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Controlled Activities Regulations

CONSULTATION PAPER: "THE WATER ENVIRONMENT (CONTROLLED ACTIVITIES) (SCOTLAND) REGULATIONS 2004"

In February 2002 we published "The Future for Scotland’s Waters — Proposals for Legislation". This set out the Executive’s proposals for the management and protection of our natural water environment for the long term benefit of future generations of Scots.

We welcomed the highly constructive comments we received in response to that document, and believe that with the Water Environment and Water Services (Scotland) Act 2003 we have established a firm foundation on which to build the necessary framework for the sustainable management of our rivers, lochs and coasts.

This new consultation document sets out our proposals on key aspects of implementation — regulations over activities affecting the water environment, including transitional arrangements and links with existing environmental legislation. We enclose a copy of the paper and hope that you will wish to make your views known on our proposals.

Copies of the paper are also being sent to a wide range of industry, environmental, interest and community groups and is also available on our website at www.scotland.gov.uk/consultations.

We look forward to receiving your comments on these proposals by the close date of 9 July 2004.

JOHN LANGLANDS
WATER ENVIRONMENT DIVISION

A. CONSULTATION ON THE WATER ENVIRONMENT (CONTROLLED ACTIVITIES) (SCOTLAND) REGULATIONS 2004

Responding to this consultation paper

We are inviting written responses to this consultation paper by 9 July 2003.

Please send your response to:
waterenvironment@scotland.gsi.gov.uk
or
Water Environment Division
Scottish Executive
Area 1-H, Victoria Quay
EDINBURGH EH6 6QQ
Tel: 0131 244 0386
Fax: 0131 244 0245

If you have any queries contact Linda Galbraith on 0131 244 0386.

We would be grateful if you could clearly indicate in your response which questions or parts of the consultation paper you are responding to (using the consultation questionnaire if appropriate) as this will aid our analysis of the responses received.

This consultation, and all other SE consultation exercises, can be viewed online at http://www.scotland.gov.uk/consultations. You can telephone Freephone 0800 77 1234 to find out where your nearest public internet access point is.

The Scottish Executive now has an email alert system for SE consultations (SEconsult). This system allows stakeholder individuals and organisations to register and receive a weekly email containing details of all new SE consultations (including web links). SEconsult complements, but in no way replaces SE distribution lists, and is designed to allow stakeholders to keep up to date with all SE consultations activity, and therefore be alerted at the earliest opportunity to those of most interest. We would encourage you to register.

Access to consultation responses

We will make all responses available to the public in the Scottish Executive Library, unless confidentiality is requested. All responses not marked confidential will be checked for any potentially defamatory material before being logged in the library or placed on the website.

B. RESPONDEE INFORMATION FORM

Please complete the details below and attach it with your response. This will help ensure we handle your response appropriately:

Name:

Postal Address:

Consultation title:

1. Are you responding as: (please tick one box)

2a. INDIVIDUALS:

Do you agree to your response being made available to the public (in SE library and/or on SE website)?

Yes (go to 2b below)
No, not at all

2b. Where confidentiality is not requested, we will make your response available to the public on the following basis (please tick one of the following boxes)

2c ON BEHALF OF GROUPS OR ORGANISATIONS:

Your name and address as respondees will be made available to the public (in the SE library and/or on SE website). Are you content for your response to be made available also?

SHARING RESPONSES/FUTURE ENGAGEMENT

3. We will share your response internally with other SE policy teams who may be addressing the issues you discuss. They may wish to contact you again in the future, but we require your permission to do so. Are you content for the Scottish Executive

to contact you again in the future in relation to this consultation response?

C. The Scottish Executive Consultation Process

Consultation is an essential and important aspect of Scottish Executive working methods. Given the wide-ranging areas of work of the Scottish Executive, there are many varied types of consultation. However, in general Scottish Executive consultation exercises aim to provide opportunities for all those who wish to express their opinions on a proposed area of work to do so in ways which will inform and enhance that work.

While details of particular circumstances described in a response to a consultation exercise may usefully inform the policy process, consultation exercises cannot address individual concerns and comments, which should be directed to the relevant public body. Consultation exercises may involve seeking views in a number of different ways, such as public meetings, focus groups or questionnaire exercises.

Typically, Scottish Executive consultations involve a written paper inviting answers to specific questions or more general views about the material presented. Written papers are distributed to organisations and individuals with an interest in the area of consultation, and they are also placed on the Scottish Executive web site enabling a wider audience to access the paper and submit their responses¹. Copies of all the responses received to consultation exercises (except those where the individual or organisation requested confidentiality) are placed in the Scottish Executive library at Saughton House, Edinburgh (K Spur, Saughton House, Broomhouse Drive, Edinburgh, EH11 3XD, telephone 0131 244 4552).

The views and suggestions detailed in consultation responses are analysed and used as part of the decision making process. Depending on the nature of the consultation exercise the responses received may:

indicate the need for policy development or review
inform the development of a particular policy
help decisions to be made between alternative policy proposals
be used to finalise legislation before it is implemented

If you have any comment about how this consultation exercise has been conducted, please send them to the address above.

^1. http://www.scotland.gov.uk/consultations

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