Meeting of the Parliament 08 March 2023
My amendment seeks to insert ministerial statements into next week’s business. First, we are looking for a statement on the disastrous deposit return scheme. It is turning into complete farce. Most of the producers are not signed up to the scheme and the minister was unable to answer basic questions in this chamber yesterday. The Scottish National Party leadership hopefuls have cast doubt on the scheme and it is only right that the minister gives us an update.
Secondly, we want a statement on the ferry fiasco. At yesterday’s Finance and Public Administration Committee, the minister was unable to answer what the total cost of vessels 801 and 802 would be, and there are now fresh doubts about the timescales. Our island communities deserve better, and they deserve to be updated.
The final statement that we are looking for is on the funding U-turn for our Sistema Scotland projects across the country. Last Wednesday, I asked Neil Gray, who is the responsible minister, to step in and save Big Noise Torry. He said:
“This an issue for our local authorities to determine; it is not for MSPs or Government ministers to intervene in local government decisions.”—[Official Report, 1 March 2023; c 7.]
Less than 48 hours later, the Government performed a screeching U-turn and announced funding for the two Big Noise projects that the SNP administrations had axed in Dundee and Aberdeen. That lifeline is, of course, welcome—[Interruption.]—but questions remain. [Interruption.]