Environment Directorates

The Scottish Government Rural Affairs, Environment and Services Directorates were a group of civil service Directorates in the Scottish Government until a December 2010 re-organisation.

The Environment Directorates reported to the Director-General, Paul Gray.^[1]

A general concordat, drawn up in 1999, set out agreed frameworks for co-operation between the Environment Directorates and the United Kingdom government Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs^[2] and there is another specifically on the subject of genetically modified organisms.^[3]

After December 2010 many of the department's responsibilities became those of the Enterprise, Environment and Digital Directorates. This changed again to the Enterprise, Environment and Innovation Directorates after a June 2014 rebranding.

Ministers

The political responsibilities of the Directorates were those of the Cabinet Secretary for Rural Affairs and the Environment, Richard Lochhead MSP, whose responsibilities include: agriculture, fisheries and rural development including aquaculture and forestry, environment and natural heritage, land reform, water quality regulation and sustainable development. He was supported by the Minister for Environment, Roseanna Cunningham MSP.^[4]

Directorates

The overarching Scottish Government Directorates, including the Environment Directorates were preceded by similar structures called "Departments" that no longer exist (although the word is still sometimes used in this context).^[5] As an overarching set of Directorates, the Environment Directorates incorporate a number of individual Directorates entitled:

Rural (including Agriculture & Rural Development, Animal Health & Welfare, Landscapes & Habitats, Rural Communities, Food Industry Unit, Special Project Leader for Agriculture & Climate Change and Veterinary).
Marine Scotland (including Aquaculture, Freshwater Fisheries & Licensing Policy, Performance, Science, Planning & Policy, Compliance and Sea Fisheries Policy).
Rural and Environment Research and Analysis (including Rural & Environment Analytical Services and Research & Science).
Rural Payments & Inspections (including IT & Business Support, Common Agricultural Policy Payments, Agricultural Services, Science & Advice for Scottish Agriculture and Regional Delivery).
Environmental Quality (including Waste & Pollution Reduction, Drinking Water Quality and Water, Air, Soils & Flooding).
Greener Scotland.^[6]

Agencies and other bodies

The Directorates are responsible for one agency:

Forestry Commission Scotland

The Directorates also sponsor several non-departmental public bodies including:

The Rural Development Council was set up in 2008 to advise the Cabinet Secretary on rural affairs and to "consider how best rural Scotland can contribute to the creation of a more successful country, through increasing sustainable economic growth".^[7]

History

Prior to the Environment Directorates' creation in 2007, many of their responsibilities were undertaken by the Scottish Executive Environment and Rural Affairs Department (SEERAD).

References

^ "DG-Environment". Scottish Government. Retrieved 14 November 2009.
^ Devolution: Main Concordat between the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food and the Scottish Executive Archived 2011-02-08 at the Wayback Machine. DEFRA. Retrieved 28 July 2009.
^ "Concordat on the Implementation of Directive 2001/18/EC and Regulation 1946/2003/EC" Scottish Government. Retrieved 27 July 2009.
^ "Scottish Cabinet and Ministers" Archived 2008-09-07 at the Wayback Machine Scottish Government. Retrieved 27 July 2009.
^ "Reporting on 100 Days: Moving Scotland forward" Scottish Government. Retrieved 15 August 2009. "A new structure for Scotland's Government has been put in place, transforming the Departmental structure, moving from 9 Heads of Department, to a Strategic Board with the Permanent Secretary and five Directors General (DG), with each DG having responsibility for driving one of the Government's strategic objectives. Directors-General focus on the performance of the whole organisation against the Cabinet's agenda. The new structure means that the old Scottish Executive Departments no longer exist. Instead, each DG supports and manages a number of Directors, with these Directorates leading, presenting and developing policy for Ministers."
^ Scottish Government Senior Management Structure (pdf) Scottish Government. Retrieved 28 July 2009.
^ "Scotland Rural Development Council" Scottish Government. Retrieved 27 July 2009.

External links

Scottish Government Senior Management Structure (pdf)

[1] "DG-Environment". Scottish Government. Retrieved 14 November 2009.

[2] Devolution: Main Concordat between the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food and the Scottish Executive Archived 2011-02-08 at the Wayback Machine. DEFRA. Retrieved 28 July 2009.

[3] "Concordat on the Implementation of Directive 2001/18/EC and Regulation 1946/2003/EC" Scottish Government. Retrieved 27 July 2009.

[4] "Scottish Cabinet and Ministers" Archived 2008-09-07 at the Wayback Machine Scottish Government. Retrieved 27 July 2009.

[5] "Reporting on 100 Days: Moving Scotland forward" Scottish Government. Retrieved 15 August 2009. "A new structure for Scotland's Government has been put in place, transforming the Departmental structure, moving from 9 Heads of Department, to a Strategic Board with the Permanent Secretary and five Directors General (DG), with each DG having responsibility for driving one of the Government's strategic objectives. Directors-General focus on the performance of the whole organisation against the Cabinet's agenda. The new structure means that the old Scottish Executive Departments no longer exist. Instead, each DG supports and manages a number of Directors, with these Directorates leading, presenting and developing policy for Ministers."

[senior-6] Scottish Government Senior Management Structure (pdf) Scottish Government. Retrieved 28 July 2009.

[7] "Scotland Rural Development Council" Scottish Government. Retrieved 27 July 2009.

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v t e Directorates of the Scottish Government
Communities	Equality, Inclusion and Human Rights Directorate · Local Government and Housing · Public Service Reform · Social Security · Tackling Child Poverty and Social Jusitce · Ukraine Resettlement
Corporate	Communications and Ministerial Support · Corporate Transformation and Workplace · COVID Inquries Response · Digital · Financial Management · Legal Services (Solicitor to the Scottish Government) · People · Propriety and Ethics · Scottish Procurement and Property
Economy	Chief Economist · Culture and Major Events (*) · Economic Development · International Trade and Investment · Jobs and Wellbeing Economy
Education and Justice	Children and Families · Early Learning and Childcare · Education Reform · Justice · Learning · Lifelong Learning and Skills · Safer Communities
Exchequer	Budget and Public Spending · Fiscal Sustainability and Exchequer Development · Internal Audit and Assurance · Tax and Revenues
Health and Social Care	Chief Medical Officer · Chief Nursing Officer · Chief Operating Officer, NHS Scotland · Digital Health and Care · Health and Social Care Finance, Digital and Governance · Health Workforce · Healthcare Quality and Improvement · Mental Health · People, Appointments and Governance · Population Health · Primary Care · Social Care and National Care Service Development
Net Zero	Agriculture and Rural Economy · Energy and Climate Change · Environment and Forestry · Marine · Offshore Wind
Strategy and External Affairs	Constitution · Culture and Major Events (*) · EU · External Affairs · Parliamentary Counsel Office · Performance, Delivery and Resilience · Strategy
Notes	(*) = Culture and Major Events is shared between two Director-Generals. References: The Scottish Government webpage, Retrieved 2024-07-15.