National Flood Resilience Strategy

Annex – Impact Assessments

As part of the development of the strategy we have undertaken the required impact assessments (IAs). Below sets out our approach to each of the IAs.

Strategic Environmental Assessment (SEA)

• In Scotland, public bodies and private companies operating in a public character, such as utility companies, are required to assess, consult on, and monitor the likely impacts their plans, programmes and strategies will have on the environment. This process is known as Strategic Environmental Assessment (SEA).
• A Strategic Environment Assessment (SEA) pre-screening was conducted on the Flood Resilience Strategy (FRS) and has been notified on the SEA pre-screening register. The FRS sets the strategic direction for improving flood resilience, with the detailed actions set out in Delivery Plans, which may require SEAs to be conducted.
• A key focus of the FRS will be improving ways of working and communication, meaningfully engaging with communities, and clarifying responsibilities. These changes are not expected to result in environmental consequences.

Equalities Impact and Fairer Scotland Duty Assessment

• An Equalities Impact Assessment (EQIA) aims to consider how a policy may impact, either positively or negatively, on different sectors of the population in different ways. A policy can cover activities, functions, strategies, programmes, and services or processes.
• The Fairer Scotland Duty (FSD) is set out in legislation as Part 1 of the Equality Act 2010 and came into force in Scotland from April 2018. The aim of the FSD is to help the public sector to make better policy decisions and deliver fairer outcomes. The duty focuses on socio-economic inequality issues such as low income, low wealth, and area deprivation. The Fairer Scotland Duty applies to ‘decisions of a strategic nature’ – these are the key, high-level choices or plans that the public sector makes.
• A joint EQIA and FSD has been prepared for the FRS. It is not foreseen that the FRS itself will unlawfully discriminate against any protected characteristics. However, the delivery of detailed actions set out in Delivery Plans which will underpin the FRS may require EQIA and FSD assessments to ensure that they do not unlawfully discriminate against any protected characteristics.

Child Rights and Wellbeing Impact Assessment Business (CRWIA)

• The Child Rights and Wellbeing Impact Assessment (CRWIA) is used to identify, research, analyse and record the impact of a proposed policy on children’s human rights and wellbeing. CRWIA helps the Scottish Government consider whether it is: advancing the rights of children in Scotland; and protecting and promoting the wellbeing of children and young people.
• CRWIA is a Ministerial duty under the Children and Young People (Scotland) Act 2014. The United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC) (Incorporation) (Scotland) Bill was first passed by the Scottish Parliament unanimously on 16 March 2021. An amended bill was then passed by the Scottish Parliament on 7 December 2023 which came into force on 16 July 2024. The UNCRC Act requires public authorities to protect children’s human rights in their decision-making when delivering functions conferred by Acts of the Scottish Parliament.
• A CRWIA has been conducted for the FRS. It is anticipated that the FRS will have a positive impact on children’s rights and wellbeing,

Business Regulatory Impact Assessment (BRIA)

• A Business and Regulatory Impact Assessment (BRIA) looks at the likely costs, benefits, and risks of any proposed primary or secondary legislation. It also covers voluntary regulation, codes of practice, guidance or policy changes that may have an impact on the public, private or third sector.
• With the FRS being a high-level strategy, Delivery Plans will be developed by a range of actors following its publication, setting out the detailed actions and implementation to deliver it. Given the importance of fully understanding business impacts, many actions will be subject to individual BRIAs.
• The Scottish Government undertook an extensive programme of engagement with a range of flood risk management stakeholders and communities over 2023 and 2024 to inform the FRS.
• This included engaging with a diverse range of stakeholders through Sniffer. This included 12 workshops with over 300 participants where businesses could, and did, attend. The workshops were attended by representatives from a range of sectors, including engineering and flood risk management consultancies – Mott Macdonald, Atkins, Sweco, Amey, and those from other sectors– property flood resilience, agriculture, land management, green finance, and architecture. The outputs of these workshops fed into the development of the consultation paper and the three key themes of People, Places and Processes. More details about the workshops can be found on the Sniffer website.
• Third sector engagement was also extensive, including with the Scottish Flood Forum, community flood groups, Scottish Community Development Centre and the Climate Policy Engagement Network (CPEN) which has members from third sector and local government.
• The public consultation ran in 2024 and the results fed into the FRS. A range of organisations and individuals responded to the consultation and more details can be found on the Scottish Government website.
• The FRS will be followed by Delivery Plans that set out actions that partners will take to implement it. The FRS includes a number of recommendations such as the Flooding Advisory Service or a property flood resilience grant scheme which may have an impact on business and regulation, so will require BRIAs to be completed as they are developed further.

Island Communities Impact Assessment (ICIA)

• An Island Community Impact Assessment (ICIA) tests any new policy, strategy or service which is likely to have an effect on an island community which is significantly different from the effect on other communities. This became a legal duty in December 2020 under the Islands (Scotland) Act 2018.
• The FRS is based around three key themes: people, place, and process. The FRS should not have differential implications for island communities. The themes of people, places and processes are high-level and can be applied in a range of contexts and according to the needs of different communities.
• An ICIA screening has been completed and can be found on the Scottish Government website.