Scottish Environmental Protection Agency (SEPA) chief executive Terry A’Hearn said the environmental regulator is in the process of “fundamentally changing” the way it works, so that it can facilitate the step change innovation needed in the sector.
Speaking at WWT’s Water Scotland conference in Glasgow, A’Hearn said the regulator would create specific sector teams, more clear dedicated company client managers, streamlined permits, and was looking into the possibility of corporate permits.
“All these tools will enable SEPA to be much more strategic in the way we interact, not just with Scottish Water, but with everyone else in the water sector and everybody else who’s running a business we regulate, who uses water,” he added.
He also said that bringing economic and environmental regulation together would be “critical” for what it needs to do.
“I can’t stand here and say to you as people who work in the water sector that minor improvements are not enough, unless we fundamentally change what we do so that our regulatory interaction facilitates the sort of step change innovation that you’re looking to make,” he told delegates. “So you need to hold us to account.”
Also speaking at the conference, Water Industry Commission for Scotland chief executive Alan Sutherland said the regulatory framework for the water sector would need to change, in order to address common problems faced by companies in both England and Scotland.
He told delegates: “The whole regulatory framework is going to need to change – and that doesn’t mean lots of markets or any of that, what it will mean is there are some really big common problems that are going to have to be addressed.”
WWT’s Water Scotland conference was held at the Crowne Plaza in Glasgow on Wednesday 5 October 2016