Have your say on the Public Sector Reporting Consultation

29th April 2015

*UPDATE*

EAUC Scotland has submitted a sector response for universities and colleges after collating feedback from meetings, forums and personal feedback from institutions. The sector response can be found to download at the bottom of the page. The consultation closes Friday 29th May, following this date the responses will be analysed and taken into consideration before the statutory instrument is finalised. For those that have agreed to have their responses published these will be made available on the Scottish Government consultations web site.

Background information

The EAUC is a Member-led organisation. We represent you, and ensure that your views on topical issues are conveyed to the rest of the sector and to the Government. One important way we can do this is by responding to consultations from the Government and other organisations.

Public Sector Reporting on Climate Change Duties will affect all publicly funded Colleges and Universities in Scotland, with reporting on the Duties likely to take the place of the current UCCCfS Annual Report. EAUC-Scotland are seeking to submit a sector response to this consultation and we encourage you to share your views. In this communication, you'll find information on what reporting is likely to mean for you, an opportunity to ask questions and you can also submit your views for inclusion in our sector response.

The Scottish Government officially opened a consultation on public sector reporting under the Climate Change (Scotland) Act of 2009 on 20 February 2015. The consultation ‘The Climate Change (Duties of Public Bodies: Reporting Requirements) (Scotland) Order 2015’ will be open for comment until 29 May 2015. The proposed changes are intended to help improve the quality of climate change data by standardising reporting methodology and encouraging transparency. This will guide future Scottish Government strategic reports, support and policy-making while improving engagement with leadership.

Required reporting for public bodies was announced by the Scottish Government at the Sustainable Scotland Network (SSN) Conference on the 25 November 2014. It is expected that nearly 150 public bodies in Scotland will be required to report, including Universities and colleges who are listed as major players. These are organisations outlined as having a large impact on Scottish carbon reduction targets through substantial estates, large number of staff or expenditure or provide an audit or regulatory function. 

Once the consultation period has ended and feedback has been assessed and presented to Parliament after the summer recess, mandatory reporting should begin in November 2015.

The Consultation seeks the answer to fourteen specific questions, which can be accessed from the EAUC Scotland website or found at the end of the Consultation Document.

If you wish to submit an individual response you can find the consultation document and response survey on the Scottish Government website until 29 May.

Preparing for Public Sector Climate Change Reporting

SSN recently held an event on Preparing for Public Sector Climate Change Reporting, with the aims of providing background information on the process that has led to Required Reporting, identifying support and capacity-building needs to enhance the new reporting process, and increasing SSN Members’ understanding of the new reporting process and the support available. They have granted EAUC Educational Contacts access to the Learning Brief from this event.

Copies of the slides and audio recordings from this event are available on request from Rebecca.

Reporting template

The reporting template has been developed by the Climate Leaders’ Officer Group (CLOG) which consists of representatives from all areas of the public sector; local authorities, education, the NHS and other Non-departmental Public Bodies and SEPA. EAUC-Scotland provided input and guidance on behalf of the higher and further education sector through this group. It is intended that the Scottish Government report will take the place of the UCCCfS annual report.

The proposed template can be downloaded from the Sustainable Scotland Network webpage on Reporting on Climate Change Duties. Please feel free to have a go using the template to inform your response.

EAUC-S Forum

The majority of responses were collated from the EAUC-S Forum held on Monday 11 May, where a discussion on Reporting with an expert in this area formed a major part of the agenda. The Forum was conducted over video conference from four locations - Edinburgh, Glasgow, Aberdeen and St Andrews. Minutes from this meeting can be found here.