Discriminatory treatment of the Scottish Environment Protection Agency (SEPA) by the Treasury is leading to cuts worth £3 million - over 10 per cent of SEPA's annual budget.

SEPA was set up a year ago to take over the functions of all government organisations responsible for pollution control in Scotland. Since its inception, SEPA budgeted on the assumption that it would be allowed to reclaim the value-added tax it paid on goods and services, on the basis that the organisations it replaced and its sister body south of the Border - the Environment Agency -were given Treasury approval to reclaim the tax.

Because of this budget crisis, SEPA officials fear that the agency may be unable to fulfil its legal obligation to protect the environment. SEPA has frozen all job vacancies, halted all capital expenditure on new equipment, and slashed environmental monitoring around factories, sewage works, nuclear plants and fish farms.

SEPA's eastern region has suspended monitoring of pollution incidents outside office hours, halved the number of its inspections of waste tips, and scrapped air sampling around large industrial sites. In the western region, plans to clean streams and introduce flood warning systems have been abandoned. In the northern region, laboratory maintenance has ceased.

This is an outrageous and extremely worrying state of affairs. It is totally unacceptable that SEPA should have to make cuts equivalent to over 10 per cent of its budget - which inevitably jeopardises the Scottish environment - just because the Treasury refuses to grant it the same tax status as its counterpart south of the Border.

New Labour are following the Tories tax and spending plans so closely that they will neither change SEPA's VAT status or increase the Scottish Office grant to SEPA to ensure they can carry out their duties.

This discriminatory treatment must be exposed and overcome, and I will be applying for an adjournment debate on this issue when Parliament returns next week.

Roseanna Cunningham MP
Parliamentary Environment Spokesperson
Scottish National Party


Roseanna Cunningham is the Member of Parliament for Perth and Kinross, she is also the Home Affairs Spokeperson for the Scottish National Party.

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If you would like to know more about the SNP and HELP SCOTLAND contact snp.hq@snp.org.uk or visit the official the Scottish National Party web site.

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