The Climate Change (Duties of Public Bodies: Reporting Requirements) (Scotland) Order 2015

Overview

This consultation is important; as the specifics of climate change reporting will involve a range of personnel in each public sector organisation.  The main reasons for using the powers in the Climate Change (Scotland) Act 2009 (“the 2009 Act”) to introduce a statutory reporting requirement are to: support compliance with the public bodies duties; consolidate climate change information from public sector; introduce standard methodology to improve data consistency; encourage continuous improvement and transparency; improve board engagement and leadership action and inform Scottish Government strategic reporting and future policy/support.

Why your views matter

We are seeking views on the proposed introduction of a statutory requirement on specified public bodies to report compliance on the climate change public bodies duties. The key driver to introducing this reporting requirement is to improve the quality and consistency of climate change information available to Scottish Ministers, Scottish Government policy officials and the public sector itself.

We are also seeking any thoughts you may have on the impact of the changes in reporting climate change progress and activity, including any concerns.  We would also welcome views on how the climate change reports should be annually validated, analysed and monitored in the future.

The consultation is not seeking views on the provisions of the 2009 Act, as this has already by approved by Parliament. This paper seeks to make clear what the proposed statutory reporting requirement entails and which public sector organisations are involved; this is the primary focus of the consultation.  Your views are particularly sought on the questions outlined in the Consultation Questionnaire enclosed in Annex A.

Responding to this consultation

We invite responses to this consultation by 29 May 2015, using this consultation platform.  Please click the "online survey" button below to submit your views on the consultation.  Please use the consultation questionnaire or indicate clearly in your response which questions or parts of the consultation paper you are responding to. This will help our analysis of the responses received.

Handling your response

If you have any queries in advance of responding on this platform please contact Howard Steele at Howard.Steele@scotland.gsi.gov.uk . 

We need to know how to handle your response and in particular, whether you are happy for it to be made public. The attached Respondent Information Form will ensure that we treat your response appropriately. If you ask for your response not to be published we treat it as confidential.

You should be aware that the Scottish Government is subject to the provisions of the Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act 2002 and must consider any request made to it under the Act for information relating to responses made to this consultation exercise.

What happens next?

Following the closing date, all responses will be analysed and considered along with any other available evidence to help us reach a decision on Climate Change Public Bodies Duties Reporting.  We aim to issue a consultation report by and take stakeholder views into account before laying the statutory instrument.

If you have given permission for your response to be made public and after we have checked that it contains no potentially defamatory material, your response will be made available to the public in the Scottish Government Library and on the Scottish Government consultation web pages. You can make arrangements to view responses by contacting the SG Library on 0131 244 4552.

Comments and complaints

If you have any comments about how this consultation exercise has been conducted, please send them to:

Judith Young

Scottish Government, Climate Change Hub

Area 1 – D South, Victoria Quay, Leith, Edinburgh, EH6  6QQ.   

E-mail: judith.young@scotland.gsi.gov.uk

What happens next

Following the closing date, responses will be considered along with any other available evidence to help us finalise the statutory instrument.