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STV News
20-06-2025
- Business
- STV News
Biffa £166m compensation claim over deposit return scheme 'good to go'
A lawyer acting for a company pursuing a £166m compensation claim against the Scottish Government has told a judge that his case is 'good to go' to court. Roddy Dunlop KC made the statement during a procedural hearing on Thursday in an action brought against Scottish ministers by Biffa Waste Services Ltd. The company has raised an action at the Court of Session in Edinburgh over a decision made by ministers to delay the introduction of the deposit return scheme. It alleges that Lorna Slater – the former minister for green skills, circular economy and biodiversity – gave negligent assurances to the firm in a letter about the initiative to ensure its participation. Biffa's lawyer Roddy Dunlop KC told judge Lord Clark last year that the correspondence made no reference to how Holyrood would need its Westminster counterpart to give the final go ahead to the scheme. The scheme was later scrapped after the Conservative government in London refused to give the go ahead for it be implemented. The firm believes the Scottish Government 'negligently misrepresented the assurance it gave' to Biffa. Biffa has instructed Mr Dunlop, the Dean of the Faculty of Advocates, to act for it in the £166.2m compensation claim. Judge Lord Clark gave permission for the action to proceed following a two day hearing last year when the Scottish Government's lawyer Gerry Moynihan KC asked the court to dismiss the action. On Thursday, the case called again for a procedural hearing before judge Lord Sandison. Mr Dunlop said he and his legal team were making preparations for the case which is expected to be heard in the Court of Session over an eight day period in October 2025. Mr Dunlop added: 'The case is now simplified and good to go.' The deposit return scheme was a key policy of the former SNP-Green administration. Under the plans, a 20p deposit was be added to all single-use drinks containers made of PET plastic, metal or glass. Consumers could reclaim the deposit by returning the containers to retailers or to specially-designed reverse vending machines. It was due to be introduced in August 2023 but the launch date was pushed back, with then first minister Humza Yousaf citing concerns from businesses. The Conservative government at Westminster refused to grant the scheme the go-ahead unless it conformed to a UK-wide approach which excluded glass. In June 2023 Slater said she had no choice but to delay the scheme until at least October 2025, accusing the UK government of sabotage. She left government last year following the collapse of the Green-SNP power-sharing agreement. The company have decided to go to the Court of Session in Edinburgh because it believes the Holyrood government is responsible for it incurring a £166.2m loss. It wants compensation for the cash it invested in the collapsed deposit return scheme and the subsequent loss of profit. At the proceedings last year, Mr Moynihan said the Scottish Ministers acted lawfully and that the government did not act a duty of care to Biffa. He also said the letter sent by Ms Slater – which was dated May 17 2022 – did not amount to a 'negligent representation'. Speaking on the final day of a two day long hearing into whether the action should proceed, Mr Dunlop outlined the alleged actions of Ms Slater in dealing with his clients. Mr Dunlop said: 'Our position is that we did sign the contract in a situation of the assumption of responsibility. 'The minister was not required to give an assurance but she voluntarily did. 'She did so because she wanted Biffa on board. She must have known Biffa would act upon what she said. 'It is writing a letter that provides the assurances that not reflect the actuality of the situation. 'We know why she decided to write that letter. She wrote that letter as she needed the deposit return scheme to have a purpose. 'She needed a contractor like Biffa – who was swithering about whether to become involved – to become involved.' Mr Dunlop also claimed that Ms Slater's purpose in writing the letter to Biffa was to ensure the scheme's success. He added: 'The simple fact of the matter is that the Ministers were very keen to have Biffa on board. 'It was important for them politically and logistically to have a well resourced contractor like Biffa on board. 'Without that the deposit return scheme was dead in the water.' On Thursday, Lord Sandison fixed a date for another procedural hearing in the case – this will take place on September 2 2025. Get all the latest news from around the country Follow STV News Scan the QR code on your mobile device for all the latest news from around the country
Yahoo
02-06-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Fairer elections and the threat of Reform UK
George Monbiot captures the betrayal and despair felt by millions of Labour voters who thought they were voting for change at the last general election (How we can smash Britain's two-party system for good at the next election, 27 May).Less than a year later they have found themselves with a government pursuing much the same cruel austerity policies as the Conservative one it replaced. And he's right that Keir Starmer's cynical descent into inflammatory Powellite rhetoric is a gift to Nigel Farage. Most voters want nothing to do with the politics of fear and division, but the UK's antiquated and unrepresentative electoral system fails to reflect the wishes of the progressive left and centre-left majority. A hung parliament is now a very real possibility after the next election. This would indeed be a huge opportunity to scrap the first-past-the-post system that has blighted British politics for so long. As two Green MPs who overturned massive majorities to win our seats, we know it's possible for progressives to win against all the odds – and