Key amendments tabled for discussion at Stage 2 of Natural Environment (Scotland) Bill

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The first meeting of the committee to discuss amendments, or changes, to the Natural Environment (Scotland) Bill will take place on the morning of Wednesday the 19th of November. The amendments to be voted on have been collated into a list and grouped according to topic to facilitate coherent discussion. This includes those on the “Power to amend EIA legislation and habitats regulations” (Part 2 of the bill).

Crucially, almost all the amendments which Scottish Environment LINK  wanted to see tabled at this stage have been. This includes the following to Part 2:

  • deletion of purposes 3(c), (e), and (f) (amendments 119, 9, and 10), which CIEEM and others see as wholly inappropriate;
  • modification of purpose 3(b) to remove the implication that climate targets have priority over nature targets (118);
  • inclusion of a non-regression safeguard to any regulations made under Part 2 (6 and 196);
  • a requirement that any amendment to Part II of the Habitats Regulations take account of Regulation 9D (7).

The Scottish Government submitted its own amendments, including one that could be interpreted to amount to non-regression (115) and represents a significant win for  Scottish Environment LINK. However, it remains critical for safeguarding that any changes made to environmental protections using the power in Part 2 be subject to affirmative procedure, i.e. are subject to parliamentary scrutiny before becoming law.

MSPs Mercedes Villalba and Rhoda Grant took forward several amendments for consideration of the committee after CIEEM got in touch as part of Scottish Environment LINK. These include amendments 119 and 118 above, as well as several in relation to nature targets in Part 1 (19, 20, 22, 105, 106). As Rhoda Grant is a member of the scrutinising committee (RAIC), she can vote on amendments at Stage 2, but Mercedes Villalba and others not on the committee must wait until Stage 3.

The number of discussions held at Stage 2 depends on how quickly the committee get through the amendments, but it seems likely — given the number of amendments — this will amount to at least three to cover all four parts of the bill. In addition to the four parts of the Bill there are amendments tabled in relation to forestry, invasive non-native species and several other areas. Voting follows discussion, but these may not be on the same day, and voting may not even occur in the order of discussion. Again, this remains to be seen, and CIEEM will be following closely.

While we hope that the critical changes that are needed will be voted in at this second stage, we are preparing materials for members to use in contacting their MSPs to support certain key amendments in Stage 3.

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