Compulsory purchase reform in Scotland: consultation

11. Assessment of impacts

Business and Regulatory Impact Assessment

11.1 A Partial (i.e. draft) Business and Regulatory Impact Assessment (BRIA) is provided in the Annex to this paper. This considers the potential costs and benefits of the proposals in this consultation on businesses, and economic impacts more generally. We would welcome any comments on this draft assessment. Feedback will inform further policy development and iteration of the BRIA, a final version of which will be published alongside any future Compulsory Purchase Bill.

Question 118: Do you have any comments on the draft BRIA provided in the Annex?

Other Assessments

11.2 A number of other assessments and screening exercises are also being progressed including:

• Equality Impact Assessment (EQIA)
• Child Rights and Wellbeing Screening Assessment (CRWIA)
• Island Communities Impact Assessment (ICIA)
• Fairer Scotland Duty Assessment (FSDA)

11.3 Like the BRIA, these are ‘live’ documents which will be updated in the light of responses to this consultation and inform further policy development. Final impact assessments will be published when the reform package is taken forward through a future Bill.

Equality Impact Assessment

11.4 The public sector equality duty requires the Scottish Government to have due regard to the need to:

• eliminate discrimination, victimisation, harassment or other unlawful conduct that is prohibited under the Equality Act 2010
• advance equality of opportunity between people who share a protected characteristic and those who do not, and
• foster good relations between people who share a relevant protected characteristic and those who do not

11.5 The protected characteristics which the duty relates to are: age, disability, gender reassignment, marriage & civil partnership, pregnancy & maternity, race, religion & belief and sex & sexual orientation.

Question 119: Do you consider that any of the options and proposals in this consultation document would impact (positively or negatively) on people with protected characteristics? Please provide details.

Children’s Rights and Wellbeing Impact Assessment

11.6 A CRWIA is an assessment process, tool and report through which the potential impacts of any proposed decision, including the development of policies, projects, programmes or services, on children’s rights and wellbeing are considered. In carrying out these assessments, CRWIAs use:

• the Articles of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child
• the two Optional Protocols of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child which the UK has ratified^[39]
• the child wellbeing indicators under the Children and Young People (Scotland) Act 2014

Question 120: Do you consider that any of the options and proposals in this consultation document would affect children’s rights and wellbeing? Please provide details.

Island Communities Impact Assessment

11.7 An ICIA considers the impacts of new policies, strategies or services that are likely to have an effect on an island community which is significantly different from the effect on other communities. ICIA are provided for under the Islands (Scotland) Act 2018.

Question 121: Do you consider that any of the options and proposals in this consultation document would have significantly different impact on island communities from other communities? Please provide details.

Fairer Scotland Duty

11.8 The Fairer Scotland Duty requires Scottish Ministers and named public bodies to consider how they can reduce inequalities of outcome caused by socio-economic disadvantage when making strategic decisions.

Question 122: Do you consider that any of the options and proposals in this consultation document would impact (positively or negatively) on people who are socio-economically disadvantaged? Please provide details.