Implementing environmental policy in Scotland: an analysis of water pollution regulation and government support for the voluntary environmental sector.

MacLeod, Calum

Abstract

This thesis presents an empirical analysis of the implementation of environmental policy in Scotland as undertaken through the use of specific regulatory and distributive policy instruments. In particular, it examines the implementation of regulatory water pollution control policy by one of Scotland's former River Purification Boards (RPBs) through the policy instrument of the Control of Pollution Act 1974 (COPA 1974). The thesis also examines The Scottish Office's implementation of distributive environmental policy towards the voluntary environmental sector through the policy instrument of the Special Grants Environmental Programme (SGEP). The study reviews the main themes of the literature on public policy implementation and applies five specific variables (arising from that review) to the empirical case-study findings contained within the thesis, in relation to the implementation of the above policies. From the analysis of empirical data, it is argued that the implementation of the case-study River Purification Board's regulatory environmental policy was becoming progressively more formalised during the early 1990s. Factors - both internal and external to the case-study RPB - which contributed to this increased level of formality are identified and discussed. From the analysis of empirical data, the thesis further argues that the implementation of The Scottish Office's distributive environmental policy was also being placed on a more formal footing during the early 1990s. It is contended that a fundamental reason for the formalisation of the implementation process in this policy context related to the Conservative Government's broad policy objective of rationalising its funding of the voluntary sector in general. On the basis of the empirical case-study findings, in relation to both the regulatory and distributive environmental policies, the thesis concludes that there is no one 'best' way to implement public policy. Instead, it is argued that measures of public policy implementation success are contingent upon the particular constellation of the identified variables within the context of the specific policy being studied.

Citation

MACLEOD, C. 1998. Implementing environmental policy in Scotland: an analysis of water pollution regulation and government support for the voluntary environmental sector. Robert Gordon University, PhD thesis. Hosted on OpenAIR [online]. Available from: https://doi.org/10.48526/rgu-wt-1694952

• Thesis Type: Thesis
• Deposit Date: Jun 21, 2022
• Publicly Available Date: Jun 21, 2022
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.48526/rgu-wt-1694952
• Keywords: Environmental policy; Public policy; Public administration; Politics and government
• Public URL: https://rgu-repository.worktribe.com/output/1694952
• Award Date: Sep 30, 1998