Litter and flytipping strategy: final business and regulatory impact assessment

3.0 Consultation

3.1 Consultation Within Government

The Scottish Government Environment and Forestry Directorate has engaged with other relevant teams across the Scottish Government regarding the potential impacts of the policy on, for example:

• Socio-economic inequality issues such as low income, low wealth, and area deprivation;
• Different geographic communities including island communities;
• Protected characteristics (age, disability, race, gender reassignment, marriage and civil partnership, pregnancy and maternity, religion and belief, sex, and sexual orientation);
• Businesses, including the food and drink industry and the hospitality sector.
• Local Authorities and other public bodies with a duty regarding litter and flytipping

3.2 Public Consultation

A partial BRIA document was published alongside the Scottish Government consultation paper on the aims, objectives, and potential actions for this new strategy, with questions aligned to the three strategic themes.

Consultation questions were drafted by the Scottish Government in partnership with Zero Waste Scotland, Keep Scotland Beautiful, and the Scottish Environment Protection Agency (SEPA). The consultation was open for 15 weeks from 13 December 2021 to 31 March 2022.

A total of 978 responses to the consultation were received. The consultation findings were analysed by Pye Tait Consulting and are presented in the full consultation analysis report.^[19]

Broadly, there were high levels of support for the proposed actions within the consultation documents. Where concerns were raised, it was from those who did not see the benefits of the supporting actions and instead wanted a focus on cleansing and enforcement activity.

3.3 Business Consultation

Businesses, like many organisations, participated in the above public consultation and expressed broad support for the proposed actions. There is a recognition of the impacts on different types of businesses including landowners who have to deal with flytipping on their land, businesses who suffer losses due to either direct damage or the decline in amenity from litter and flytipping and those whose products are associated with litter or flytipping.

The Strategy sets out a vision and set of outcomes and objectives to reduce litter and flytipping in Scotland with an accompanying action plan that outlines how we will achieve this vision over the strategy's six-year lifespan. Whilst setting a clear direction of travel, both the strategy and the action plan are high level in nature and as such cannot be assessed in detail. Individual actions will be co-designed through the governance and delivery framework to ensure key stakeholders and sectors are appropriately engaged.

The publication of the National Litter and Flytipping Strategy and associated action plan, which is the subject of this Business Regulatory Impact Assessment, does not have any direct impacts on businesses. Instead, the detailed design and implementation of individual actions under the strategy, to deliver the aim of preventing litter and flytipping, will require consideration of the impacts on different types of business, when under development.

Any policy interventions within the action plan would be subject to further proportionate impact assessment including the Business Regulatory Impact Assessment, to ensure that impacts on businesses are considered in the interventions' design and implementation.