Environmental Standards Scotland () is a non-ministerial office of the

Scottish Government The Scottish Government (, ) is the executive arm of the devolved government of Scotland. It was formed in 1999 as the Scottish Executive following the 1997 referendum on Scottish devolution, and is headquartered at St Andrew's House in ...

. It was formed in October 2021 to scrutinise, investigate and secure improvements in the effectivesness of, and compliance with, environmental law. Its remit effectively replaces the scrutiny and enforcement role over Scotland's environmental law that was previously undertaken by the

European Union The European Union (EU) is a supranational union, supranational political union, political and economic union of Member state of the European Union, member states that are Geography of the European Union, located primarily in Europe. The u ...

prior to

Brexit Brexit (, a portmanteau of "Britain" and "Exit") was the Withdrawal from the European Union, withdrawal of the United Kingdom (UK) from the European Union (EU). Brexit officially took place at 23:00 GMT on 31 January 2020 (00:00 1 February ...

. The office's remit covers all public authorities in Scotland, including the Scottish Government and its public bodies, as well organisations carrying out functions on behalf of public authorities, and covers the land, air and marine environment of Scotland. It does not undertake monitoring of environmental issues directly, rather it requests information about policies, procedures, and environmental data, from other bodies. Where it is found that an existing environmental law or standard does not provide sufficient environmental protection, Environmental Standards Scotland is able to make an improvement report, which requires the

Scottish Parliament The Scottish Parliament ( ; ) is the Devolution in the United Kingdom, devolved, unicameral legislature of Scotland. It is located in the Holyrood, Edinburgh, Holyrood area of Edinburgh, and is frequently referred to by the metonym 'Holyrood'. ...

to produce an action plan for implementing the report's recommendations. Environmental Standards Scotland has the power to issue "information notices" that require a body to provide relevant information, and "compliance notices" requiring specific actions to be undertaken. If a body does not implement the actions in a compliance notice then ESS can apply to the

courts A court is an institution, often a government entity, with the authority to adjudicate legal disputes between parties and administer justice in civil, criminal, and administrative matters in accordance with the rule of law. Courts gene ...

to seek enforcement. If a case is considered "serious" the office has the power to apply to the

for a

judicial review Judicial review is a process under which a government's executive, legislative, or administrative actions are subject to review by the judiciary. In a judicial review, a court may invalidate laws, acts, or governmental actions that are in ...

Equivalent bodies

The Office for Environmental Protection is the equivalent body for England and Northern Ireland, and also has jurisdiction across the UK (including Scotland) in respect of reserved matters. The Interim Environmental Protection Assessor for Wales (IEPAW) is the equivalent body for Wales.

References

External links

Official Website
Non-ministerial departments of the Scottish Government 2021 establishments in Scotland Government agencies established in 2021 Environmental organisations based in Scotland Organisations based in Edinburgh {{Scotland-stub

Equivalent bodies

See also

References

External links