Cleaner Air for Scotland 2: environmental report

6. Monitoring

6.1.1 Section 19 of the 2005 Act requires the responsible authority to monitor the significant environmental effects of the implementation of the PPS. This should be done in a way to enable them to identify any unforeseen adverse effects at an early stage, and to take appropriate remedial action where relevant.

6.1.2 The consultation draft CAFS2 recognises that air pollution, climate change, carbon reduction, and mobility are strongly interconnected. A wide range of existing programmes are already in place at the national and local level to report on environmental status and assess performance against relevant environmental indicators. These include the annual greenhouse gas emissions reporting which covers sectoral emissions, as well as monitoring associated with the Annual Energy Statement introduced by the Energy Strategy. At a local level, air pollution monitoring across Scotland is also relevant.

6.1.3 An important addition to the existing reporting landscape will also be the statutory requirement, established by the Climate Change (Reduction Emissions Targets) (Scotland) Act 2019, for annual publication (and laying in Parliament for scrutiny) of separate monitoring reports on progress to delivering each sectoral chapter of Climate Change Plans. The first set of such reports is required in May 2021 and will help Ministers and stakeholders to understand areas where the Plans are on track and areas where more effort may be needed.

6.1.4 Further, given that the draft CAFS2 draws together existing plans, programme and strategies that will contribute to improved air quality, monitoring of these PPS will also be relevant. For example, the finalised monitoring and evaluation framework for the National Transport Strategy (identified under theme 8) will provide an opportunity to measure and report annually on performance at a national, and where possible, regional and local levels.

6.1.5 An annual progress report has been published for each year of the current CAFS (2015 – 2020). An enhanced and strengthened annual performance report has been proposed as part of CAFS2 and will also be accompanied by the convening of a CAFS2 Delivery Group which will be provided with a clear remit, including the authority and defined procedures to ensure that the actions in the new strategy are effectively delivered, and a description of how its advice is conveyed to the Scottish Ministers. The Delivery Group will also need clear targets and Key Performance Indicators. It is therefore proposed that the monitoring for SEA purposes is an integral part of the monitoring of the strategy.