Subordinate Legislation
Scotland Act 1998 (Transfer of Functions to the Scottish Ministers etc) Order 2008 (Draft)
Agenda item 2 is subordinate legislation. Before we discuss the draft order, I seek members' agreement to discuss our report on the order in private at our next meeting.
Members indicated agreement.
I welcome the Cabinet Secretary for Rural Affairs and the Environment to the meeting, together with his officials Richard Robertson, who is a policy manager at the waste and pollution division of the environmental quality directorate, and Heather Wortley, who is a solicitor with the food and environment division of the legal directorate.
The order is subject to the affirmative procedure, which is why we have invited the cabinet secretary here to discuss it. Members can ask questions about the order before we move to agenda item 3 and the formal debate. Officials may contribute now, but may not contribute during the formal debate.
I invite the cabinet secretary to make an opening statement, if he so wishes. Committee members will then ask questions.
Thank you, convener. It is a pleasure to be back before you for the first time in a few weeks. I thank the committee for giving me the opportunity to present the draft order.
The Scotland Act 1998 (Transfer of Functions to the Scottish Ministers etc) Order 2008 will transfer to the Scottish ministers a number of functions in the Pollution Prevention and Control Act 1999 and the Environment Act 1995. That will ensure that the Scottish Government is able fully to implement certain European Community energy efficiency obligations. The functions that will be transferred under the order will allow the Scottish ministers to empower the Scottish Environment Protection Agency to ensure that energy is being used efficiently at industrial installations that fall within the scope of the integrated pollution prevention and control directive.
The order is made under section 63 of the Scotland Act 1998, which enables any function of a United Kingdom minister of the Crown to be exercisable by the Scottish ministers. It is proposed that the functions listed in the order will be exercisable by the Scottish ministers concurrently with a minister of the Crown. Committee members will have seen the executive note that sets out the policy objectives, legislative background and content of the draft order.
Why is the order required? The IPPC directive introduced an integrated approach to controlling emissions from industrial installations. As many members may know, that is achieved through a permitting system that requires operators to take an overall view of the potential for their installation to pollute. Operators are required to adopt measures to prevent pollution and improve the environmental performance of their installation, including its energy consumption and energy efficiency. Member states are required under the directive to ensure that installations are operated in such a way as to use energy efficiently.
We have concluded that some aspects of the requirement fall within the subject matter of the Energy Act 1976 and so are reserved matters under the Scotland Act 1998. There is an exception to the energy conservation reservation for
"The encouragement of energy efficiency other than by prohibition or regulation."
However, relying only on encouraging operators to use energy efficiently would not be sufficient to implement the IPPC directive in full. The directive has been transposed in Scotland through the Pollution Prevention and Control (Scotland) Regulations 2000, commonly known as the PPC regulations, which currently are enforced by SEPA. Around 450 industrial installations across Scotland fall within the scope of the IPPC directive, covering a wide range of sectors.
Without the order, the Scottish ministers will be unable to give SEPA the powers to include all the prescriptive conditions in IPPC permits. Those conditions are needed to ensure that energy is used efficiently within industrial installations, in compliance with the directive's requirements.
The order will transfer a range of pollution control functions to the Scottish ministers to ensure that the Scottish Government is able to implement all aspects of community law concerning energy efficiency at industrial installations. Many of the industrial processes that fall within the scope of the IPPC directive tend to be energy intensive in nature. Energy efficiency is a key element of our climate change agenda and is an integral component of our strategy to create a strong, sustainable economy. Improving energy efficiency can provide real opportunities for many businesses to improve profitability, particularly at a time of increasing energy prices.
In drafting the order, Scottish Government officials worked closely with the Scotland Office, the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, and the Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform to agree the content and scope of the draft order. I invite the committee to discuss and approve the order.
As no member has any questions, we move to the next item of business, which is the formal debate on the order. The cabinet secretary is entitled to make an opening speech, but in the circumstances he might wish just to move the motion formally.
I am so pleased that there are no questions that I am happy just to move forward on the agenda.
Motion moved,
That the Rural Affairs and Environment Committee recommends that the draft Scotland Act 1998 (Transfer of Functions to the Scottish Ministers etc.) Order 2008 be approved.—[Richard Lochhead.]
Does any committee member wish to contribute to the formal debate?
It is good to see such effective co-operation between our Governments.
That is a statement and not a question.
It is a statement in an open debate, convener.
Thank you. No one else seems to want to speak. Again, cabinet secretary, you are entitled to make a short winding-up speech, but you might wish to dispense with it.
I just want to thank the committee for its co-operation. The order closes an important loophole and will be of assistance.
The question is, that motion S3M-1894, in the name of Richard Lochhead, be agreed to.
Motion agreed to.
Thank you, cabinet secretary. It is the procedure that pulls you in front of us.
Thank you. I expect that response to be the norm.