Jon Rathjen SEA Bill Team Leader Scottish Executive SEA in Scotland Jon Rathjen SEA Bill Team Leader Scottish Executive
Scotland as a Region/Country Region of UK, which is EU member state UK government handles constitution, defence, foreign affairs, etc Scotland has own parliament, legal system and devolved government - powers over health, education, justice, environment etc. We implement Directives in devolved areas
Scottish Executive Partnership Agreement “We will legislate to introduce Strategic Environmental Assessment To ensure that the full environmental impacts of all new strategies, programmes and plans developed by the public sector are properly considered.”
SEA is about…… SEA is about improving plan development SEA is about fewer unforeseen environmental impacts SEA is about improving consultation Sea is about making decisions with clearer and better environmental outcomes
SEA Progress in Scotland Scottish Executive SEA progress to date Regulations will quickly be followed by a Bill
Implications ‘Strategies' included – Policies? All plans and programmes - no 'setting framework for development consent' No 'legislative, regulatory or administrative' test Need to keep at a strategic level
The SEA Process in Scotland Statutory Consultation bodies – Scottish Natural Heritage, Scottish Environment Protection Agency and Historic Scotland. Screening/Scoping/Reporting/Consulting
Scotland and ENPLAN Comparison and exchange Awareness Raising
Conclusion SEA if applied early in the process can greatly improve plan development SEA in Scotland will attempt to apply that improvement across all public sector plan and policy development