Committee vote on amendments reveals cross-party support for removal of Part 2 of the Natural Environment Bill

On

The Rural Affairs and Islands Committee have voted to remove Part 2 of the Natural Environment Bill, proposes granting Scottish Ministers the authority to amend, revoke, or restate key parts of the EIA and Habitats Regulations. The outcome has been called a “win for nature” [1].

Crucially, Part 2 could be returned to the bill at Stage 3 should a majority of MSPs vote to do so. At Stage 3, every MSP (not just committee members) can propose further amendments. Therefore, the Government may try to reinstate some or all of it and further amendments can be lodged. All MSPs can then vote on whether to accept those changes. Given the Committees vote yesterday a reintroduced part 2 will have to be substantially amended.

It was repeatedly observed at the meeting on Wednesday the 26th of November that significant concerns with Part 2 were expressed by the majority of by stakeholders who gave evidence to the committee[2]. Members of the committee themselves expressed doubt about the necessity of the powers, pointing to regulation 9D in particular as a source of existing flexibility.

While reiterating the need for flexibility to change the regulations, the Cabinet Secretary, Gillian Martin MSP, agreed that the power in Part 2, as written, is too broad and could be open to misuse by future governments. Accordingly, she urged the committee to support Alasdair Allan’s MSP (SNP) amendments (115, 116, 117) which she said introduce provision against weakening of environmental protections, and Emma Harper’s MSP (SNP) which introduced the requirement for parliamentary scrutiny (i.e. affirmative procedure) for changes other than minor (57).

The committee did vote to support Alasdair Allan and Emma Harper’s amendments; however, they also voted to support Mark Ruskell’s (Scottish Greens) amendments to scrap sections 1,2, and 3 of Part 2, which amounts to removing Part 2 in its entirety.

CIEEM considers this to be the best result at this stage, and commend all those involved in challenging this part of what is otherwise a good bill.  If Part 2 returns without substantial revisions we will be actively scrutinizing it. In that event, we will be calling on members to contact their MSPs to urge them to vote to ensure environmental protections in Scotland are not weakened. As a minimum, this would mean Part 2 must include strong non-regression safeguards and the requirement that use of the power be subject to parliamentary scrutiny.

This is the second of what is likely to be three or four meetings on Stage 2 of the bill before the end of the year. The first meeting, held on Wednesday the 19th of November, covered amendments to Part 1 on nature targets. The next meeting will start to look at amendments to Part 3 on National Parks. Throughout the first two meetings MSPs, including most recently Sarah Boyack MSP, have made reference to CIEEM’s support in crafting amendments.

Catching up? Here’s our coverage of the NE Bill to date:

CIEEM gives evidence on the draft Natural Environment (Scotland) Bill (22nd May 2025)

[1] https://www.thenational.scot/news/25653679.blow-snp-msps-vote-remove-entire-section-nature-bill/

[2] https://digitalpublications.parliament.scot/Committees/Report/RAI/2025/9/30/c0998641-29ed-441d-b64f-59e881f12710#149822e4-81f8-4a58-a6e5-908095a5a29d.dita