Scottish Government consultations

Following on from a previous consultation in 2019 we asked specific questions on how proposals put forward by the Scottish Charity Regulator (OSCR) about improvements to charity regulation in Scotland could be implemented.

The proposals broadly focus on changes to charity law that would increase transparency and accountability in charities and enhance regulatory powers for OSCR. The aim being to maintain public trust and confidence in charities and OSCR.

We received 100 responses to the survey from a range of individuals, charitable organisations and others with an interest in charity law. 

The majority of respondents showed continuing support for the proposals in the survey and ways in which they could be achieved.

We have published the responses that gave permission and an analysis report of the survey responses: Analysis Of Responses To Engagement On Strengthening Scottish Charity Law - gov.scot (www.gov.scot).

We will continue to work with OSCR to establish the practical implications of the proposals on the organisation and publish the next steps before the end of the year.

We asked for your views on our draft recovery plan for the manufacturing sector – Making Scotland’s Future: A Recovery Plan for Manufacturing.

We received a total of 53 responses. The majority of responses (43) were submitted through the Scottish Government's Citizen Space consultation hub. The remaining were submitted via email.  41 responses were from organisations with the remaining 12 from individuals.

We have published the responses received where the respondent has given permission for us to do so.

We published an analysis of the consultation responses:

Manufacturing recovery plan: consultation analysis – March 2021 - gov.scot (www.gov.scot)

The response to the consultation has been incorporated into the final version of the plan which is published on the Scottish Government website:

Making Scotland's Future: A Recovery Plan For Manufacturing Final – June 2021 - gov.scot (www.gov.scot)

We asked for your views on a draft new air quality strategy for Scotland.

The analysis of consultation responses provides a summary of respondents' views.

Cleaner Air for Scotland 2 - consultation on a draft new air quality for Scotland: Scottish Government response

On 22 March 2021 the Scottish Government published an analysis of responses to the recent consultation on a draft new air quality strategy for Scotland.  This statement sets out the Government’s response to the consultation and the next steps for finalising the strategy.

Within the broad support for the overarching aims of the strategy, a wide and diverse range of views was expressed by respondents.  Many respondents noted that fully integrating the new air quality strategy with related Government plans, programmes and strategies will be crucial to its success.  A related requirement is the need to take account of policy developments since the consultation was launched in October 2020 and to consider the broader context of the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic. 

There are five key areas where we plan to update the draft strategy to reflect consultation feedback and recent development. These are:

• Updating our assessment of the links between the pandemic and air quality, with a focus on health;
• Strengthening the delivery of co-benefits for air quality and climate change, following publication of the Climate Change Plan update and in the run up to the establishment of a Scottish Nitrogen Balance Sheet;
• In line with consultation feedback, placing a stronger emphasis on demand reduction within the transport element of the strategy;
• Coupling the development of the voluntary code of good agricultural practice for improving air quality in Scotland with greater emphasis on the use of advisory services and support mechanisms for farmers and crofters to effect change; and
• A commitment to develop a delivery plan to provide more specific information about responsibilities and timelines for implementation of the main actions in the strategy, again to reflect consultation feedback.

Further commentary on these is set out below.

The draft strategy discussed some of the high level initial findings around the direct links between Covid-19 health impacts and air quality, and also the reduction in traffic levels during the first part of the lockdown. The body of evidence has been added to significantly since this time and will be reflected in the final strategy, together with the implications for air quality of wider Covid-19 recovery plans.

The publication of the Climate Change plan update (CCPu) has set out a pathway to Scotland’s economy-wide emissions reduction targets over the period to 2032.  In many areas, including industry, transport, heat and agriculture, there are significant co-benefits for air quality from our action to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. The updated strategy will provide stronger linkage across to the CCPu and its delivery structure, with the aim of maximising these co-benefits.

An important element of consultation feedback was the need to focus more on demand reduction measures within the transport section of the strategy. With the publication of the CCPu and the delivery plan for National Transport Strategy 2, we now have a number of more concrete demand reduction measures to incorporate within the final strategy, including important commitments to a 20% reduction in car kilometres by 2030 and further development of the concept of 20 minute neighbourhoods.

There was a consensus amongst respondents that many of the proposed actions, while positive, require more detail in terms of responsibilities, outcomes and timelines.  These points will be addressed in a delivery plan which will accompany the strategy. We have made a clear commitment to working closely with the agricultural sector, business, industry and other partners when taking forward the actions relating to these policy areas, and this commitment will be reaffirmed in the final version. 

Collectively these actions will build on the successes to date in improving air quality in Scotland and will deliver further positive change over the next five years.

The final strategy will be published later in 2021.