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

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether she has had recent discussions with the Scottish government on taking steps to align the (a) deposit return scheme and (b) extended producer responsibility scheme across the UK.

The Secretary of State has regular meetings with counterparts in the Devolved Administrations to discuss a range of issues including alignment on the Deposit Return Scheme for drinks containers. The Extended Producer Responsibility scheme (EPR) is UK-wide and will be introduced through a single UK-wide Statutory Instrument. Most recently I discussed EPR with the Devolved Administrations on 28 June.