Environmental principles and governance after Brexit: responses to consultation

Appendix 10: Chapter 4, Q8

Expanding the role of existing bodies

Other singular comments provided in relation to expanding the role of existing bodies included:

• limitations if the role were to be taken on by the Scottish Parliament with regards to its scrutiny and accountability functions; such as time, access to independent expert advice and resourcing and that this would only become exacerbated post EU exit; and
• a suggestion to increase the scrutiny powers of Parliament through establishing a committee equivalent to UKG's Environmental Audit Committee.

A supervisory panel

Singular comments were made in relation to a supervisory panel.

• For the creation of an independent panel similar to (Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change) IPCC
• Questioning whether creating a supervisory panel would entail enough benefits in relation to expanding the role to existing bodies, which could require less resource
• A suggestion that the need to establish an independent supervisory panel should be assessed against the possibility of using existing agency or inter-agency resources to deliver reporting and scrutiny at least in the short term
• For oversight and/or involvement from relevant bodies such as environmental charities.

Other views

Comments that did not align with the other themes are summarised below.

• A suggestion that it would have been helpful to have comparative examples of what happens in other non-EU states referenced in the consultation paper in order to make an informed response
• A call for more discussion from the Scottish Government about this issue in an ongoing consultation process
• A brief comment indicating that this issue will need further consideration in light of future developments
• Discussion of external obligations that could affect the delivery of any new arrangements, giving the example of the 'Backstop' setting out clear requirements for environmental oversight, including powers for the responsible body to act on complaints or at its own initiative, to the potential for litigation and to the need for effective remedies - and noting that due to uncertainty, it is difficult to judge how far these should be allowed to influence the design choices currently being made.