Commenting after the Minister for the Circular Economy, Lorna Slater MSP announced another delay to the Deposit Return Scheme to October 2025, Highlands and Islands MSP and Conservative Shadow Minister for Business, Trade, Tourism and Enterprise, Jamie Halcro Johnston said:
"Responsibility for this shambles of a scheme lies squarely with the SNP and their Green allies. This is yet another policy failure of their own making, but one which risks leaving local businesses paying the price.
“Businesses from across the Highlands and Islands – businesses of all sizes – have invested time and money in getting ready for a scheme that the Scottish Government has now kicked into the long grass.
“Unfortunately, when I asked Lorna Slater what compensation the Scottish Government might be considering for those businesses that have already paid out, she refused to answer. SNP/Green ministers are prepared to leave these businesses out of pocket for their own ministerial incompetence.
“This chaos was completely unnecessary and avoidable. After all the backlash from business, all the consultations and all the warnings that we and the drinks sector had been calling out for months on end, Lorna Slater pushed ahead with an unworkable scheme that has, ultimately, left them with egg all over their faces.
"The SNP must now take responsibility for their mistakes, stop blaming everyone else but themselves, and work with the UK Government to deliver a well-functioning scheme that can benefit Scottish businesses and the environment.
“And given the intransigence and incompetence shown by Lorna Slater as she pushed ahead with her doomed scheme against the concerns of the industry, surely it’s well beyond the time Humza Yousaf removed her from her position?”