to change the electoral system, we will have to. The Green party has long championed electoral reform. As candidates for the party's leadership, our aim is to be heading a much larger group of Green MPs in parliament, giving us the leverage and negotiating power to actually achieve such transformational Chowns MPGreen party, North HerefordshireAdrian Ramsay MPGreen party, Waveney Valley • George Monbiot is right to challenge the shortcomings of our electoral system. However, all electoral systems are flawed and in a democracy no individual decides what sort of government gets elected afterwards. Across Europe, where proportional representation prevails, the traditional parties of power are being replaced – not by a rainbow coalition of progressives, but by the seemingly inexorable rise of the hard right. In Scotland, the SNP-Green coalition broke down. In the UK, when the Liberal Democrats held the balance of power, they sided with the Conservatives in inflicting ideological austerity. When we had a referendum between engagement with Europe or isolation, the majority voted for the latter. The failure of our mainstream parties is that they have lost the ability to engage with ordinary people. Politics is the difficult task of leading the agenda while responding to the hopes and fears of wider society and all the ambiguities and compromises that are needed to do so. The government's shift in language from restraint to support for those most in need might be the beginning of something better – we can but BrownIlkley, West Yorkshire • George Monbiot is spot-on in his analysis of the dysfunctions of our electoral system. One glaring danger he doesn't mention, however, can be seen in the steep rise of the Reform UK vote. We used to hear as one of the justifications of the current system that it prevented extreme parties from gaining a significant representation. Never mind that this revealed an arrogantly undemocratic mindset, the evidence now is that the distortions of the system may precipitate precisely the opposite outcome. Given the fragmentation of votes, it is entirely possible that, with fewer than 30% of the ballot, Reform could achieve an absolute majority in parliament at the next general election. That undemocratic disaster, quite apart from the other democratic imperatives George identifies, should be ringing alarm bells for urgent SmithGlasgow
Glasgow Times
29-04-2025
- Politics
- Glasgow Times
John Daly: 'Residents are being asked to pay more for less'
It was, typically, a highly politically charged event, but also and perhaps more truthfully it was another textbook performance in blame-shifting. The current SNP-Green administration – while they might officially not be a coalition anymore – the Green tail is very much still wagging the SNP dog – used the event to blame everyone but themselves, while shifting the burden for their failures onto taxpayers. Just as we have had an SNP government at Holyrood for 18 years with a woeful record and trigger-happy, tax-raising figures, Glaswegians are also suffering after eight years of the SNP running the council and presiding over a city that is looking tired, dirty, and unloved. My inbox continues to reflect the frustration of Glaswegians about the state of their city. Birmingham may be grabbing the headlines at the moment as a result of strike action, but Glasgow has a waste and vermin problem which many residents now see as endemic. At the same time, other council services, including roads, maintenance and most significantly perhaps, education, have seen significant cuts too. All this at a time when council taxpayers across Scotland continue to be hit by big increases; residents are asking, quite rightly, why am I paying more for less? Step forward the SNP government, which has emasculated much of local government by hoarding money for their own pet projects at the expense of the vital cash it sends to local councils. The totality of the Scottish Government's proportion of its block grant sent to local authorities has fallen by 9 per cent since 2010. That means this is not a problem created by big bad Westminster (the SNP's forever villain) but made here, in Scotland, by the financial incompetence of them and their friends in the Greens. That's why residents of Glasgow saw a huge 7.5 per cent increase in their council tax bills this year. The SNP city council has to fill the gap left by the SNP government. In addition to that you, the hard-pressed council tax payer, already hit by higher income tax rates in Scotland compared to the rest of the UK, are further hit, locally, to help make their sums add up. The SNP justified the increase with an appeal to Glaswegians to trust them and that 2.5 per cent of the increase would go towards creating new cleansing teams to give the city the "deep clean" that it needs. Glaswegians are being asked to pay over and above, just to keep the city at the bare minimum of cleanliness. Let's not forget that Susan Aitken, the SNP council leader, alleged that all that Glasgow needed was, and I quote, "a wee spruce up." Well, Susan, that spruce up is costing Glaswegians dearly. At a time when the cost of the daily basics like food and electricity have soared, local people are being made to pay more for basic services from an administration that refuses to believe that there is anything much wrong with the state of our city anyway. At a recent committee meeting, SNP deputy councillor leader and mastermind of this council tax raid on citizens, Ricky Bell, assured me personally that this additional council tax increase would result in a "noticeable and tangible difference" to communities. We all are aware of the worth of SNP promises so I promise Glasgow Times readers that myself and the other Scottish Conservative elected representatives Annie Wells and Sandesh Gulhane, plan to hold him and the city council to account as this pledge is rolled out. Don't hold your breath...
