As an organisation which still receives a significant portion of its funding from government sources, much of the research we carry out is aimed at providing a sound scientific basis from which policy makers can work, or carrying out a critical appraisal of proposed or existing legislation to see whether it meets the needs for which it was drafted.

In addition to policy decisions to be made by the Scottish Government at a national level, we also carry out research relevant to European legislation, particularly the Water Framework Directive (WFD), which is responsible for how water bodies are managed, and work together with agencies like the Scottish Environment Protection Agency (SEPA)  and Scottish Natural Heritage (SNH) on water related issues.

We have contributed to these recent public consultation documents:

• Implementing the Water Environment and Water Services (Scotland) Act 2003: Development of environmental standards and conditions limits (June 2008)
• Significant Water Management Issues Consultation (April 2008)
• Water Environment and Water Services Act (Scotland) (WEWS) Implementation Consultation (April 2008)
• Scottish Climate Change Bill consultation (April 2008)
• The Scottish Government's consultation on 'The Future of Flood Risk Management in Scotland' (April 2008)
• The Scottish Parliament, Rural Affairs and Environment Committee, Flooding and Flood Management Inquiry (December 2007)
• Implementing the Water Environment and Water Services (Scotland) Act 2003: Diffuse Water Pollution from Rural Land Use (October 2006)

 
If you would like to know more about our work on policy, please contact Malcolm Coull