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The 2024-25 Budget increased funding for SEPA by 7.3% recognising the pivotal role it plays to protect and maintain a safe, healthy and sustainable environment for the people of Scotland. The draft budget for 2025-26 includes a budget increase for SEPA of 5% compared to 2024-25 budget bill allocations.

Implementing the integrated authorisation framework is identified as a high priority in SEPA’s 2024-27 Corporate Plan. Thereafter in each year, SEPA’s annual operating plan sets out how it will deliver these priorities, alongside meeting its statutory obligations, and what resources will be allocated.

Applying the fit and proper person test in the Environmental Authorisations (Scotland) Amendment Regulations 2025 to all four of SEPA’s regulatory regimes will assist in keeping criminals and illegal operators out of the waste management industry.

As SEPA are directly responsible for its day-to-day operations, I have asked Nicole Paterson, Chief Executive of SEPA to respond. Her response is as follows:

During normal working hours the customer hub will handle any queries it receives in relation to SEPA’s role and operation which will be directed as appropriate. This includes any queries received in relation to activities controlled through the Environmental Authorisations (Scotland) Amendment Regulations 2025. During out of hours periods, the customer hub service continues to provide an immediate response to emergency calls. Any non-urgent calls not requiring escalation, e.g. not related to an urgent environmental event, are triaged and responded to during standard working hours.

The transitional arrangements in the Environmental Authorisations (Scotland) Amendment Regulations 2025 mean the fit and proper person test under the draft Regulations will automatically apply to all relevant activities without SEPA needing to take any action.

SEPA will include fit and proper person checks of existing authorisation holders as part of its targeted monitoring and inspection programme and where relevant in investigating environmental events and complaints. Where authorisations are varied SEPA must be satisfied that the person is a fit and proper person taking account of the changes being proposed to the authorisation.

The Land Reform Bill will support community ownership through advance notice of certain sales from large landholdings. Communities may then be able to purchase this land, including through existing community rights to buy powers, where a community body may not have expected that the land would be sold.

On sustainable land use practices, Part 2 of the Bill provides for a new land management tenancy to enable people and communities to undertake a range of land management activities; helping to deliver net zero, biodiversity and sustainable and regenerative agricultural ambitions.

The Bill will place legal responsibilities on owners of large landholdings to set out how they use their land and how that contributes to key public policy priorities, like addressing climate change and protecting and restoring nature.

Also, in addition to my answer to S6W-32938 on 17 January 2025 about the new land management tenancy, tenant farmers and small landholders will have more equality of opportunity to deliver net zero improvements to the land they farm and cultivate. This will enable them to become more sustainable and productive in their farming and be rewarded for their investment of time and resources.

All answers to written Parliamentary Questions are available on the Parliament’s website, the search facility for which can be found at /chamber-and-committees/written-questions-and-answers

ScotRail and Caledonian Sleeper submit their forward forecasts as part of annual budget processes. Forward forecasts of ScotRail and Caledonian Sleeper revenue and the level of subsidy required are subject to ongoing discussions between the train operating companies, Transport Scotland and Scottish Rail Holdings.

The Scottish Government’s investment in rail covers a wide range of improvements and decarbonisation of rail services forms part of that, be it fleet replacement, investment in feeder stations, or electrification of railway lines and therefore is integrated into the rail budget figures to be found in the draft budget for 2025-26 in Chapter 8 – Transport

The Scottish Government does not currently plan to increase the availability of bicycles for use by staff. We do not have any plans to increase the availability of other sustainable transport options. 

Our staff already have access to cycle mileage expenses for official business journeys, a cycle to work scheme for commuting journeys, a season ticket scheme covering public transport operators, and discounted personal car hire and car club journeys through our staff benefits package.