Draft circular economy strategy: partial business and regulatory impact assessment

Section 2: Engagement and information gathering

Engagement approach

Internal SG engagement/engagement with wider Public Sector

Internal SG engagement

In the development of the Strategy a series of engagement sessions were completed with colleagues across the Scottish Government to summarise key existing policies while also identifying proposals and priorities to guide future policy development across the breadth of government.

A wide range of teams within the Scottish Government, along with other key agencies and organisations such as Zero Waste Scotland, SEPA, and Transport Scotland have been engaged with and have contributed to the development of the Strategy.

As the Strategy is developed, colleagues across the Scottish Government will continue to be engaged to develop these proposals and priorities. Following the publication of the final Strategy, these teams will continue to be engaged to monitor the implementation of the Strategy.

UK/ Devolved Administrations

There is regular contact between the Scottish Government, the UK Government and other Devolved Governments on many of the policy areas covered by the Strategy. This includes dedicated working groups on the circular economy and engagement with Defra’s Circular Economy Taskforce, which is currently developing an English Circular Economy Strategy. This covers policy coordination in many areas where cross border flows or impacts are important, consideration of the interaction of reserved and devolved powers, and learning from policy approaches that have been effective.

Wider Public Sector

To assist the development of the Strategy, Scottish Government policy leads have worked closely with public bodies, including Zero Waste Scotland, NatureScot and SEPA, as well as local authorities through our relationship with COSLA and the Scottish Government-Local Government Strategic Steering Group on circular economy and waste. Public authorities and local authorities will help play a key role in the implementation of the Strategy and monitoring and reviewing its delivery.

International

Through our research, the Scottish Government has been able to learn from the experience of effective policy approaches in other countries. Initial engagement has also taken place with international environmental NGOs and further engagement is planned.

Business/Third Sector engagement

Engagement with businesses and business groups regarding the Strategy was undertaken during the development of the Circular Economy (Scotland) Bill and both Circular Economy and Waste Route Map (CEWRM) public consultations. Recent engagement on the Strategy has also taken place with the Regulatory Review Group and the Waste and Resources Sector Forum, and the circular economy was included as part of discussions on the draft Environment Strategy with wider business representatives. The information provided has helped inform this draft Strategy.

Work has also been undertaken with policy teams across the Scottish Government to understand the potential impacts from interventions resulting from Strategy priorities on business and investment.

Engagement with businesses will continue during the consultation period and we will encourage the relevant policy teams to work with businesses, where necessary, following the publication of the Strategy to assess the impact of individual interventions within policy areas on businesses.

Full impact assessments will be produced when appropriate as interventions related to the Strategy priorities are developed in future. Potential impacts on key business stakeholders will be assessed as part of the process, and the Scottish Government will continue to take forward engagement and collaboration in line with business engagement principles.^[17]

Public consultation

The Strategy will be subject to public consultation alongside this partial BRIA and other associated Impact Assessments.

The Scottish Government would be grateful for any feedback on this Partial BRIA during the consultation, particularly where there are impacts, either positive or negative, which have not yet been identified. Where appropriate, feedback provided during the consultation will be incorporated into a final version of this BRIA. In addition, any feedback received during the consultation will be considered in the final publication of the Strategy.

Other stakeholders

In addition to those stakeholders mentioned above, meetings have taken place with a range of environmental non-governmental organisations (NGOs), academics and charities while developing the Strategy and associated monitoring and indicator framework.