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Application form
Please make sure you have read all the notes carefully before you start to fill in the application form. This application form can either be completed by hand or electronically - it is available on the Planning homepage at www.scotland.gov.uk/planning. Please complete all five sections. The deadline for submitting applications is 8 September 2006. An acknowledgement letter will be sent to the person who has completed this form.
1 Please provide a name and contact details of the lead organisation responsible for this work.
Name | Dr Joseph Somevi |
Job title | Strategic Environmental Assessment Officer |
Organisation | Policy Planning & Environment, Aberdeenshire Council |
Address | Woodhill House, Westburn Road, Aberdeen |
Telephone | 01224 664369 |
Fax | 01224 664679 |
Email | Joseph.Somevi@aberdeenshire.gov.uk |
2 If this is a joint application, please list the other partners who had a key role. You should also inform your partners that you are nominating the project for an award.
1 Aberdeen City Council | 2 Scottish Enterprise Grampian |
3 | 4 |
5 | 6 |
3 Tick the category of nomination
Title of entry | Partnership Approach to Delivering Strategic Environmental Assessment |
Please complete the form on the following pages by providing a brief summary of the piece of work you have entered. You must also conclude with a key reason as to why you think this work merits an Award. Only the two A4 pages supplied here can be used and your text must fit within the boxes. The font size should be no less than 12pt.
The judging criteria are set out below. Please tick only the key criteria relevant to your entry:
You must describe, in your written submission, how the criteria which you have ticked relate to your project.
Description of project
Aberdeenshire Council, Aberdeen City Council and Scottish Enterprise Grampian have developed a partnership strategy for sharing expertise, cost and resources aimed at meeting the EU Directive and subsequent Scottish legislation on Strategic Environmental Assessment ( SEA). The project involves recruitment of an SEA officer; awareness raising and training; development of resources and guides necessary for the implementation of SEA; coordination of the SEA process and the provision of support for officers carrying SEA in the partnership. |
Context - describe the background to the project
The EU Directive 2001/42/ EC on Strategic Environmental Assessment ( SEA) came into effect on 21 July 2004. The partners are involved in the preparation of development plans and regeneration strategies affected by the Directive. It is recognised that the SEA Directive would have human, financial and resource implications for the three partners. Employing a dedicated officer to work across the three authorities is an innovative approach to addressing potential high consultancy costs. This post would assist in disseminating best practice and promoting consistency. This results in better SEA and long-term cost savings to the partners. |
What are the aims and objectives of the project?
The project aims to develop in-house expertise to meet the obligations under the SEA Directive; develop a culture of integrating SEA as part of the plan-making processes thereby promoting sustainable development; and to promote good practice SEA in the North East Scotland. To achieve these aims a coordinator was employed to champion SEA; to advise, train and support partners and develop user-friendly guidance and resources for SEA; identify plans and programmes requiring different actions under the SEA Directive and to ensure that action is taken by Services in respect of plans identified. |
Timescale - over what timescale has the project been developed?
Although the EU Directive is a permanent Directive with no time limitations, the project envisages that within two years (i.e. from 1 August 2005 to 31 July 2007) internal expertise would have been developed and a culture change achieved. The first year will focus on awareness raising, basic training and development of resources. The second year will focus on developing professional knowledge in SEA through expert training and support of the delivery of SEA by trained officers. |
Action - explain the process and action taken
Aberdeenshire Council invited Community Planning Partners to join them in this project. Aberdeen City Council and Scottish Enterprise Grampian accepted the invitation and joint funding package negotiated and secured. Administered by a steering group and comprising all three partners, a project officer was appointed and in accordance with an agreed workplan, a range of actions undertaken to manage the project. |
Explain the role of the key partners
Funding for the project is evenly split between the three partners. Aberdeenshire Aberdeen City Councils provide office space, ICT support, and day-to-day line management. Corporate commitments have been made to make key staff available to attend training and to engage with the SEA officer. The partners, through the SEA Steering Group, monitor the delivery of the project. In general the three partners develop policies, plans or programmes for which SEA will be required; carry out SEA; act as consultees for other authorities; provide (or point to the source of) baseline information; identify problems and issues in their areas; consult with relevant bodies, community partners and the public; monitor significant impacts identified in plans or programmes and ensure quality assurance in the SEA process. |
Results - what results were achieved?
By the end of the first year of the project, the SEA officer targeted 430 potential candidates from the partnership for induction course; organised 5 SEA courses for 90 officers; completed 8 publications including handbook, scoping manual; environmental report manual; generic SEA data source manual and 4 training manuals; assisted partners in the identification of 76 generic plans which may require SEA; provided support to 12 officers in the partnership at various stages of the SEA process; commented on 9 SEAs from other councils and made 14 presentations. Capacity has been developed to the extent that the two councils are now routinely carrying out SEA in-house. Also, expertise is being shared with community partners. Other authorities outside the partnership have benefited from the project through direct advice or through information shared through Scottish Sustainability Network. The development of in-house expertise is expected to save the partners an estimated £1.5 million in consultancy fees. |
Conclusion - in summary, why does this piece of work merit an Award?
The project has highlighted what partnership with other local authorities can achieve in a very short time for the partners, and in the interest of the wider community. It also demonstrates how new legislative challenges can be used as a springboard for joint action and implementation. Modest investment in the project by partners has led to big returns in quality, capacity, understanding and complementarity. Closer ties have also been developed between partners. The project also demonstrates how partnership can promote the development of professional knowledge through training and support; encourage innovation to funding; promote sustainable development through SEA; ensure effective management of SEA processes through the work of dedicated officer and his line managers as well as through the work of the steering group. SEA will also improve the environmental sustainability of regeneration strategies. In addition to customer satisfaction inherent in consultation processes for SEA, the potential cost savings achieved are available for investment into better customer services. This project therefore meets every criterion for the award. |
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