The Scottish Government

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ENVIRONMENT AND RURAL AFFAIRS DEPARTMENT
(including the Scottish Agricultural Science Agency)

Core Functions of Department

ERAD is responsible for the following outcomes:

All in Scotland acting for sustainable development, with:

• clean air;
• safe, affordable drinking water;
• communities protected from flooding, climate change and other environmental hazards;
• waste minimised, recycled where possible and otherwise disposed of properly;
• rivers, lochs and beaches free of unacceptable pollution;
• well-maintained landscapes and biodiversity benefiting people and business;
• sustainable agriculture, forestry and fisheries, competitive in markets and contributing to local economies;
• well-treated and healthy domestic and farm animals;
• rural development benefiting communities;
• access to public services for people in rural areas; and
• science fully reflected in planning the future of Scotland's environment, marine and rural affairs.

Departmental Priorities in 2006 - 2009

Clean air:

• contribute to fulfilling the partnership agreement commitment to reduce car (vehicle) emissions, and work towards improving the quality of an air in Scotland in the long term.

Safe, affordable drinking water:

• assess Scottish water's drinking water quality data;
• secure from Scottish water a plan for delivery of the next regulatory settlement which commands the confidence of Ministers and regulators; and
• monitor progress under Scottish Water delivery plan through outputs monitoring group.

Communities protected from flooding, climate change and other environmental hazards:

• monitor progress against the Scottish Climate Change Programme and produce the first annual report for cabinet;
• develop processes to mainstream climate change thinking throughout the Executive; and
• increase protection for flooding through investment in flood alleviation measures, and flood defences, and through implementation of the flooding action plan.

Waste minimised, recycled where possible and otherwise disposed of properly:

• achieve 25% recycling and composting of municipal waste in calendar year 2006;
• progress National Waste Plan Implementation through investment in major infrastructure for residual waste; and
• secure agreement on the way forward for managing radioactive waste.

Rivers, lochs and beaches free of unacceptable pollution:

• implement the water frameworks directive and other relevant directives.

Well-maintained landscapes and biodiversity benefiting people and business:

• support delivery of the biodiversity strategy;
• implement the Marine and Coastal Strategy, including a Coastal and Marine National park;
• promote sustainable management of Scotland's landscape and countryside assets, including the promotion of public access and enjoyment; and
• ensure EU and international obligations on nature conservation and protected areas are met.

Sustainable agriculture, forestry and fisheries, competitive in markets and contributing to local economies:

• ensure passage of the crofting reform bill;
• implement the agriculture strategy;
• implement the review of levy boards;
• consult on country of origin labelling;
• enhance the statutory and regulatory framework for aquaculture and fisheries;
• implement the Sustainable Framework for Scottish Fisheries and Strategic Framework for Inshore Fisheries;
• implement the strategic framework for Scottish Aquaculture; and
• influence the annual negotiations for sea fisheries, culminating in the December 2006 EU Council.

Well-treated and healthy domestic and farm animals:

• implement the Animal Health and Welfare Act;
• ensure disease preparedness and resilience; and
• implement the Animal Health and Welfare Strategy.

Rural development benefiting communities:

• prepare the final Scotland Rural Development Plan; and
• agree and publish refreshed rural policy strategy, and implement follow up action.

Access to public services for people in rural areas:

• contribute to UK policy on Post Office network, ensuring proposals are acceptable; and
• increase efficiency and effectiveness of delivery activities across the ERAD family.

Science fully reflected in planning the future of Scotland's environment, marine and rural affairs:

• provide robust evidence to support the preparation of ERAD's contribution to the spending review 2007;
• develop a clear and mutually agreed description of the aims and objectives of the different ERAD funding streams for research; and
• develop a strategy to enhance the use and robustness of evidence in ERAD business.

Departmental Statement of Objectives/Aims to Advance Gender Equality

Our overall objective is to ensure that everyone in Scotland, whatever their age, sex, status, occupation and lifestyle, acts for sustainable development.

The available research suggests that women living in rural areas find it more difficult than women in urban areas to access transport, housing, healthcare, education, employment, support and other services. We recognise that we have a key role to play in ensuring that other Scottish Executive departments take account of the needs of rural communities, including the potentially differing needs of women and men in rural and remote areas, for example, health services and transport.

We recognise too that there is work to do to ensure that we collect, analyse and present analytical data by gender as appropriate and also consider the specific gendered difficulties faced by rural men and women when developing research and policy projects.

We are already committed to a Closing the Opportunity Gap objective - to improve access to high quality services for the most disadvantaged groups and individuals in rural communities - in order to improve their quality of life and enhance their access to opportunity. We know that a defining feature of some rural areas is a lack of accessibility for key services. We know that this can have a significant impact on the quality of life of communities and individuals.

Research highlights that disadvantage in rural areas is often caused or exacerbated by distance or the uneconomic nature of providing services (due to lower population numbers) and by stigma that can be associated with accessing some services in a small community. Rural services are provided by a number of delivery agents, including the Voluntary Sector, and so the target focuses on coordinating and improving service delivery through innovative approaches, such as co-location, integrated provision, mobile and outreach services. The intended improvements to accessibility and quality should deliver a higher quality of life and enhance opportunities for the most disadvantaged groups and individuals living in rural communities. These improvements will impact positively on both women and men, and will impact proportionally depending on the nature of the services required.

Our overall gender equality objective over the lifetime of this scheme will be to gender impact assess our key policies and strategies to ensure that we are taking full and proper account of gender equality issues as appropriate.

We recognise that we will need support to develop and take forward our equality requirements over the lifetime of the scheme and so we have committed to establishing a "Equality Expert Forum" to advise and enable us to do this effectively.

ENVIRONMENT AND RURAL AFFAIRS DEPARTMENT (including the Scottish Agricultural Science Agency)

Gender Equality Duty Action Plan

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