Meeting of the Parliament 26 June 2024
Very helpfully, Ms Boyack has set out what I probably would have said in response to her question. The measure is about repeat, persistent offenders—the types of people who are a problem in many of our communities. It is not about the people who want to do the right thing but who have made a mistake; it is about people who have egregiously or deliberately contaminated recycling waste. I give my assurance on that, as I hope that I did at stage 2.
I want to talk about the voluntary code of practice that will be developed through co-design to explore opportunities to enhance activities to promote reuse and repair on a voluntary and recommended basis. The improvement programme, which is under development as an alternative to financial penalties relating to local authority recycling targets, will offer a more practical route to share best practice. We heard from members and stakeholders about so much best practice that is happening in councils in certain parts of Scotland and from which other parts of Scotland can benefit.
I believe that the co-design process is based on the principles of the Verity house agreement and the new deal for business, which is central to delivering the transformation that we need. I particularly thank Councillor Macgregor at the Convention of Scottish Local Authorities for the positive and constructive discussions that she had with me and Ms Slater on the bill. I am delighted that she has cited that engagement as a fine example of working in the spirit of the Verity house agreement.
Of course, I recognise that there are concerns about the framework nature of the bill, although I hope that most of them have been addressed during the passage of the bill. However, it is important that we make enabling legislation so that action can happen at the local level involving the people who know their services best.
I will not say much more—