Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps she is taking to help ensure that the Deposit Management Organisation takes into account the challenges facing small producers.

In our 2021 consultation response, we set out the DRS scheme administrator (the Deposit Management Organisation) should consider the size of the producer when setting the producer fees. We will continue to review the impact on small businesses and consider further mitigations or support they might need as we move into implementation. Through relevant DRS sub-groups my officials engage with a wide range of stakeholders, and that includes small businesses such as small producers and small retailers.