Environmental governance review

In June 2023, the Scottish Government laid the Environmental governance arrangements: report in the Scottish Parliament.. It was produced as a result of an obligation in the UK Withdrawal from the European Union (Continuity) (Scotland) Act 2021 (‘the Continuity Act’).

The Act also required the Scottish Government to consult on the effectiveness of environmental governance arrangements, including:

• the sufficiency of environmental governance in Scotland.
• whether the law in Scotland on access to justice on environmental matters is sufficient; and
• the appropriateness of establishing an environmental court to address any governance gaps;

The Scottish Government launched a consultation on its assessment of environmental governance arrangements under the Act on 2 June 2023 and it closed on 13 October 2023. The Scottish Government is currently considering the outcome of its consultation.

The Committee has agreed to carry out a short stocktake of the state of environmental governance in Scotland, post-Brexit and in light of the 2021 Act. The timeline for this is set out below. The Committee wrote to a targeted list of stakeholders on 20 September 2023 and received six responses, which can be found in the correspondence section.

On 2 November 2023, the Committee wrote to the Cabinet Secretary asking for a response to the concerns raised by stakeholders. The Cabinet Secretary responded on 8 November. The Committee also held an evidence session on 16 January with environmental stakeholders to discuss the Scottish Government’s review. It heard from Environmental Standards Scotland at its meeting on 5 March.

Once the Scottish Government has laid before the Parliament its statement responding to its consultation, the Committee will schedule an evidence session with the Cabinet Secretary for Wellbeing Economy, Net Zero and Energy. The Committee will then consider next steps for its work on environmental governance arrangements.

Guiding principles on the environment

Under the Continuity Act, the Scottish Government and other public bodies are required to have regard to five ‘guiding principles’ on the environment when making policy or operational decisions. These principles are:

• the principle of integration
• the precautionary principle
• the preventative principle
• the rectification at source principle
• the polluter pays principle.

In July, the then Cabinet Secretary for Transport, Net Zero and Just Transition wrote to the Committee to make it aware of the guiding principles. The letter also outlined the work the Scottish Government had undertaken to produce statutory guidance for public bodies to ensure the principles were embedded in decision making and policy development.

The Continuity Act requires the Scottish Government to lay this guidance before the Scottish Parliament for its approval. The draft guidance was laid on 14 August 2023 and it was referred to the Committee for consideration.

The Committee asked for written views on the guiding principles and gathered evidence from stakeholders on the environmental governance review. All evidence received is available in the correspondence section.

The Committee formally considered the guidance at its meeting on 24 October 2023 and agreed to make no recommendation about it. However, the Committee wrote to the then Cabinet Secretary for Transport, Net Zero and Just Transition setting out further questions related to monitoring the implementation of the guiding principles . The Cabinet Secretary responded on 29 November 2023.

The guidance has subsequently been published by the Scottish Government. This, and the principles themselves, are now in effect.

Common Frameworks

Background

The UK Government and devolved administrations have agreed that, following the UK's exit from the European Union, a set of Common Frameworks are needed to ensure consistency in certain policy areas.

The Committee has a role in scrutinising Common Frameworks covering areas of policy falling within its remit.

Environmental Common Frameworks

The Committee ran a call for views on five environmental Common Frameworks, which closed on 31 May 2022. Read responses to the call for views.

• Radioactive Substances
• Air Quality
• Best Available Techniques/Industrial Emissions (BAT)
• Ozone Depleting Substances and F-gases
• Chemicals and Pesticide

The Committee also held an evidence session with Scotland’s statutory environmental regulators which included discussion of environmental Common Frameworks.

The Committee presented its findings in a letter to the Scottish Government. Read the Committee’s letter.

UK Emissions Trading Scheme provisional Common Framework

In 2023, the Committee considered the UK Emissions Trading Scheme provisional Common Framework. The Framework sets out how the UK Government and Devolved Administrations will work together to exercise decision-making powers and responsibilities relating to a new trading system following EU-exit, known as the UK ETS.

The then Cabinet Secretary for Net Zero, Energy & Transport wrote to the Committee on 29 March 2023 to share details of the provisional Common Framework.

The Committee issued a call for views which closed on 5 October 2023 and received one response.

The Committee wrote to the Scottish Government on 23 November 2023 drawing the submission to its attention. Read the Committee’s letter. 

Resources and Waste Common Framework

The Committee is currently considering the provisional Resources and Waste Common Framework, which sets out how Government’s across the UK will work together on issues within this policy area.

The Minister for Green Skills, Circular Economy and Biodiversity shared details of the provisional Common Framework as part of a letter to the Committee on 18 January 2023.

The Committee included questions relating to this Common Framework as part of its call for views on the Circular Economy (Scotland) Bill which closed on 1 September. All responses gathered on the Common Framework are available on the call for views page on Citizen Space and the Committee’s webpage for the Bill.

The Resources and Waste Common Framework has been a theme discussed as part of the Committee’s oral evidence taking on the Bill, and in the Committee’s work on Scotland’s Deposit Return Scheme. Read information about all Committee meetings.

The Committee is currently considering next steps on its scrutiny of the provisional Resources and Waste Common Framework.