Committee
Environment and Rural Development Committee, 20 Apr 2005
20 Apr 2005 · S2 · Environment and Rural Development Committee
Item of business
Environmental Assessment (Scotland) Bill: Stage 1
Perhaps my thinking on the finance and budget issue is a bit simplistic but my view is that by doing strategic assessment the assessment is being done at a level at which the strategy will inform the budget. The budget is not a separate entity; surely it is tied to a policy or strategy. We do not say, "This is the budget" and then make the policy. Surely the sensible approach is to assess the policy or strategy, rather than try to make a strategic assessment of the budget. I cannot get my head round how you would assess the budget in that way.
In the same item of business
The Convener (Sarah Boyack):
Lab
Good morning. I welcome members, members of the public who are with us this morning and representatives of the press. I remind everyone to turn off their mob...
Mr Mark Ruskell (Mid Scotland and Fife) (Green):
Green
What features should the strategic environmental assessment gateway have if the bill is to be successful?
David Tyldesley (David Tyldesley & Associates):
The gateway could have a range of roles, but the bill would require to be amended to allow for some of them. At the moment, the gateway is largely administra...
Mr Ruskell:
Green
Who should undertake the formal analysis of the process?
David Tyldesley:
We have had 15 years or so of environmental impact assessments for projects and nobody is carrying out enforcement, so the first question is whether that is ...
Dr Elsa João (University of Strathclyde):
I agree with most of what David Tyldesley has said. It is great that the gateway exists, but its role could be improved and widened. There should be a transp...
Mr Ruskell:
Green
So you mean that self-policing is harder with SEA than with EIA.
Dr João:
Exactly. For project EIA, consultants undertake the EIA reports and they compete for tenders, so the quality issue is important. How will that apply when, mo...
Professor Colin T Reid (University of Dundee):
I support what my colleagues said. The gateway could fulfil several roles, which include the supportive role—the advice and guidance role, the simple adminis...
Nora Radcliffe (Gordon) (LD):
LD
The discussion on the gateway has led us to talk about monitoring and auditing. Will the bill provide a tool for better decision making? If so, should the de...
Dr João:
The bill should deal with both. The tool must work well, but you are right: we want better decision making. That is what is special about SEA. It provides a ...
Professor Reid:
Problems may also arise with determining what constitutes better decisions, given that the environmental component is just one aspect of the decision making ...
The Convener:
Lab
I presume that we want monitoring at two levels. Individual monitoring of decisions should be undertaken by the authority that produced a plan, which should ...
David Tyldesley:
Experience tells us that the legislation will need to be reviewed and perhaps amended in future, just as all environmental legislation has had to be amended ...
Rob Gibson (Highlands and Islands) (SNP):
SNP
I would like to tease out the relationship between SEA and existing attempts to place sustainable development at the core of Government policy. Professor Rei...
Professor Reid:
The bill is a big improvement, because it will ensure that the environmental component is properly considered. The difficulty that I foresee is that the fina...
Dr João:
It is an interesting point that, thanks to SEA, we may need to raise the quality of economic and social evaluations. On the link between SEA and sustainabili...
David Tyldesley:
The question is absolutely critical in the context of the bill. If you are going to go down the route of sustainability appraisal, you will have to do it now...
Rob Gibson:
SNP
You are saying that SEA is a catalyst to make the whole range of environmental regulation work in an integrated way.
David Tyldesley:
Yes, it is a part of that.
The Convener:
Lab
That is an interesting point, which brings us back to the purpose or the benefits of the bill as a whole—why we need it and what it will do in practice. It w...
David Tyldesley:
As a practitioner in the field for many years, I have my views on that question. I believe, as I said in my written submission, that the cost estimate in the...
Dr João:
That is very interesting. I accept that there will be a resource issue; the question is how large it will be. While David Tyldesley has more experience than ...
Professor Reid:
As the introduction of project-based EIA showed, there were transitional problems in those areas that had not had a structured plan-making process. We must e...
Dr João:
I should point out that not all local authorities think alike. An interesting case study is provided by the SEA that was carried out by Falkirk Council in, I...
The Convener:
Lab
However, the bill will clearly mean a change from business as usual. It will require people to do things differently and to think about them differently. The...
Maureen Macmillan (Highlands and Islands) (Lab):
Lab
The tension between environmental and socioeconomic matters is an issue that has been raised not only by local authorities. The business community believes t...
David Tyldesley:
I have heard, and I understand, the argument that the bill will tip the balance too far in favour of the environment. However, we can look at the experience ...
Dr João:
I agree with David Tyldesley, in that I disagree with the idea that the bill will tip the balance, for the simple reason that the SEA process does not make d...
Professor Reid:
I would add only that many of the plans and programmes that have been covered will ultimately lead on to individual projects. If the plan and programme are d...