Positive and practical approach to regulation in Scotland
AT the recent QPA (Scotland) lunch the outgoing chairman, Robert McNaughton, managing director of the Hillhouse Quarry Group, took the opportunity to highlight the difficult business environment the industry will be operating in for a number of years.
The event itself was a great success with some 75 members and guests in attendance at the MacDonald Holyrood hotel, just minutes from the Scottish Parliament building.
In addressing the gathering, Mr McNaughton was keen to acknowledge the efforts that the Scottish Government had made in trying to sustain investment and encourage growth and development. ‘We welcome that and hope that there is future scope to do so,’ he said.
Mr McNaughton also introduced guest speaker John Brown from the Scottish Government’s Business Directorate, who was appointed last year to sponsor the construction sector, including the quarrying industry.
‘Over the past 18 months John has engaged with our industry and had many one-to-one conversations with business leaders in Scotland,’ said Mr McNaughton. ‘He has also facilitated inclusion within several advisory groups ensuring our industry has a place at the policy-making end of the spectrum.’
In particular, Mr McNaughton singled out the Government’s positive and practical approach to regulation, and the six-month secondment of Stephen Cowan from Tarmac to the Scottish Government to assist in the preparation of guidance notes on the EU Mining Waste Directive, which, he said, had been widely appreciated throughout the industry.
John Sheridan, director of QPA (Scotland), later added: ‘We have worked closely with government officials on a number of issues on the ‘Modernising Planning’ agenda, and this novel approach of collaboration with industry helps demonstrate that effective regulation and policy does not have to be bureaucratic and costly .’
The event itself was a great success with some 75 members and guests in attendance at the MacDonald Holyrood hotel, just minutes from the Scottish Parliament building.
In addressing the gathering, Mr McNaughton was keen to acknowledge the efforts that the Scottish Government had made in trying to sustain investment and encourage growth and development. ‘We welcome that and hope that there is future scope to do so,’ he said.
Mr McNaughton also introduced guest speaker John Brown from the Scottish Government’s Business Directorate, who was appointed last year to sponsor the construction sector, including the quarrying industry.
‘Over the past 18 months John has engaged with our industry and had many one-to-one conversations with business leaders in Scotland,’ said Mr McNaughton. ‘He has also facilitated inclusion within several advisory groups ensuring our industry has a place at the policy-making end of the spectrum.’
In particular, Mr McNaughton singled out the Government’s positive and practical approach to regulation, and the six-month secondment of Stephen Cowan from Tarmac to the Scottish Government to assist in the preparation of guidance notes on the EU Mining Waste Directive, which, he said, had been widely appreciated throughout the industry.
John Sheridan, director of QPA (Scotland), later added: ‘We have worked closely with government officials on a number of issues on the ‘Modernising Planning’ agenda, and this novel approach of collaboration with industry helps demonstrate that effective regulation and policy does not have to be bureaucratic and costly .’
