The Scottish Executive Environment and Rural Affairs Department (SEERAD) was a

civil service The civil service is a collective term for a sector of government composed mainly of career civil servants hired on professional merit rather than appointed or elected, whose institutional tenure typically survives transitions of political leaders ...

department of the Scottish Executive. SEERAD was responsible for the following areas in

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to the ...

agriculture Agriculture or farming is the practice of cultivating plants and livestock. Agriculture was the key development in the rise of sedentary human civilization, whereby farming of domesticated species created food surpluses that enabled people to ...

, rural development,

food Food is any substance consumed by an organism for nutritional support. Food is usually of plant, animal, or fungal origin, and contains essential nutrients, such as carbohydrates, fats, proteins, vitamins, or minerals. The substance is inge ...

, the

environment Environment most often refers to: __NOTOC__ * Natural environment, all living and non-living things occurring naturally * Biophysical environment, the physical and biological factors along with their chemical interactions that affect an organism or ...

and

fisheries Fishery can mean either the enterprise of raising or harvesting fish and other aquatic life; or more commonly, the site where such enterprise takes place ( a.k.a. fishing ground). Commercial fisheries include wild fisheries and fish farms, both ...

. Following the change of administration in May 2007, a restructuring exercise led to most SEERAD functions being continued under the new Scottish Executive Environment Directorate. SEERAD was directly responsible for various

agencies of the Scottish Executive Executive agencies are established by ministers as part of Scottish Government to carry out a discrete area of work. They form an integral part of the Scottish Government, but have a specific, well-defined remit. They are staffed by civil servant ...

and other

public bodies A statutory corporation is a government entity created as a statutory body by statute. Their precise nature varies by jurisdiction, thus, they are statutes owned by a government or controlled by national or sub-national government to the (in so ...

relating to these areas of responsibility. From early 2005 the Department was headed by Richard Wakeford. The Minister for Environment and Rural Development was

Ross Finnie James Ross Finnie (born 11 February 1947) is a Scottish Liberal Democrat politician and a former Member of the Scottish Parliament (MSP). He is a former Minister for the Environment and Rural Development in the Scottish Executive, and Memb ...

and he was assisted by the Deputy Minister for Environment and Rural Development,

Sarah Boyack Sarah Herriot Boyack (born 16 May 1961) is a Scottish Labour politician who has served as a Member of the Scottish Parliament (MSP) for the Lothian region since 2019, and previously from 2011 to 2016. She formerly represented the Edinburgh Cent ...

. A

concordat A concordat is a convention between the Holy See and a sovereign state that defines the relationship between the Catholic Church and the state in matters that concern both,René Metz, ''What is Canon Law?'' (New York: Hawthorn Books, 1960 st Ed ...

set out agreed frameworks for co-operation between it and the

United Kingdom government ga, Rialtas a Shoilse gd, Riaghaltas a Mhòrachd , image = HM Government logo.svg , image_size = 220px , image2 = Royal Coat of Arms of the United Kingdom (HM Government).svg , image_size2 = 180px , caption = Royal Arms , date_es ...

Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs The Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) is a department of His Majesty's Government responsible for environmental protection, food production and standards, agriculture, fisheries and rural communities in the United K ...

Concordat between MAFF and the Scottish Executive
Many of the functions of SEERAD were subsumed into the Environment Directorate in 2007.

Structure

The department had three

executive agencies An executive agency is a part of a government department that is treated as managerially and budgetarily separate, to carry out some part of the executive functions of the United Kingdom government, Scottish Government, Welsh Government or Nor ...

: *

Scottish Agricultural Science Agency SASA (formerly the Scottish Agricultural Science Agency) is a division of the Scottish Government Agriculture and Rural Delivery Directorate. It provides scientific advice and support on a range of agricultural and environmental topics to the ...

, which is responsible for scientific research into agriculture *

Fisheries Research Services Fisheries Research Services (FRS) was an Executive Agency of the Scottish Government. FRS was responsible for scientific and technical research into the marine and freshwater fisheries and aquaculture, and the protection of the aquatic envir ...

, which carries out scientific research into the fisheries and aquaculture areas *

Scottish Fisheries Protection Agency The Scottish Fisheries Protection Agency (SFPA) was an Executive Agency of the Scottish Government. On 1 April 2009, the Scottish Fisheries Protection Agency and Fisheries Research Services were merged with the Scottish Government Marine Direc ...

, responsible for enforcing fisheries regulations in Scottish waters, and monitoring compliance The department sponsored several

non-departmental public bodies In the United Kingdom, non-departmental public body (NDPB) is a classification applied by the Cabinet Office, Treasury, the Scottish Government and the Northern Ireland Executive to public sector organisations that have a role in the process of na ...

(NDPBs) including: *

Crofters Commission The Crofting Commission ( gd, Coimisean na Croitearachd) took the place of the Crofters Commission ( gd, Coimisean nan Croitearan) on 1 April 2012 as the statutory regulator for crofting in Scotland. Based in Inverness, it is an executive non- ...

Deer Commission for Scotland The Deer Commission for Scotland was an executive non-departmental body of the Scottish Government. It was responsible for the conservation, control and sustainable management of all species of wild deer in Scotland. It also acted as the Governm ...

Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh The Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh (RBGE) is a scientific centre for the study of plants, their diversity and conservation, as well as a popular tourist attraction. Founded in 1670 as a physic garden to grow medicinal plants, today it occupies ...

Scottish Environment Protection Agency The Scottish Environment Protection Agency (SEPA; gd, Buidheann Dìon Àrainneachd na h-Alba) is Scotland's Environmental regulation, environmental regulator and national flood forecasting, flood warning and strategic flood risk management au ...

Scottish Natural Heritage NatureScot ( gd, NàdarAlba), which was formerly known as Scottish Natural Heritage, is an executive non-departmental public body of the Scottish Government responsible for the country's natural heritage, especially its natural, genetic and ...

* The Loch Lomond and the Trossachs National Park Authority *

The Macaulay Institute The Macaulay Institute, formally the Macaulay Land Use Research Institute and sometimes referred to simply as The Macaulay, is a research institute based at Aberdeen in Scotland, which is now part of the James Hutton Institute. Its work covers ...

The department also worked with

Scottish Water Scottish Water is a statutory corporation that provides water and sewerage services across Scotland. It is accountable to the public through the Scottish Government. Operations Scottish Water provides drinking water to 2.46 million households ...

References

External links

Scottish Government website
Defunct departments of the Scottish Government 1999 establishments in Scotland 1999 in British politics 2007 disestablishments in Scotland Economy of Scotland Climate change in Scotland Scottish coast and countryside Science and technology in Scotland Environment of Scotland Environmental organisations based in Scotland Rural Scotland Ministries established in 1999 Ministries disestablished in 2007 {{Scotland-gov-stub