Daily Mail
26-04-2025
- Politics
- Daily Mail
Teen thug who killed bus driver will get free SNP bus pass on his release
The widow of a bus driver killed by a violent teenager has expressed fury that his attacker will have his SNP-Green free bus pass reinstated when he finishes his sentence. Former RAF electrical engineer Keith Rollinson, 58, died in hospital after a brutal assault by a drunken 15-year-old at a bus station in Elgin, Moray, last year. The boy was eligible for the Scottish Government travel scheme introduced in 2022, which allows Under-22s unlimited free travel on Scotland's buses. Now Mr Rollinson's wife Susan, 62, has called for the government to remove passes from those who abuse drivers. Her demands have been backed by the Confederation of Passenger Transport, which has also urged Ministers to consider sanctions. Mr Rollinson's killer, who will be around 21 when he is released, will be free to continue using his pass. Mother-of-two Mrs Rollinson hit out: 'The boy who killed my husband will be entitled to a free bus pass when he is released, even though he attacked and killed a bus driver and previously attacked another one. 'I need the SNP to listen to me, listen to the public. Something needs to change.' Her impassioned plea has prompted Scottish Tory leader Russell Findlay to write to both Justice Secretary Angela Constance and Transport Secretary Fiona Hyslop to call for an urgent rule change. He said: 'The passenger, now 16, was charged with murder but a plea deal resulted in him admitting a lesser charge of culpable homicide. 'Sue's pain was further compounded by your government's Under-25 sentencing guidelines, which meant that her husband's killer was sentenced to four years and four months in secure accommodation. This tragedy is one of many cases of serious violence inflicted by young people in possession of free bus passes.' He added: 'I would be grateful if you could give a clear commitment to remove bus passes from those who misuse them and provide a specific date on when this will happen.' The teenager – who cannot be named for legal reasons – attacked Mr Rollinson in February last year. The short sentence was imposed because of an early guilty plea but also because he was under 25 at the time of his conviction, making him subject to guidelines brought in by the Scottish Sentencing Council, set up by the SNP Government in 2022. The boy has been sent to a 'therapeutic' secure care unit in Paisley due to more SNP rules brought in last year which prevent offenders under 18 going to prison. MSPs agreed to consider suspending passes for those who abuse the system last year, but in an amendment backed by a number of parliamentarians the Scottish Greens removed mention of the bus scheme specifically. A Transport Scotland spokesman said: 'The Cabinet Secretary for Transport met Unite union representatives to confirm that she is committed to ensuring a full range of options are available to support the police, local authorities and bus operators to tackle this issue.'
Yahoo
28-01-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Waste firm given go-ahead to sue government
A judge has ruled that a £166m legal claim against the Scottish government over the failed deposit return scheme can go ahead. Ministers effectively dropped plans for a Scotland-specific bottle return initiative in June 2023 following a dispute with the UK government. Biffa Waste Services, which had been hired to collect recycled containers, argued in the Court of Session that ministers assured it the scheme would go ahead - and lost out when it was cancelled. Ministers denied the firm's arguments and said the case should be thrown out of court. Biffa, which is seeking up to £166.2m in reparations, says the government breached a duty of care and was negligent when it claimed the scheme was viable. In a written statement, Lord Clark said ministers had been unable to convince him that Biffa's pleadings "do not disclose circumstances giving rise to a duty of care". The judge also dismissed an argument from ministers that even if the court did accept they had been negligent and had a duty of care, the case should be thrown out because Biffa's case was "irrelevant" to the legal arguments it made. He said that to win damages the waste firm would have to convince the court there was a duty of care, that it was breached and that it caused financial losses. Biffa would have to prove that the firm relied on a written assurance given by former Green minister Lorna Slater about the scheme's viability, and that this led to financial losses. Lord Clark said "questions remain" about the costs incurred by Biffa, and the amount of future profits it lost out on. The judge said there should now be a full hearing to examine the arguments in more detail. Biffa's financial claim includes about £115m in projected profits over a 10-year contract with Circularity Scotland, a non-profit company funded by the drinks industry which was supposed to manage the scheme. It collapsed with debts and liabilities of more than £86m when the initiative was postponed. Biffa is also seeking about £50m it said it spent in preparation for the scheme - including buying vehicles and specialist equipment, leasing vehicle depots, processing sites and taking on extra staff. The deposit return scheme was a headline ambition of the former SNP-Green administration at Holyrood following the 2021 election. Under the plans, a 20p deposit was be added to all single-use drinks containers made of PET plastic, metal or glass. Consumers could reclaim the deposit by returning the containers to retailers or to specially-designed reverse vending machines. It was due to be introduced in August 2023 but the launch date was pushed back, with then first minister Humza Yousaf citing concerns from businesses. A further stumbling block came when Conservative ministers at Westminster refused to grant the scheme the go-ahead unless it conformed to a UK-wide approach excluding glass. In June 2023 Slater said she had no choice but to delay the scheme until at least October 2025, accusing the UK government of sabotage. She left government last year following the collapse of the Green-SNP power-sharing agreement. Scotland is not expected to have a deposit return scheme until October 2027 at the earliest, when the UK government aims to launch its own version of the scheme, excluding glass. Holyrood ministers are expected to align their return scheme to match Westminster's version, though Wales has pulled out of a UK-wide approach because it wants to include glass. Following a freedom of information request, the Scottish government revealed earlier this month that it had spent £168,000 on legal fees related to the case brought by Biffa. A spokesperson said it could not comment on live litigation. A spokesperson for Biffa said: "We are pleased to have received approval from the Court of Session to proceed with legal action to seek appropriate compensation for the losses Biffa has incurred." Why is SNP government facing £170m court case over recycling scheme? Why has Scotland's deposit return scheme been delayed?
