Future of the Scottish Landfill Communities Fund: consultation

5. Impact assessments

As stated above, one of the options for the future of the SLCF would be the closure of the fund for contributions from April 2026 and the subsequent ‘wind up’ of the fund over the next financial year. This would be achieved by amending the regulations to remove the 90% tax credit available to landfill operators who contribute to the SLCF.

As part of these considerations, we seek your views on the potential impacts of closing the SLCF on different groups below.

5.1 Business and Regulation

When developing policy, the Scottish Government must consider whether a policy is likely to increase or reduce the costs and burdens placed on businesses, the public sector, voluntary and community organisations.

Question 9: Do you have any information of potential business or regulatory impacts of the closure of the SLCF? If yes, please provide further detail.

Yes

No

5.2 Child Rights and Wellbeing Impact Assessment

The Articles of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child and the child wellbeing indicators under the Children and Young People (Scotland) Act 2014 apply to all children and young people up to the age of 18, including non-citizen and undocumented children and young people.

Question 10: Are you aware of any examples of current or future impacts, positive or negative, on young people, (children, pupils, and young adults up to the age of 26) of the potential closure of the SLCF? If yes, please provide further detail.

Yes

No

5.3 Environment

The Environmental Assessment (Scotland) Act 2005 requires those preparing public plans and programmes to undertake a Strategic Environmental Assessment (SEA) if they are likely to result in significant environmental effects when implemented.

Question 11: Are you aware of any examples of potential impacts, either positive or negative, that the closure of the SLCF may have on the environment? If yes, please provide further detail.

Yes

No

5.4 Equality

In making strategic decision within policy the public sector equality duty requires the Scottish Government to pay 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.

These three requirements apply across the 'protected characteristics' of:

• age;
• disability;
• gender reassignment;
• marriage and civil partnership;
• pregnancy and maternity;
• race;
• religion and belief;
• sex and sexual orientation.

Question 12: Are you aware of any examples of how the of the closure of the SLCF may impact, either positively or negatively, on those with protected characteristics (age, disability, gender reassignment, marriage and civil partnership, pregnancy and maternity, race, religion or belief, sex and sexual orientation)? If yes, please provide further detail.

Yes

No

5.5 Fairer Scotland Duty

The Fairer Scotland Duty is set out in legislation in Part 1 of the Equality Act 2010 and came into force in Scotland from April 2018. It requires Scottish Ministers and named public bodies to actively consider what more can be done to reduce the 'inequalities of outcome' caused by 'socio-economic disadvantage' when making 'strategic decisions'.

Question 13: Are you aware of any examples of potential impacts, either positive or negative that the potential closure of the SLCF may have on groups or areas at socio-economic disadvantage (such as income, low wealth or area deprivation)? If yes, please provide further detail.

Yes

No

5.6 Island Communities

The Islands (Scotland) Act 2018 provides for a duty on Scottish Ministers and other relevant public bodies that they must have regard to island communities in exercising their functions and in the development of legislation.

Section 13 of the 2018 Act obliges the Scottish Ministers to prepare an Islands Communities Impact Assessment (ICIA) in relation to legislation which, in their opinion, is likely to influence an island community that is significantly different from its effect on other communities in Scotland.

Question 14: Are you aware of any examples of how the closure of the SLCF may impact, positively or negatively, on island communities in a way that is different from the impact on mainland areas? If yes, please provide further detail.

Yes

No

5.7 Consumer Duty

The consumer duty is a statutory duty introduced by the Consumer Scotland Act 2020 that places a duty on relevant public authorities in Scotland. When they are making decisions of a strategic nature through the exercise of their functions, they must have regard to:

• the impact of those decisions on consumers in Scotland; and
• the desirability of reducing harm to consumers in Scotland

Question 15: Are you aware of any examples of how the closure of the SLCF may impact, positively or negatively, on consumers in Scotland? If yes, please provide further detail.

Yes

No