Public policy highlights

Levelling up

The Society issued a briefing ahead of the Levelling-up and Regeneration Bill’s second reading in the House of Lords on 17 January, commenting on the provisions which apply to Scotland. The briefing highlighted that the bill could present an opportunity for the UK’s commitments under the UN Aarhus Convention on access to environmental justice, public participation and access to environmental information to be further referenced and integrated into UK law.

Focusing on the provisions in part 6 relating to environmental outcomes reports (EOR), the Society highlighted that a move to EOR represents a very significant change from the current arrangements which are consistent across the UK, and will impact on well understood and established processes that protect our environment. It called for further detail on the proposals and on the process of transition to EOR. It also commented on the legislative consent aspects, noting that the bill provides UK ministers with powers to override existing environmental protections in Scotland.

Retained EU law

The Society issued a briefing in advance of the Retained EU Law (Revocation and Reform) Bill’s House of Lords report stage on 6 February. It expressed serious concerns that the proposed end-2023 deadline allows insufficient time to enable the review of an estimated 5,000 pieces of legislation to be completed properly after due consultation with the devolved administrations and relevant stakeholders including parliamentary committees.

It also expressed concern that moving from the “maximum certainty” of REUL to domestic provisions could result in less certainty and more confusion, with consequent adverse impact on individuals and businesses. This is particularly so in Scotland in view of the policy of the Scottish Government and Parliament to keep pace with EU law so far as possible. This is likely to result in considerable divergence between the replacement provisions in Scotland and the rest of the UK, and therefore difficulties in connection with the United Kingdom Internal Market Act 2020.

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