Circularity Scotland, but it will be implemented by the Scottish Environment Protection Agency and Zero Waste Scotland.
In a parliamentary question this month, Mr Golden asked Ms Slater ‘how many staff are currently working on the Deposit Return Scheme, broken down by pay scale, and how many staff it anticipates will be working on the scheme after it launches on 16 August, 2023, broken down by pay scale, and what policy issues it anticipates these staff will be addressing?’
She responded that as of April 28, there were 27 Scottish Government civil servants primarily working on the DRS.
She also listed what salary bands they were on. In total, she could be paying out up to £1.5 million in salaries alone.
A spokesman for the Scottish Government said: ‘Scotland’s deposit return scheme is a priority project for this government.
‘We have temporarily increased the number of Scottish Government staff working on policy development and stakeholder engagement.
‘They will support changes to the regulations and ensure industry is prepared for the scheme going live, while also handling an increase in freedom of information requests and correspondence with industry and MSPs.’