Lodging an Appeal
If you are considering lodging an appeal or have
appealed to the Scottish Ministers against a decision made
by an authority under one of the Acts or Regulations listed
under "Relevant Legislation", this page explains the way in
which appeals are handled to ensure that your case is
fairly and independently assessed.
An appeal will be determined by Scottish Ministers based
on information provided to them either by written
submissions or at a hearing. Normally this is set out in
the legislation and you will be given the option of
deciding which route you prefer.
The legislation listed relates to the provision of water
and sewerage services, the control of discharges to air or
water, and waste disposal together with other related
environmental matters. The responsible authorities may be
Scottish Water, the Scottish Environment Protection Agency
or the Scottish local authorities.
The legislation also sets out the duties and
responsibilities of authorities and their clients/customers
and contains safeguards which allow certain decisions by
authorities to be challenged through either the Courts or -
in most cases - by appeal to the Scottish Ministers. Time
limits for lodging appeals and making representations may
be set in legislation which may also outline appeal
procedures in more detail.
As there are more than 100 provisions in environmental
legislation which allow for an appeal to the Scottish
Ministers, this website can only summarise the process that
is undertaken to ensure that all parties obtain a fair
opportunity to state their cases. However, in general the
parties to the appeal, exchange correspondence with
Scottish Ministers until enough is known about a case to
allow a decision to be made. Once made, the decision of
Scottish Ministers is final and it cannot be challenged
except through the Courts. The decision will be sent to
all parties involved in a case and it will usually be made
public by the relevant authority and by Scottish
Ministers.