Strategic Issues - Scotland

The Scottish Environment Protection Agency (SEPA) and the Scottish Government consulted on principles for better environmental regulation in summer 2012. The ideas and principles behind the consultation are for the most part unobjectionable, although in this case the devil is most definitely lurking in the detail. The underpinning theories include taking a risk-based and proportionate approach, becoming outcome focused and introducing flexible charging schemes to incentivise behavior. The consultation gives some useful information on the current arrangements and asks if there is a need to add to current safeguards, including public consultation on charging schemes, the approval of ministers and the overall authority of Parliament to hold all non-departmental public bodies to account. All the funding models proposed in the consultation suggest that the balance between GiA and charging should remain the same, but presumably with no under-recovery.