Proposed Changes to Environmental Regulation Guidance on Who Can Hold an Authorisation, Public Participation, Types of Authorisations and Amendments to Standard Conditions for Registration Level Activities for Water, Waste and Industrial Activities
Who can hold an authorisation: In control and Fit and Proper Person test
The guidance on ‘Who can hold an authorisation: In control and Fit and Proper Person test’ is for any person who applies for or holds a permit or registration under the Environmental Authorisations (Scotland) Regulations 2018. It explains how we will decide whether you are ‘in control’ of the regulated activity and whether you are a ‘fit and proper person’ to hold or continue to hold an environmental authorisation. The guidance was first published in 2018. In 2025 prior to the amendment to the regulations to incorporate waste, water and industrial activities we consulted and published an updated version. The main change to the guidance in 2025 was widening the scope of relevant convictions to include non-environmental convictions.
The guidance contains some examples of the non-environmental offences that we are likely to consider relevant. They are:
- Offences that appear on Schedule 4 of the Proceeds of Crime Act 2002 are considered ‘lifestyle’ offences and may indicate a history of using crime for profit making.
- Dishonesty, for example, fraud and theft.
- Violence or abusive behaviour (particularly if towards public officials).
We publish a full list of relevant offences on our website: List of relevant convictions | Beta | SEPA | Scottish Environment Protection Agency.
Widening the scope of relevant convictions to include non-environmental convictions has increased the need to identify individuals to allow us to undertake a fit and proper person test. From 1 November 2025 our application process now requires the submission of individuals’ date of birth and home address. We have since received feedback from industry asking why this information is required and highlighting that the requirements are not clear in our guidance on ‘Who can hold an authorisation’.
Proposed changes
We are therefore proposing to update the Table in Annex 1 of the guidance clarifying that we require date of birth and home address of individuals. This includes individuals who may be part of a partnership, registered company and, in some circumstances, associations. For example, for registered companies, we require date of birth and home address for all directors and company secretaries.
We are also proposing to replace the introductory text in Annex 1 with the following:
“Only a legal person can apply for or hold an authorisation.
A legal person can be natural i.e. a human being or artificial e.g. a company or a partnership
The following table covers:
- different types of legal person;
- what information they may need to provide with an application to enable us to be satisfied that they are a legal person.
This information allows us to undertake background checks to assess against the fit and proper person criteria set out in this document and are necessary and lawful purposes under the UK GDPR and the Data Protection Act 2018.”