Meeting of the Parliament 01 March 2023 [Draft]
I will try and wind up but, as I said at the outset, I am not going to speak in this debate as the convener of the committee; I will speak as an individual with serious concerns.
To be clear, the SSI is making sure that the Scottish Environment Protection Agency has the power to impose penalties and that there is no option for anyone to appeal that process. As I said at the committee, I really question whether it is appropriate to give SEPA the responsibility. Ever since SEPA suffered the data hack, it has struggled to get back on its feet. That impacted the agency’s ability to regulate the industries that, effectively, it should be regulating at the moment. Given that SEPA is under serious pressure, giving it more powers and responsibilities for a scheme that already appears to be a disaster would further compound that disaster.
Next month, this Parliament will have a new First Minister, so Lorna Slater and the Greens might or might not be in government, and the deposit return scheme might be delayed or go through a revamp.